1. Watch Your Favorite Movies and Shows in Your Target Language
Everyone should make some time to relax and watch their favorite movie or show! Most streaming apps have a great language selection. Choose something you have seen many times so that you know what’s going on and you can really catch on to what they are saying even if you are just starting out in the language. It might feel silly at first and you may even feel lost the first few times you try it. Eventually you will start to catch on and before you know it you will be comprehending more and more of your target language. Our brains are pretty cool like that!
2. Listen to Podcasts in Your Target Language
There are podcasts for literally everything these days. Whether you are a more advanced speaker of a foreign language or a beginner there are podcasts made for you. A great way to find podcasts that you would want to listen to is to look it up on Pinterest!There are podcasts that are dedicated to teaching languages or you can look up podcasts about a different subject that you would like to listen to.
For example, if your target language is French and you enjoy baking, look up the best French baking podcast on Pinterest. The cool thing about listening to podcasts is that you can multitask and accomplish something else on your forever long to-do list all while working on becoming more fluent in a foreign language. Next time you’re cooking dinner, folding laundry, taking the kids to school, working out, etc… try out this tip!
3. Narrate Your Day
This may sound silly but this is really effective and takes little to no extra time! I am fluent in Spanish but if I do not use Spanish for a long time I get a little rusty. One of the ways I brush up on it is literally talking to myself as I go about my day. You will hear me saying things like "I am going to brush my teeth now" in Spanish or "Today is trash day, I better take out the trash".
Go on a walk and describe the things around you. If you have kids, this is a great way to teach them while you are practicing yourself! While you are narrating you will probably come across words that you cannot remember or have never used before. This is where WordReference comes in. Download the WordReference app on your phone and get word by word translations of any language in seconds.
4. Change Your Phone Language
I remember the first time I changed my phone language to French I felt so cool. Not only was I learning how to navigate my phone in another language, other people couldn’t snoop through my phone without getting confused! It also sounded really cool to say "oh yeah, my phone is actually in French" and watch people think I was awesome. At least I thought they thought I was awesome. Maybe they just thought I was weird. Nah. Anyways, this truly forces you to think in another language on the daily!
5. Download Duolingo
Duolingo has been around for a while… and its still the app I recommend the most for language learning for kids and adults alike. It works on grammar, vocabulary, conversation, pronunciation, and reading. You can even set it up so that Duolingo reminds you to practice 10 minutes a day. You can sneak in some practice time while you are waiting for your food to heat up in the microwave, or waiting in line at the grocery store (or waiting in your car for grocery pick up), or maybe while you are just lounging around at home. If you are a more advanced speaker in your target language you can test out of the beginner levels and skip to the more advanced levels. Its super fun!
There you have it, learn your target language TODAY! If you enjoyed these tips please let me know and share it with your friends!
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Kim Musalimov
Cathryn Lavery
Paul Hanaoka
Want a plan, not just tips?
Mamá Chilanga's curriculum is a complete 35-week school year of Spanish — planned, sequenced and open-and-go, from a teacher born and raised in Mexico City.