Learn Another Language in Another Country
- Ayse Serra Isil
- Aug 31, 2017
- 3 min read
Hi guys! I was so excited because I started to learn German when I was in the US. It was great because I made so many friends in that class. Now, almost half of the class is in Germany right now and each of us is trying to improve their German while studying our majors. It is worth to try but let’s get deep into this topic because all of us are or will be studying in different countries. It is our choice to learn the language that we are hearing every day. When I was in France, I did not try to learn French at all. I think it all depends on whether we have the interest to learn it or not. On the other hand, it is weird to not know any single word from the country that you have lived almost 6 months or 1 year. My personal experience is if I try to speak the language of that country they were always more friendly and helpful. The experience is also different if you know a little or none.
In case if you want to learn the language that you are hearing every day, there are some recommendations I do have for you! Shall we start?
1-First Learn the Most Common Words
If you are living in that country, you probably start to recognize that there are common words you see everywhere. I always take pictures of that words and try to learn them afterward or I always use Google Translate to see what it means.
2-Google Translate is the Best
For the German language, I always use this application because it works well with English. You may not understand some translations or it doesn’t make sense then it means Google Translate failed to translate, do not take what it says seriously. Don’t get me wrong, I do not recommend that application to write a mail to your professor but it helped me a lot when I do not know the half of the sentence.
3-Reading Book
Personally, I have started to read English books maybe 4 years ago. After I learn English 7 years long. However, I regret about that because with German, I recognized that reading and checking words, learning vocabulary makes understanding of grammar much easier. Additionally, it helps to understand sentence structure with less effort.
4-Listening Music
One of my friends learned a language mostly by trying to write the song she was listening. If you like listening music and you are searching new songs to listen, then it is the best way! 5-Try to Speak to Locals with Their Languages After learning some conversational speaking structures, you can give it a try this headline. For example, I first try to speak German as much as my German is enough to speak, then the point I can’t talk I switch it to English. Locals all around the world are quite understanding people when they see people try to speak their languages. Once a guy waited for me for 1 minute while I was trying to put a word into order. Do not be shy, when you are lonely and when you have time, approach any locals and ask some questions you have in your mind even you do not look for that information. 6-Writing in German I love writing a diary and after I learned English, I started to write my diary in English and I think it is thought to make some switches. Still, I am not well enough to write in German but if I can remember German meaning of English word then instead of writing in English, I am writing in German. It may seem funny but I love it because in some sentences, I can write most of the words in German and it makes me so happy. For instance, I write “Lebensmittelgeschäft’ instead of “Grocery Shopping”. I know. They have long words. 7-Watching in German This may be the easiest way to go, because the only thing you need to do is switch the language to German and put English subtitle. If you have Netflix account, it is much easier when you are in Germany because Netflix changes its content and the films according to where your phone or your laptop is. It can be quite disturbing because some films are able to be watching in one country but not in the other.
I think if you want to learn any language there are so many ways to get better. The only thing left is enough courage to do some or all of the steps.
Viele Glück!
Good Luck!
