Does studying a language on your own work?
Friday, 6th February 2009
It is possible to learn a language on your own. You need motivation, enthusiasm, patience and dedication, and it takes time to become proficient, but is certainly is possible.
I have become more or less fluent in three languages which I’ve studied mainly or entirely on my own, and have acquired a good knowledge of three others in the same way.
Although not absolutely essential, starting a self-study based language course of some kind can definitely be useful. This might be a course book with cassettes and/or CDs; a DVD or software-based course or an online course. For popular languages like French, German and Spanish there are plenty of courses to choose from so you should be able to find one that suits and interests you. A dictionary, grammar book and phrasebook are also very useful accompaniments.
It’s better if you get into the habit of studying every day, even if this is for only 15 or 20 minutes, rather than studying for an hour or two once a week. Studying every day will help you retain what you’re learning and might be easier to fit in. There will probably be at least some times during the day you can devote to studying – while commuting to work, cooking dinner or walking the dog, for example. You won’t necessarily be able to use books in all cases, but you probably will be able to listen to lessons and other material.
Try to immerse yourself as much as possible in the language by listening to it on the radio, watching TV programmes and films, and reading books, magazines, websites, etc. This will help you tune your ears to the sounds and rhythms of the language and familiarise you with the words and structures, even if you don’t understand much at first. Eventually you will be able to understand and will be able to work out the meanings of many unfamiliar words from the context.
To improve your command of a language, lots of practice is needed. You can practise speaking the language to yourself and with anybody else you know who speaks it already, or is trying to learn it as well.
There could be conversation groups in your area, or if not, maybe you could start one. You can also chat to people online via Skype and similar programs.
Keeping a diary or blog is a good way to practise writing your language. At first you probably won’t be able to write much, so stick to simple sentences until you’re confident about using longer, more complex ones. On a blog you can ask your readers to correct your mistakes and comment on your usage of the language. You could also comment on other people’s blogs and contribute to forums. Another way to practise reading and writing is to correspond with someone and/or to chat with them online.
Tags: independent, progress, self-study, language, tailor-made
Posted by Simon Ager 2009-02 under Types of Courses, Making Progress,
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