Do you want to learn a foreign language but not sure where to get started?
Or you’re probably looking for the best options/methods to get you started.
Well if you fit into one of these categories then you are not alone.
We are just like you and it started for us about 5-6 years ago.
Lord Cameron started learning French and I, Lord Wong, started learning Chinese.
It was around summer time while we were in college and we had plenty of time on our hands so we decided to dedicate 4 hours a day to learning our targeted languages.
Unfortunately that was a lot of time wasted, I was using rosetta stone and cam had his own process.
Even though we seen some progress, and I stress some, un poquito for my Spanish learners, it wasn’t the results we really wanted.
We thought we knew what we were doing but it wasn’t efficient.
And now we have dedicated a portion of our time to this blog for people just like us…
People struggling to learn and speak another language and then knowing what the best and most efficient way to reach your goal.
Greetings language learners from the language lords.
We are just 2 guys who have a strong interest in learning multiple languages and wanted to share our findings and best practices that has worked for us.
That is why we will give a simple outline of how you can get started and learn a foreign language on your own.
We know there are many methodologies and practices out there and it can get quite confusing trying to navigate through them all.
Trust us we have spent many years, really wasted so many, because we thought we knew what we were doing, but we never really seen the fruits of our labor.
We don’t want that to happen to you.
After the many years of trial and error we believe we have found a method that has finally yielded us some results and it happened all in the span of a few months.
So is it possible to learn a language within a year?
Of course it is!
Just take a look at the young language lord Cameron how he improved his French within just the span of 30 days.
Trust us we have wasted many years of studying and learning with no success because there was 1 ingredient that we overlooked.
More like 2 but it really only works because of this 1 thing…
By the way have you ever read the book called the 1 thing? You should check it out it will change your life, it did for us.
Anyways that thing was…
- A Plan &
- Consistency
Consistency is the key ingredient that holds this whole puzzle stick together.
Even though it seems like my analogies don’t…
Keys and puzzles, no way are they related but I think you’re catching my drift, right.
Anyways consistency is the key.
If there is anything that you get out of this post even if you didn’t get anything else we want to emphasize…
If you want success in your journey you need to be…
CONSISTENT, period!
We are not saying our way is the best method but over the years it has been the best for us.
From our own experience, which we are still using, we have seen a significant leap in growth because of this strategy…
which we will outline shortly.
We know many of you may ask questions such as:
- What is the best way to learn a foreign language?
- What is the best program to learn a language?
- How hard is it to learn a foreign language?
- What is the hardest language to learn?
Don’t worry if you’ve had these sort of questions before
We will address them as best we know how and guide you to a plan that you can follow and actually enjoy learning a foreign language.
All while seeing the results at the same time.
We understand how demotivating it can be during the journey but you’re not alone and you can keep track of your progress.
Whenever we create, build or do something we try to make it as simple as possible.
That doesn’t mean you won’t have to work for it, but if your like us and believe in the Pareto principle then you know that 20% of the work can give you 80% of the results you’re looking for.
Especially if you find what that 20% is that works.
And we believe we have found what that 20% is or if not we so close it’s crazy.
Ok I know I built you up and did a lot of explaining but we know why your really here…
You want to learn the best ways to learn a new language and we will share with you what we have learned.
To begin we will start off with the greatest question…
What Is The Best Way To Learn A Foreign Language?
So here we are…
The dreaded question we all have when we first get started, who am I kidding I still think if there is a better way to learn sometimes.
As we venture into other languages we will test our other theories and share it, but for now this is what we have learned from our current language and it has been working for us.
We think it will work for you as well if you really want to be able to speak conversationally fluent with others in your target language.
We will outline the methodology below and just so you know this perspective is from both of the language lords.
Therefore, some steps might seem to vary slightly, but understand that the foundation is the same and results/progress is the goal of the game.
Step 1. The Foundation
Ok if you know anything about building a building you know that the first thing that you need to do is get a great foundation down.
This is going to be your base that you will be using to build your building (your language) on.
Will Smith said if you want to build a wall don’t think about how to build the whole wall but rather focus on laying each brick as perfectly as a brick can be laid.
Therefore what you want to do is…
Get the top 100 most common used verbs along with the basic pronouns for your target language.
