Subject:Communication and

presentation skills
Theme:10 Rules for Learning Foreign Languages in Record
Time

Lecturer:MA.Bukurije Hyseni-Bllacaku
Student:Mirvete Hyseni

December ,2014

10 Rules for Learning Foreign

Languages in Record Time
1

Learn the right words, the right way

2 Learn cognates: your friend in every single language
3 Interact in your language daily without traveling
4 Save your money. The best resources are free
5 Skype today for daily spoken practice
6 Realize that adults are actually better language learners than kids
7 Expand your vocabulary with mnemonics
8 Embrace mistakes
9 Create SMART goals
10 Became a polyglot

1 Learn the right words, the right way.

Starting a new language means learning new words. Lots

of them.
Of course, many people cite a bad memory for learning
new vocab, so they quit before even getting started.
Butheres the keyyou absolutely donotneed to know
all the words of a language to speak it (and in fact, you
dont know all the words of your mother tongue either).
20% of the effort you spend on acquiring new vocab
could ultimately give you 80% comprehension in a
languagefor instance, in Englishjust 300 words make
up 65% of all written material. We use those words
alot,and thats the case in every other language as well.

2 Learn cognates:your friend in every single language.

Believe it or not, you alreadyright nowhave a

huge head start in your target language. With
language learning you always know at least
some words before you ever begin.
Many languages also have words that share a
common (Greek/Latin or other) root, which can
be spelled differently, such as exemple,
hlicoptre
(Fr),Helikopter(Al),Airport(Eng),Aeroporti(Al)
astronoma, and Saturno
(Spanish),Astronomia(Al)

3 Interact in your language daily without traveling.

Another reason people cite for not learning languages is that they cant
visit a country where its a native language. No time, no money, etc
There are countless expats who lived abroad foryearswithout learning
the local language. Living abroad and being immersed isnotthe same
thing.In our culture we have our imigration particulary women that they
live in a foreign country for several years but are not able to speak the
language of that country.No interes.
Technology makes it possible for immersion to come to you, and you
dont even have to buy a plane ticket.
Living abroad and being immersed isnotthe same thing.You dont even
have to buy a plane ticket.
Towatchthe language consistently there are various news stations also
have plenty of video content online in specific languages, such as
France24,Deutsche Welle,CNN Espaol,

4 Save your money. The best

resources are free.

A wonderful and completely free course that

keeps getting better isDuoLingo- which I
highly recommend for its selection of European
languages currently on offer.
There are pleanty of them such as:
, let me offer plenty of other (good) alternatives:
TheForeign Service Institutes varied list of
courses
TheOmniglot Intro to languages
BBC languagesintro to almost 40 different
languages

5 Skype today for daily spoken practice.

So youve been listening to, watching, and even

reading in your target languageand all in the
comfort of your own home. Now its time for the
big one:speaking it live with a native.
But waitwhere do you find a native speaker if
you arent in the country that speaks that
language?
But waitwhere do you find a native speaker if
you arent in the country that speaks that
language?
Speak to Albanian emigration

6 Realize that adults are actually

better language learners than kids.
Theresearch has confirmed that adults can
bebetterlanguage learners than kids.
This study at the University of Haifahas found that
under the right circumstances, adults show an
intuition for unexplained grammar rules better
than their younger c
Also, no study hasevershown any direct
correlation between reduced language acquisition
skill and increased age ounterparts.

7 Expand your vocabulary with mnemonics.

Rote repetition isnt enough.
And while its true that repeated exposure sometimes
burns a word into your memory, it can be frustrating to
forget a word that youve already heard a dozen times.
For this, I suggest coming up withmnemonicsabout
your target word, which helps glue the word to your
memory way more effectively. Basically, you tell yourself
a funny, silly, or otherwise memorable story to associate
with a particular word. You can come up with the
mnemonic yourself, but a wonderful (andfree) resource
that I highly recommend ismemrise.com.

8 Embrace mistakes.

Over half of the planet speaks more than one language.

This means that monolingualism is a cultural, not a biological,
consequence. So when adult fail at language learning, its not
because they dont have the right genes or other such
nonsense. Its becausethe system they have used to learn
languages
The differences between your native language (L1) and your
target language (L2) are presented as vocabulary and grammar
rules to memorize is broken.
The problem is that you cant ever truly learn a language,
youget used to it. Its not a thing that you know or dont know;
its ameans of communication between human beings.
Languages should not be acquired by rote alonethey need to
beused.

9 Create SMART goals.

Another failing of most learning approaches is a poorly defined end-goal.

S.M.A.R.T.goals on the other hand areSpecific, Measurable, Attainable,
Relevant,andTime-bound.
To start developing SMART goal in a language, you need to become
somewhat familiar with theEuropean Common Framework that defines
language levels.
In brief, A meansbeginner, B meansintermediate,and C
meansadvanced, and each level is broken up intolower(1) andupper(2)
categories.These levels are absolutelyMeasurablebecause officially
recognized institutions can test you on them and provide diplom in
German,French,Spanish,Irish, andeach other official European language .
While the same scale is not used, you can also get tested in a similar way
inChineseandJapanese.
So what do you aim for? And what do words like fluency and mastery
mean on a practical level?

10 Became a polyglot

If your ultimate goal is to

speakmultiplelanguages, you can repeat this
process over multiple times, but focuson one
language at a time until you reach at least the
intermediate level. Take each language one by
one, until you reach a stage where you know
you can confidently use it. And then you may
just be ready for the next ones!