How to quickly recall a foreign language: useful tips and life hacks
Not so long ago, you decided to learn a foreign language and set out to do so with vigor. Soon Duolingo became your best friend, you carefully kept a diary of your progress, and spent days mumbling words in a foreign language.
"However," SSPDaily writes, "for a few weeks now, the enthusiasm has waned, the diary has been abandoned, and you've forgotten the last time you opened the app on your phone. Sound familiar? But it doesn't have to be this way!"
Here are a few tips to get you back on track - to help you quickly regain what you've lost during your downtime and move on.
Your main goal is the 300 most used words
If you're just starting out in a language, this is a great way to lay the groundwork. Building on this foundation, you will be able to build sentences more confidently (assuming you know the structure and basic grammar). In addition, by learning 300 of the most popular words, you will gain an understanding of the language itself, its sound system and structure, and it will be easier to expand your vocabulary in the future.
Watch movies in the language you are learning
As soon as you have more or less mastered the basics of the language, start watching movies in it. If you know the plot, you won't have to concentrate too hard to keep up, and you'll be able to pick up on the accent, new vocabulary, and natural sounding sentences. As a rule, your favorite childhood movies work best in this case.
Keep a diary
Let it be the simplest sentences at first - I woke up, I had breakfast, I went to work. If you do this a little bit every day, you can consolidate the basics of your daily routine, and everything you don't know can be found on the Internet, which will again lead to an expansion of your vocabulary.
Visualize how you use the language
When you lose motivation, thinking that it's a waste of time because you'll never be able to speak as well as a native speaker, imagine yourself in a country where the language is spoken. Imagine being able to talk to a waiter in a restaurant or ask a guide in-depth questions, getting to know your neighbors and making friends with them. Imagine how much this language will open up for you, and your motivation will come back to you.
Use the language in everyday life
Shopping lists, calculations, to-do lists - anywhere, use your foreign language. Practice makes perfect, so the more you incorporate it into your everyday life, the more natural the language will look to you.
Listen to songs in the target language
Listen to music, pick up phrases, even slang! You can try to translate the song line by line and learn it while already understanding the meaning. It's a fun way to learn without feeling like you're just spending hours memorizing words.
Read your favorite children's books
Pick up Alice in Wonderland or Harry Potter, and you can take a lot from them. And the fact that you already know the story will make it easy to follow the events. And all the while you're having fun, your brain will be working - translating, learning sentence structure, verb conjugation, and tenses.
Look for unknown words
The sooner you get into the habit of paying attention to unfamiliar words, the more you will learn. The word you learn will stick in your memory, and then you'll see it everywhere, and eventually it will become a natural part of your vocabulary.
On the other hand, if you constantly put off such work "for later," you will end up with a huge "warehouse" of unfamiliar words, with large gaps in your knowledge.
Follow Instagram pages and blogs
Again, it's all about immersion. What we see and hear in our daily lives is stored in our brains. In addition, scrolling through the app makes it easier for you to switch between your native and target language, which means you'll do it faster every time!
You can also pick up slang and colloquialisms in this way, which will make your speech less formal and more casual.