Pronouns are the words that describe a person or thing for example:
I, you, he, she, we, they, and it
This will help you to know who is doing what with the verbs as we move into the next step.
Before we continue to proceed and you read these steps like a classroom textbook guide we want to mention an important idea.
Acquiring a language is better than learning a language.
To describe this with a better analogy let’s look at a baby when they learn a language.
Kids are not taught languages like in a classroom, but they pick it up from hearing it from their parents, from the music they listen to, and simply put…
their environment.
They are completely surrounded in it.
They become familiar with the words and sounds and thus it becomes natural for them to speak, at the same time not focusing on the grammar and structure.
We wanted to mention this because when we provide these tips we don’t want to give it like a rigorous routine but a way for you to immerse yourself in the language and culture.
We believe this will make it much easier to learn/acquire.
Does that make sense?
Great, so once you get the basics of the 100 common verbs and pronouns we can move on to the next step.
Step 2. Children’s Books
If you didn’t know reading is probably one of the best ways to acquire a language.
Especially when you’re just beginning.
These children books help to solidify word associations with images and simple sentence structures all while not focusing on the grammar.
I know I know you may be thinking you’re too old for children books, but when you’re learning a new language you have to think of yourself as a new child just learning.
Baby steps guys.
You will get past them, but when starting out it helps to master the basics and master the simple structures to use with these first 100 verbs and pronouns you been studying.
As you grow you can begin to get other books to solidify your new foundation.
Here is a fun fact, have you ever noticed when a child gets a new book or watches a movie they watch it over and over and over again.
Or their parents read that book over and over every night.
This repetition can help tremendously with acquiring the language and getting your brain used to this new language pattern.
Repetition is the mother of skill so don’t be afraid of rereading the same story or even watching a kids show to help familiarize yourself with your base.
Here’s another fun fact, did you know that reading is a great and one of the fastest way to increase your vocabulary in a language.
Not to get too deep but as you grow in your target language, you can get more books at more advanced level or the next level up.
This will help you to stretch your language level with books that are a little harder to read.
This is due to the fact that writers use more words in books to describe things.
So what this means is more words are used than your daily conversation to describe things.
Therefore you can see and become more familiar with more words along with the old ones.
Just some fun facts for my readers out there, or if you don’t like reading you can always get audiobooks : ).
So get your books and start reading away.
Step 3. TV Shows
Ok, so here is the fun part.
Watching TV shows and videos.
We all like watching things that interest us, but now it’s time to find shows and things you like in the target language you’re studying.
Because of the internet we now have so many resources at our fingertips that we can access.
This section is specifically designed to help you become familiar with the sound of the language.
Meaning you are now going to start training your ears to the new language.
So don’t be afraid if you can’t understand everything.
Whether you are studying French or Spanish, or whatever language you desire, you can find a plethora of shows on Netflix to get you started.
We’ll share a few resources below that we used and watched.
Find a show, whether you want to watch a movie or a series, or even a kids show, it doesn’t matter the goal is to begin getting familiar with hearing the language.
Knowing the basic foundation that we told you before is good, but you need to see and hear how it is used in actual conversation.
When you find the show you want to watch you have 2 options but one will help more than the other.
The 2 options include you watching the shows with subtitles.
This will do 2 things for you.
- You can see what they are saying
- Associate the words with the speech.
I know what you might be thinking…
But I don’t know what they’re saying so how am I supposed to follow along.
Do you remember when I said there are 2 ways you can do this.
Those 2 ways are having subtitles in either…
- English or
- Your target language.
When you watch the show or video with English subtitles you will know what is going on but sometimes this can be ineffective.
Sometimes the show is good and you may forget that you’re learning or studying and only focus on the story, which isn’t a bad thing.
But if you watch it with the targeted language subtitles you will be more focused on what they’re saying.
Along with doing this your brain will start to do this weird thing and begin to get a general idea of whats going on.
Based on what you’re seeing your mind will associate the new words with the images.
This helps to solidify the new language in your brain.
Or, you can do both…
Watch it once with English subtitles to understand what is going on initially and then watch it again with your targeted language subtitles.
Remember that repetition is the mother of skill.
So when you do this you can understand what they’re saying and associate the new language with the new words and pronunciation.
