Language Learning Tip: Diversification

One thing to remember when trying to learn a new language is not to put all of your eggs in one basket.

There are a lot of programs and methods out there that claim to be the best way to learn a particular language, with some marketing campaigns even claiming that you can become fluent in a new language in a a matter of days or weeks.

Unless you are some sort of savant, these claims are usually bogus.

Sure, some methods work better than others, but it would be a fallacy to think that just one of these routes to learning your target language is guaranteed.  It's also difficult for most people to follow only one path of study.  That's why it is best to diversify.

Here are a few of the different mediums that I have used to learn Russian, but can be applied to other foreign languages as well:

Rosetta Stone is a great program when used in conjunction with other language learning methods. Its lessons have many different sections that each focus on different skills.

While Rosetta Stone does provide opportunities to practice speaking and writing, its strengths lie in its ability to instill reading and listening skills while also being a great vocabulary builder. It also helps in learning grammar intuitively, without explicitly stating the actual rules.  You will not see a word of English the entire time you are using the Rosetta Stone program.

Rosetta Stone is very expensive, so it's best to look around for a used copy online or at a public library.

Personally, I think Pimsleur may be the best option available for someone who is just starting to learn a new language from scratch.

Pimsleur will have you speaking your target language with a believable accent within the first 30 minutes of using it. For the most popular languages, Pimsleur offers 90 audio lessons, each about 25 to 30 minutes long. The primary skill learned with Pimsleur is speaking, though it does help you develop some listening and reading skills as well. The first thing I did when I decided I was committed to learning Russian was get ahold of the 90 Pimsleur Russian lessons.

Pimsleur won't teach you hundreds of vocabulary words, but the words that it does teach you will provide a solid foundation from which to build. In my estimation, you will probably learn 300-400 words after completing all 90 lessons. What Pimsleur lacks in vocabulary, it more than makes up for in speaking skills, listening skills, and intuitive grammar. The constant repetition really drives the information home, and by the end of the program, you will find yourself confident and ready to partake in simple conversations in your new language.

It is a great base and stepping stone to other methods, but once completed, it always helps to go back every now and then to review the lessons.

In today's world, language learning has never been easier with the plethora of resources available on the internet. No matter what language you are learning, it is very easy to find television and radio programs streaming online.

In my own studies of the Russian language, I am able to watch one of Russia's primary news networks, Vesti, live through their website, which I try to watch for at least 15 to 30 minutes each day.  A Google search will probably help you find similar television stations' websites in your target language as well.

Also, a search engine inquiry of "[your target language] radio" will usually provide you with a number of different online radio stations in the your language.

Watching television and listening to radio in a foreign language can be a bit overwhelming at first. Even after finishing all 90 Russian Pimsleur lessons and the entire Rosetta Stone program, it was still very daunting for me to hear Russians speaking at their natural pace. It takes a while during this "immersion" period to adapt to the speed at which you're hearing the language spoken, but very gradually, things will become clear and it's quite fun to feel like you are "cracking a code" as you understand more and more.

It always helps to have a textbook on hand, regardless of how helpful other methods of study have been. They are an invaluable source of vocabulary, and the good ones are also very good at explaining the finer details of grammar.

I realize that most people reading this are either not studying a foreign language at the moment, or they are studying something besides Russian, the language I am studying. Nevertheless, in the off chance that there are other Russian students reading this, I would recommend the New Penguin Russian Course, which is hands down the best Russian textbook available.

If you are studying another language, this is where the search engines become your friend once again, and searching for something like "best [target language] textbook" should yield some helpful results.

When using fiction books to supplement your language learning experience, it's best to start with children's books. Just like a child, you are learning from the ground up, so it would make sense to approach literature in that same way. As you progress in your studies, you will want to gradually start reading more and more difficult texts.

Off the top of my head, I can think of two authors whose books have been published in many different languages: Dr. Seuss for the beginner students out there, and Agatha Christie for the more advanced ones. Seeing as there is a big gap between these two reading levels, I would recommend reading newspapers in your target language as a more intermediate source of material. Google can help you out with that as well.

Music can be difficult to find in other languages, especially if you are trying to suit it to your own musical tastes. However, once you have found some music in your target language, you can almost always find the lyrics for it online. Translating the lyrics, and then subsequently following along while listening to the music, is another great way to pick up on things you might not get from other methods of study, such as rhymes, puns, and idiomatic expressions.

With the arrival of social networking sites like Facebook, there has been an emergence of other social networking sites on the web for individuals studying foreign languages and cultures. Livemocha is probably the most popular such site, but another simple search engine search will probably reveal to you some social networking sites solely in your language of study.

These are a great way to meet people with similar interests and goals as you, as well as people who speak your target language as their native tongue and can help you along in your studies.

Diversification of your studies not only helps you to build different language skills by attacking them from different angles, but it also helps to prevent you from getting burned out by doing the same monotonous routine each day.

These methods of study listed here are just a handful of ways to go about learning a new language. The point is to try different things, and to switch it up when certain approaches become dull and repetitive, replacing them with newer strategies.