Include your target language in your daily life.

Suppose you have made the bold decision of learning a new language. In that case, it’s no mystery to you that practicing can sometimes be challenging, especially if you’re not immersed in a speaking country of that language.

From the moment you decide to embark on a language learning journey, you need to commit. To really learn, you have to LIVE the language!

“But how do I learn the language if no one around me speaks it?”  you might ask.

The answer is relatively simple: create your own immersion. You have to be creative, constant, and persistent. And that’s not easy. Constancy and persistence don’t come handed to you on a silver plate.

Thinking about that, we thought to help you out with the creative part!

Here are some tips on how you can create immersion and live your target language every day:

1.  Listen to anything and everything every day!

   The first and most obvious one. If you don’t live in a country that speaks the language you’re trying to learn, listen to people who do. You can watch movies, TV shows, videos, listen to music, and podcasts as much as you can! The internet is full of free content; use it as a tool! Did you know that our academy has a YouTube channel with lots of helpful content you can practice and use in your personal and professional life? Click here to check it out.

2. Follow native speakers on social media.

   Technology is all around us, and we’ve reached a point where we can’t live without it. If you are the kind of person who uses social media every single day in your life, instead of just wasting your precious time, make it worthwhile by following interesting people who only speak your target language. Watch their stories, read their post captions, and write a comment every once in a while. You’ll be practicing without even noticing, and guess what? This type of exercise is considered studying. Can you imagine?

3. Journaling

   Make writing a habit and start a journal.
   You can start by writing short sentences about your day. Then, gradually, you’ll easily be able to talk about your deepest feelings while having incredible writing skills. Do you know the benefits of writing a journal? It can help with anxiety, creativity, and even language learning. I can’t find one reason not to start a journal.

4. Talk to yourself.

   It might sound a bit wild, but talking to yourself aloud is a great strategy. You can start by naming the objects around you, then make up sentences to narrate simple daily tasks. You’ll be practicing grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, and rhythm, without necessarily talking to someone and thinking, “omg, if I make a mistake they will judge me.” You’ll practice your communication skills by being aware of your errors and correcting them as you go. If you miss some words (and you will), that is your chance to search and increase your vocabulary. Most times, you only realize you don’t know a word when you need to use it.

5. Shadowing

   Shadowing is also a great technique to practice your speaking skills. Whenever you put strategy number 1 in practice, make sure you also try this one! The shadowing technique consists of imitating words, sentences, pronunciation, and rhythm from listening to speakers. You can do it while watching a movie, for example. When a character says something, pause the video and try to repeat it as closely as you can. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but when you repeat something aloud, you exercise not only your brain, but also all the muscles you need to produce those sounds and intonations.

Extra tip:

While doing the shadowing technique, you can also record yourself and listen to your own pronunciation and way of speaking. This way, you’ll be able to listen to yourself, compare it to the original, and see what you need to improve. It’s a fantastic exercise!

Learning something new doesn’t have to be a nightmare; it can be super fun if you do it the right way 😉