How to learn a language part #2: Set up for success 4-7

After you’ve gotten through 1-3, you are ready to finish up your preparation and then get on to the actual learning process. Let’s finish getting set up for success.

4) Choose a subject and gather relevant materials

While the top 300-700 most common words for your selected language will get you far, fluency is still far away. There are still key words that are subject specific that you will have to learn. The best way to do this, is directly diving into different subjects.

Choose something that you love and already do now in English (or your native tongue). If you don’t read the newspaper, then don’t choose to read newspapers in another language. If you spend most of your time playing video games, then the best way for you to learn another language is through video games. If you like dancing, then choose dancing. If you like music, then choose music. It’s up to you. This way motivation will come easily, and you don’t have to fight both the complications of learning in a new language and the dullness of the subject matter.

Gather any materials for your subject as you can. I chose playing video games, so I bookmarked Chinese video game sites and downloaded a game client in Chinese. I also like music, so I began learning Chinese songs.

5) Find a community

You learn a language in order to communicate, so you need to find a community. It is best if that community not only speaks the language you are trying to learn, but also is interested in the same subjects you are. This is easier if you are in a country that speaks the language, but if not it’s not impossible.

These communities can be online or in real life (face to face is always better). While at University I joined a Chinese club and all of the meetings were in Chinese. They loved to sing KTV, and I love music, so I was always really inspired to learn new songs to show off at our KTV events. There were a lot of events that I attended and was able to make a lot of friends. There were also some cute girls in the club, and eventually one became my girlfriend. Might as well kill two birds with one stone (although since I’m vegan I’m not sure what I’d do with the birds afterward..).

Learning a language in isolation will get you nowhere fast and to fluency only in your dreams.

6) Prepare additional materials

a) Dictionary: You will need to constantly look up words, so make sure to have it on you at all times. I recommend using a paperback dictionary, as it gives feeling to the looking up process. When learning it is best to use as many senses as you can, and the feel of using a paperback dictionary adds the sense of touch into the equation. Some of you may prefer electronic dictionaries with all sorts of functions – just try not to get wrapped up in functionality as opposed to practicality.

b) Flash Cards: Paper Only. You need to go through the process of writing each individual word. Make new flashcards each week with the top 50-100 words that you learned recently, and have 2 stacks of flashcards: one for this weeks words, and one for last weeks. You should be constantly going through 200 words at any given time.

c) Audio lessons / MP3 player: Don’t waste any time, especially not time that most people usually see as dead time. Throw on a podcast (such as from chinesepod) or some music in your given language. You don’t have to be fully conscious while listening, and even can be asleep while it’s playing. Any extra listening exposure that you can get is worth it. Your ears need to adjust to be able distinguish between the different sentences, words and sounds. In the beginning everything will sound like a jumbled mess, but the more you listen, the better your ears and brain will get at filtering the information: you just need exposure. Do yourself a favor and get an MP3 player.

7) Buy your plane ticket

If you want to acquire a language the right way, you have to plan some time to spend in a country that speaks it. If you can’t find a way to do this, then there had better be a large community around you that speaks it, and even then you will be taking baby steps compared to someone who is completely immersed in the language.

If you aren’t ready to jump on a plane within the next three months, don’t learn the language. Wait until you can make the proper arrangements to get yourself abroad for at least a 3 month time frame and your time will be used far more effectively.

This series is about learning a language in under 2 years, so if you can’t follow this step then you’d better be prepared for a lot longer period of time before you gain fluency. There is no comparison between being constantly surrounded by the language in every aspect of life, compared to only in controlled situations of your own choosing.

You don’t have to jump on a plane right away, and actually it is not ideal to do it that way. In the beginning you won’t be ready to take on the jungle, so you should spend between 1 and 3 months in preparation with the basics before you run off; however, it will give you an extra kick of motivation if you buy the plane ticket ahead of time.

Here’s the preparation checklist before you are ready to start the learning process:

1) Deconstruct the language (Find a native speaker)
2) Make a cheat sheet
3) Find the most common 100 and 300 words
4) Choose a subject and gather relevant materials
5) Find a community
6) Buy your plane ticket

Congratulations! Now you are ready to start learning a new language.

If anyone has anything to add to this list let me know. I will make an additional post with the additional tips later on if there are enough useful tips that I left out.

Related posts:

1. How to learn a language part #2: Set up for success 1-3
2. Should I learn a new language: Part one: Motivation
3. Should I learn a new language: Part two: Interest + Courage
4. How to learn a language in under 2 years Part #1: Get out of school

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