It works great if you know the movie already so you can have an idea of what they’re talking about.
If you really want to test yourself trying watching it with no subtitles and see if you can pick up words you know or words they might say often.
Trust me your brain will pick up the words and see a pattern and it will be amazing when you notice it.
Heres a quick tip for looking for shows on Netflix.
If you find a show on Netflix that is in another language, or it has a dubbed version, and it’s created or produced by Netflix…
That usually means you will see the Netflix logo on the thumbnail and that means the subtitles in your targeted language are more likely to be in sync with the script of the show.
It makes it easier when the subtitles and the show have the same verbage so you can understand.
It’s easier to find videos on youtube that execute this well.
Step 4. Start Learning Simple Sentences
Now that you have done the basics you should have a good foundation of the words and how they are used in conversation and sentences.
If you have been reading children’s books then you should have seen a pattern and how they create simple sentences with them.
Before we continue we want to emphasize that in the beginning do not focus heavily on studying grammar, but try to see the patterns from books and in speech.
We believe this will help to stick the information in your brain much longer and help you to think in the target language much easier especially when just starting.
Plus it takes the stress off trying to remember how and where verbs and nouns are suppose to go.
Entiendes (does that make sense?)
Great.
So if you have your base down now you can start trying to create basic sentences with the words you know and even start repeating them so you can get used to saying them.
Its ok to even use a translator if you get stuck or need help creating some.
Some of the best translators we have found are…
Also you can look up simple examples that uses the words you are learning.
For example, if you’re learning Spanish you can use spanishdict.com, the translator we mentioned earlier.
It has a great section for examples when you are looking for some sentences with a specific word.
Or even better look for common phrases that uses these foundational words you know and learn them or try to make more sentences with them.
Ok so these 4 steps are your simple base and foundation to get you started.
But whats next…
Well I’m glad you asked
Step 5. The Great 1000
Once you got the hang of your first 100 words you will want to continue building on to your list.
It doesn’t really matter how you use the prior 4 steps but when building up your vocabulary you should do the same thing until you have about 1000 words under your belt.
I know that may seem like a lot but there is a reason behind this madness.
This 1000 words will give you an amazing foundation to understanding around 50-60% of the language.
And if you have been listening and watching your shows, or podcasts, then more words will become familiar to you as you study.
Before you know it you will start to understand what is going around you or what you are watching or listening to.
This 1000 words base will set you up for your next mission…
Step 6. Speaking
Now that you have a good foundation and you been working on your base of growing up to 1000 words, it is time for you to do what you’ve been waiting for…
Speaking the language.
There are 2 ways you can do this and we believe both ways can be very effective if executed properly and most importantly if you are consistent with your training and practice.
2 Ways For Practicing How To Speak:
- By yourself
- With A Native Speaker
We have had experience with both processes and we can share what we have gained and how it is helping us to grow in our desired languages daily.
First we will discuss a process for improving speaking with yourself.
1. Self-Talk
The Language Lord Cameron has done this challenge for 30 days himself and it has helped him tremendously.
Again you can see the video here 👈
Ok now we will give a simple outline of this challenge so you can do it on your own time.
Choose A Topic
First you will want to find a video that interests you or a topic that you can watch or listen to.
Take notes and try to get the general idea of what the theme or topic is about because you will need them after.
If you want you can try to write them down in your target language for more practice.
Record Yourself
After you listened or watched then here is how you will track your progress.
Record yourself as you talk about what you heard or saw.
You can record yourself with just your voice or you can do a video recording.
Having a video recording is cool because after 30 days you can see how not only you improved in your speaking but you will see how your confidence rose in the video as well.
It’s really pretty cool!
This process will help you to start thinking how to formulate your ideas in the language and create the sentences with the words you know.
Then your brain will start to become accustomed to speaking and thinking with the language.
As a disclaimer it will be difficult when you first start…
But as with any challenge you want to try and do this consistently and at least for 30 days.
And don’t be overwhelmed if you think you have to talk for an hour at a time because You Don’t.
If you can only speak for 5 minutes in the language with the words you know that’s ok.
The goal is to get you used to speaking and doing it consistently.
But the great thing after creating a habit of this is you will know specific words and phrases you often repeat and those 5 minutes can grow to 10 minutes then 20 minutes and so forth.
