If You Move To A Country, How Long To Learn Language
I was asked recently when you move to a new country, how long does it take to learn the language there? This is a very good question because a lot of people have misconceptions about learning a foreign language in a new country.
The truth is, it is very easy to mess this opportunity up. I know plenty of people who have lived in foreign countries for long periods of time… even more than 10 years and still cannot speak or read the language at all. On the other hand, there are many people who go to a new country and pick up the language pretty well so that after a few years of living there, they are able to speak it at an advanced level.
Unfortunately, you can’t just expect to become fluent in a new language by merely travelling to a new country. It still takes some work on your part to make progress in the language. The good news, however, is that by being in the country where the language is spoken, you are surrounded by opportunities everyday (including non-study periods) where you will be exposed to the language and therefore make progress in it.
For example, when you are on the train, you will be exposed to advertisements in the foreign language. When you go to the supermarket, everything will be written in the language you are studying and the people around you will be speaking the language. For this reason, even though you are not studying a language book, you are still “studying” the language and so you get a lot more “study” time in by being in the country rather than being back home where these situations would normally be conducted in English. This is the main benefit of living in the country where the language is spoken.
However, to make full use of these opportunities, it’s necessary to do a little study of what you perceive around you. You may want to keep track of the vocabulary you come across again and again so that you will be able to understand it the next time. You will want to get repeated exposure to certain sentence patterns in order to internalize them.
So, if you ever have the opportunity to go to the country where the language you are studying is spoken, make sure you make good use of this chance and don’t mess it up by speaking English all the time or not taking the time to do a little study! If you want the best method to study a foreign language so that you can learn as much as possible in your stay, I suggest taking a look at the book I’ve written.
If you want the fastest method to learn a language so that you will become fluent in a foreign language in a matter of months, learn thousands of words without worrying about forgetting them, master grammar and do all of this in an enjoyable, painless manner then you need to read Learn That Language Now!
How Long Does It Take To Learn A Foreign Language
A common question for foreign language learners is, how long does it take to learn a foreign language? Of course, if you are beginning on the path to fluency in a new language, it is an important question to ask. I’ll go over this question and offer an answer.
There are primarily two factors to consider when thinking about how long it will take to learn a new language. The first factor is how different the language you are studying is from your native language, English and also the amount of experience you have studying foreign languages. The second factor deals mainly with the way or method you are using to learn a new language.
The closer a language is to English, the less time it will take to learn it because a lot of what you have already learned in your native language will carry over to the new language. For example. if you are learning Spanish, you will find that a lot of words are very similar like “international” vs. “internacional” (compare this to a very different language like Japanese and you find, “kokusai”, which shows you how much easier Spanish learners have it). Additionally, you will find that sentence structure and word position will be much easier to learn because it will be more similar to your native language.
Typically, reaching basic fluency in a language similar to English like Spanish, French, Dutch, Swedish, Italian, etc. requires about 200 hours of active study. Getting to a more advanced level will, of course, require more study time.
Medium level languages like Russian, Polish, Greek, Thai, Hindi, Tagalog, Czech, Vietnamese, etc. will require about 300-400 hours of active study to reach the same level as someone studying 200 hours in an “easier” language like Spanish.
More dissimilar languages from English like Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, Korean, Arabic, Cantonese, etc. will require perhaps 500+ hours to reach a basic fluency. Again, getting to an advanced proficiency will require many, many more hours.
As I said before, the second factor determining how quickly you reach fluency in a foreign language is the method or way you are learning your new language. If you study once a week for a couple of hours, it will take many more hours and a lot of time to get to the same level as someone studying a little bit each day. Additionally, the way you learn and structure your studies will have some affect on the time it takes. If you simply read materials and never keep track of the vocabulary you are learning and do review, you will find that it takes a lot longer.
So, what is the quickest, fastest method for learning a foreign language? If you are truly interested in this topic, I highly recommend taking a look at the book I’ve written on the subject. It will teach you everything you need to know about learning foreign languages includnig the exact system needed to make sure you learn a new language in the fastest amount of time possible.
If you want the fastest method to learn a language so that you will become fluent in a foreign language in a matter of months, learn thousands of words without worrying about forgetting them, master grammar and do all of this in an enjoyable, painless manner then you need to read Learn That Language Now!
Learning A Second Language Can Help You In The Long Run
I heard someone say recently that learning a second language can help you in the long run. Now, this sentence is perhaps a bit ambiguous but it is an interesting topic so let’s examine why this might be true.
In some cases, learning a second language can be tremendously helpful. For example, it can improve your job prospects or get you a larger salary in a job you already have. Economically speaking, knowing a second language can be quite beneficial if you market the skill.
Additionally, knowing a foreign language can open up new doors for you in your personal life. You can create new friendships that you otherwise would not have had access to before. You can travel to new places and enjoy a better trip there because of your language ability. You also can enter a new world of entertainment including television programs, movies, books, newspapers, magazines, etc. in the foreign language that you are studying.
From a medical standpoint, it’s been shown that knowing a second language can prevent the onset of brain diseases like alzheimer’s and dementia. Studying a foreign language can be a good way to give your brain a work out and prevent the loss of cognitive ability as you grow older. It’s also a fun way to keep learning.
Ultimately, learning a second language is beneficial in the long run because it is helpful in all three arenas: economic, personal and medical. But, this is not to say that I recommend forcing anyone to learn a new language if they do not really want to. Learning a language is a hard process and if you try to force yourself to learn a new language, not only will you not progress very far but you will also drive yourself crazy learning new vocabulary and grammar. So, make sure the language learning process is a fun one and that learning the foreign language of your choice is really what you want.
And, if you want the fastest method to learn a language so that you will become fluent in a foreign language in a matter of months, learn thousands of words without worrying about forgetting them, master grammar and do all of this in an enjoyable, painless manner then you need to read Learn That Language Now!