Upon exploring for ideas, I found that there are several approaches for learning a new language that each polyglot takes, people who speak multiple languages. Such as learning a few phrases at first and then start talking with native speakers with those phrases, learning 500 most used words on the first week, starting a preferred show or a book dubbed on that language, imitating the sounds of the language, learning the grammar, learning the sentence structure et cetera. The list would not stop because every polyglot has their own unique method to learn a new language. However, there's one thing that is common in everyone which is loving the process of language learning.
In this article, I will share some of the principles that are followed by various polyglots for learning a new language and the steps which I found helpful for me to learn Deutsch. Hence, this article will be in two parts.
Part A
Let's talk about the principles that are followed by all the polyglots. Here are a few!
Enjoyment
Enjoying the language learning process is the most paramount step for learning a language. One must find a way to make language learning process a dull academic course to an exciting, pleasurable deed that s/he doesn't mind doing every day.
Methods
Having effective methods of learning is just as important as enjoying the process itself. For example, it is necessary to learn the vocabularies of a language to speak it. Everyone knows that. However, memorizing the words into the short-term memory will lead anyone to forget the words just after one week. However, using methods like spaced repetition and goldlist could make someone capable of having the words in their memory while it wasn't possible before.
System
Without a specific strong reason or deep passion, do we have enough time to spend for learning a new language? Probably not. This is why it is important to have a system or specific set of rules particularly dedicated to learning process. Like listening to podcasts while going somewhere, listening to news of that language during eating, waking up 15 minutes before to learn some new vocabularies et cetera.
Patience
It is completely normal to take some time until someone can speak fluently. Speaking fluently completely depends on how much time and effort is invested. Having a gap in the learning process always harms the learning experience. However, speaking with a native speaker always helps fasten the process and boosts confidence and hope.
Part B
Personal experience is always precious and more insightful. When it comes to learning a language, as I said before, I had the firsthand experience. I am still on A1 phase of Deutsch which is why I can only share how to get started with the learning process. I have followed some steps from the beginning along with the above principles for my learning experience and here are a few of them.
Source
Following a single source to learn the language is very important. Mixing different sources to learn from at the very beginning is never a good idea because everyone has their own different approach to learning and teaching as I said before. This is why, it's a necessity to learn from a single source at the very beginning.
I started learning from a YouTube channel which was convenient for me as it was free. There are different playlists for learners according to the level of the Deutsch language as per the European Framework such as A1, A2 etc. The name of the channel is Learn German.
For someone who is looking for a paid course, Udemy has some resourceful courses. I found one course which I thought was very organized for beginners and it was taught by a native speaker of the Deutsch language.
Vocabulary
Without knowing the words of a language, one simply cannot speak or read in a language. Which is why it's important to learn vocabulary from the very beginning.
I found two apps in Google Play which I found was very helpful in my learning process. There are free and premium versions of the apps for different useful features. The name of the apps are German Words and Learn German Words. Using one of them to learn vocabularies is enough as they both use flash cards within the app.
Sentence Structure
To start speaking in a language, one must know the sentence structure. Different language has different sentence structure. To start speaking from the very first day in Deutsch, I started learning sentence structure of the language. I can honestly say that it has helped me a lot more than I thought to learn Deutsch.
Apart from these, I started watching Dark TV series which is entirely in Deutsch. It has helped me to pick up the sound and accent of the language.
There are lots of other ways and approaches to learning a language. It completely depends on the learner which approach is convenient for him/her. The most important thing is keeping patience, motivated and trusting him/herself.
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