The only limit is yourself so if you want to practice for 30 minutes a day then by all means go for it.
We are sometimes overachievers here and we do more than the average person might and because of this Cameron would practice doing this for at least 4 hours a day.
That’s crazy I know but just look at what a little effort can do in just 30 days.
Ok now for the 2nd way you can practice.
2. Finding a Native Speaker
We know how hard it is first hand to find a language partner to practice with even though there are so many resources out there to use.
Yet it still can be difficult when you don’t know where to start and especially when so many programs charge for those services or hiring a tutor.
We kind of made it a mission of ours to find alternatives to learn a language when you can’t afford for the service, or really know where to begin…
Thus this post was created.
Anyways if you’re looking for a way to practice with a native we have a solution for you.
It is something we use to this day.
Say hello to the app “HelloTalk”
This app is completely free and you can connect with almost anyone in the world depending on the language you want to learn.
The goal of this app is to bring others who want to learn a language and to connect with others wanting to learn too.
For example, I’m learning Spanish and when I put this in the app it connects me to all the native Spanish speakers who want to learn English.
You can then talk with them via text or voice chat.
Because both of you want to learn the other language it is a mutual exchange while you guys help to teach each other.
The great thing about this is because your new partner is trying to learn as well they are willing to help you out and correct your mistakes whenever you make one.
So don’t be afraid to make mistakes and dive in.
Another cool thing is you may find someone that you really connect with and now you made a new friend in another country.
You can even switch to phone conversations or video chats, like what’sapp or zoom and you can really test your skills with listening, understanding, and speaking.
You may be surprised how much you know and don’t be afraid because they are in the same boat trying to learn like you so they want your help.
Now if you have the funds and want a little more structure and experience because they have had many conversations and can guide you with different questions.
Then you can use iTalki.
It’s similar to hello talk but you purchase a teacher/tutor for their time and you will speak for however long you paid for.
But if you’re willing to dive into HelloTalk and get your feet wet learning along the way then we say go for it.
There are a lot of people who want to learn a language like you and we can help each other reach our goals together.
So those are the 2 ways to practice your speaking.
If you feel a little scared to get started talking to someone then we suggest doing the video speaking challenge with yourself to get used to speaking but…
for the most effective practice, speaking to a native is the best.
This will not only test your listening comprehension but because you’re talking with a native they can help you where you fall short with pronunciations or “grammar”.
So What’s Next… Conclusion
This methodology that we have laid out will help you get to a great base in your language learning journey.
One thing that we have learned in learning a language is this thing is not a race and we don’t have to master a language as fast as you can or in 3 months.
Technically to master a language is impossible in that time frame because even with your mother tongue there is still so much you can learn.
But within a time span of 3-6 months we believe you can get to a comfortable level of conversational fluency.
Honestly, if you’re learning a language to speak with natives then we believe this should be your goal.
And we firmly believe it doesn’t take more than 2,500 words [according to this article] to understand around 90% of conversation.
In fact, only 1000 words will give you about 87% of the vocabulary you need for daily conversation.
In the near future we are working on challenging ourselves to speaking with others only knowing 1000 words.
So be sure to stay tuned for that challenge.
But after you have done this process of learning your base of 100 words then growing to around 1000 and speaking with natives you can then continue learning to an advanced level.
To achieve this continue to speak with native speakers and you can spend less time recording yourself with video and even learning new words to advance your vocabulary and familiarize yourself.
Resources
As promised we said we will provide some resources and tools you can use to help in your language learning journey.
Some resources are specifically for Spanish French or English but you can use the same resources to find similar resources to learn in your target language.
Top Tools We Use And Recommend For Your Journey.
Netflix
- House of Cards/Casa del papel (spanish)
- Marseille (french)
- Les Anges de la Telerealite (french)
- Charlie Color Forms (Spanish kids show)
- Nicky Jam el ganador (spanish)
Youtube
Translators
Language Exchange
Study Tools
- Vocabulary: Anki Flashcards
Podcasts
As a disclaimer these podcasts can be for intermediate level but it will help you to get used to the language
- El oso latino hablo español
- Duolingo Spanish Podcast
- Español Automatico: Karo Martinez
- News In Slow Spanish
- News In Slow French