Learning a foreign language isn’t about classes or homework – it’s about immersion in the process. Want to become as fluent in French as a native speaker?
Decided to Learn French? Here Are 8 Life Hacks You Never Thought of!
Learning a foreign language is not about surrounding yourselves by dozens of research papers. You won’t get the skills you need through studies alone, regardless of how hard you try. There are simply more things than manuscripts and books in learning a foreign language. Every language has its own soul, its spirit.
Native speakers will bend rules to their favor if needed, they will use nothing but intonation to completely change the meaning of words. Some forms may be replaced with the others in a friendly chatter. Certain phrases can be appropriate for official conversations while being awkward among friends, relatives or lovers.
Immersion into the language has the capability of teaching you all of the details I have kindly mentioned above and more! But how can you gain an immersive learning experience while abroad, in a totally different country with an opposite culture as well as comprehension of reality?
5 life hacks for an immersive educational experience
There are still ways you can master a language to your best advantage. You don’t even have to leave the comfort of your couch for it. Here’s how you can do it!
- Hire one of many online French tutors that operate within Skype. This way you will gain from personalized lessons while actively communicating with a native speaker. Not only will you master spelling and grammar but you will have a chance to chat in just the way people in France do. In simpler words – you get your personal French guy in your pocket and all it takes you is to embrace a new lesson is the phone with Skype installed. Do note that tons of homework as well as intense sessions of studies still await.
- Go to Facebook. Or Twitter. Or Reddit. Whatever the case – use social media as your advantage. Enroll into some awesome, France-specific pages and spy on people. Look at how they interact with each other, how they communicate which words they use. Social media allows you to learn about more casual, pop culture-oriented ways of learning languages. Plus, it’s really fun so why not give it a shot?
- Go hardcore mode with French. Change all of your system’s languages into the language of love. Your windows, Android, iOS, browsers ad apps – change all of that into French and you will get acquainted with it in a heartbeat. Trust me on this one – nothing beats the immersion of all the things that surround you on a daily basis.
- If something interests you – look for a French version. A movie, a book, a video on YouTube – whatever the case, look it up on French. Don’t forget to embrace the reaction of the native-speaking community. How do they comment below the match or the film you just saw? What do they tweet?
- Use a spellchecker! This one may be a bit too counterintuitive, but trust me, a spellchecker is really the way to go. You are making the same typos in the same places over and over again. Seeing a red line underneath will irritate you until you finally get the right spelling. For ever and ever. You just have to repeat correcting it enough times.
That’s it – you are now the master!
No, seriously, I mean it. Follow these five simple tips during at least a week in a row and you will see serious progress. In a month you will enhance your skills from pre-intermediate to advance. You will be a fluent French user within less than a year. Some of my most skilled students have mastered the art of language within 3-4 months and I find that impressive.
Books or classrooms will never teach you the level of French I just wrote about. Only hardcore practice as well as absolute immersion is capable of doing miracles. Enjoy your newly gained knowledge and don’t forget to use it in real life!
PS: Do you have any other tricks up your sleeve? Don’t be shy to share them right now!
