Spend time in foreign communities

[Optimism]

If you're learning Spanish for example, there will be loads of communities on the internet to interact with. You can find them everywhere (especially in Spanish), and try to communicate with people. You don't have to go and translate everything, you can simply observe as you grasp the basics.

YouTube videos help a lot too. Not actual language teaching videos, but rather videos that are (for example) in Spanish themselves. Vlogs for instance. You can then take a look at the comments section, in which people will talk about the video, making it easier to understand them.
Obviously, this will feel more like having fun, rather than learning. Which is a great bonus!

I would recommend doing this while you are already following a course. Though this does help, it doesn't replace studying the proper way.

 

[Karla Franken]

I would also recommend that you find a person to talk to in the language you are trying to learn (i.e. Spanish or French). In this day and age this really is not that complicated. You can start with social networks or, if you want something more safer, there are numrous sites that are specialized in arranging foreign langauge tutors online. For instance, if you want to learn Portuguese, you can connect with people from Portugal or Brazil through these sites, and find someone who shares your taste in music, or has some other similar interests.

On the other hand, you can try finding someone who knows Portuguese - there are many exchange students, especially in the US and the UK, or you can always find a person who has spent time in Portuguese-speaking countries. Communicating with aperson who is fluent in a certain language, a person who can also correct your mistakes and teach you slang and common phrases, will make a major improvement on your language proficiency. At first, the meetings might be a bit awkward or even embarrassing, due to the fact that this is not your first language, so you will have to communicate a lot by miming or making gestures, but don't worry.

Remember: lack of is confidence one of the greatest enemies of learning foreign languages. Don't be afraid to make a fool of yourself or fail. Only by speaking and actively using a language will you be able to fully master it.

 

[SirJoe]

The best way to make your language skills make that jump, is to speak with native speakers. Looking at videos can really help but most of the videos that are available are scripted or edited afterwards. Speaking to a native speaker will give you a chance to have a conversation, which is something that often lacks in most courses. One thing is reading phrase to the class mate, it's a whole other story holding a conversation.

 

[Guy]

I believe that you are right, I have seen many people on youtube that speak in Spanish, but if I don't know what they are saying then I can't figure it out ever so I stayed on language learning channels and it really helped.

I found one product called Fluenz, and that was something that I think everyone should be on, it was very helpful for me and I'm not fluent yet, but I can speak and write many things.

 

[remnant]

Speaking with native speakers is the recommended method, well said save for the small matter of accent and intonation. I would recommend that the preliminary stages of language learning should be academic in order to get a grasp of the vocabularies and sentence structure. From here, one can now use interactive videos before linking up with native speakers to practice the language to address accent and intonation.

 

[pwarbi]

When trying to learn a foreign language then it does take more than just learning from a book or sitting i front of a teacher. While that way we can learn the basics of a language we will only be able to interact and converse in that language if we try and surround ourselves with people ho are actually speaking that language on a day to day basis.

Many people who are moving to a new country for example will often try and learn the language before they go, but they will only really be able to learn that language and use it daily when they get over there and start to be around those people every day.

 

[Alumno]

Reading comments doesn't seem like a good technique, however, knowing about other cultures is realyl easy, especially on the internet where you're basically connected to everybody in thsi world. Watching videos and movies could make it easier for you, of course.

 

[Aree Wongwanlee]

This is a good idea. Spending time in foreign communities can achieve many purposes. One, it will help us to find new friends outside our normal social circle. Two, it will give us an understanding of other cultures. Three, it will be a tremendous help in learning another language.

 

[craigsamuel]

I've been living in Colombia for the past 10 months. Prior to moving to Colombia, I had no previous Spanish training. My progress so far is as follows: I can understand almost everything when spoken to slowly. I can express myself in every situation. When Spanish is spoken to me at normal speed, I get the main idea but miss many details. For ear training, I watch hours and hours of Netflix and Youtube videos in Spanish with Spanish subtitles. I speak with my friends in Spanish every chance I get. It's going to take thousands of more hours to get to fluency, but I'll get there. Learning a new language as an adult is one of the greatest challenges, but so rewarding.

 

[charmaine delenila]

It is a good idea to spend time in foreign communities. Exploring and learning their culture and language could help you understand their beliefs. Also, learning their language could provide you great opportunities and added skills.

 

[Potch Uy]

Spending time in foreign communities is fit thing for me to do. I desire to go other places. I would like to travel all over the world. It is good to learn new languages through the help of internet before going to other places.

 

[Mora]

I watched this guy on youtube the other day and he is a language expert he speeks over 7 languages, and he basically sad the same thing as you did, in order for you to learn a language quicker it must be fun, or else you gonna take for ever, he also mentioned his learning methods, generally the idea that I got from his speech is that you need to "live the language", watch movies about it, listen to music in it, and most importantly is get you a speaking bud, some one that can hold your hand and show you around in baby steps as he sad.