Develop your language skills through training, practise and time

Some tips that highlight important aspects of learning a new language:

Always learn words in context.
Use a website, e.g. wrts.nl (also for pronunciation!).
Learn ten words a day, but do it every day (that comes out to 70 words a week!)
Make sentences with words that you are learning.

“The limits of my language are the limits of my world.

”

— Ludwig Wittgenstein

I can help you with training, but you will have to put in the time and practice. You can speed up the process by speaking, listening and reading the target language as much as you can. Maximise your exposure to the language by making use of our multi-media environment, social media, internet, television and papers and magazines.

Active Reading: Comprehension and Rate

Many college students discover that there is significantly more to read in college than there was in high school. Students frequently remark that they don't have enough time to read through all of their assignments during the week. However, many students have bad habits and subscribe to reading myths. This page is designed to help you understand reading as an activity and help you become a more efficient and effective reader. Some common reading myths:

Read every word.
One reading is sufficient.
Don't skip passages.
Machines improve speed.
A faster rate means less comprehension.

Learn words in context

Learning long lists of unrelated words is boring, difficult and doesn't help you much when you come across those words in a different context. If you focus on learning words in the context you're most likely to find them, you're more likely to recognise them when you encounter them or need to use them again.

When learning food words, for example, think about when you'd be most likely to use them, i.e. when cooking, eating, shopping, etc, and learn other words related to those situations. Then try constructing sentences using the new words. Good dictionaries contain examples of usage which you can use as models for your own sentences.

As your knowledge of your L2 improves, using a monolingual dictionary is a good idea. This helps you to understand words through their meaning rather than relying on translations into your L1.

Practice reading as much as possible

A great way to build up you vocabulary is to have a go at reading books, magazines, newspapers or comics written in your L2. Ideally look for reading material covering topics you find interesting. When reading, try to guess the meanings of any words you don't know and then check them in a dictionary to see if your guesses were correct. You don't have to look up every unfamiliar word as long as you can get the gist of the text.

Learning vocabulary

Once you have got to grips with the fundamentals of a language (pronunciation, orthography and basic grammar), you can concentrate on learning vocabulary. This is probably the most important and time-consuming part of learning a language.

Associate the familiar with the unfamiliar

Try to find word or phrases in your L1 which sound like and if possible have a similar meaning to words in your L2. Build mental images or draw pictures based on the connections. For example, the Spanish for "ice" is hielo (m), which sounds like yellow. To remember this word imagine yellow ice. This is an enjoyable method because many of the associations you think up will be silly, absurd or bizarre.

Genders

To remember genders try picturing a Spanish-speaking region, divide it into two and place masculine nouns on one side and feminine words on the other. In the case of ice imagine the masculine half covered in yellow ice.

If your L2 has many genders, imagine a large building with many floors, assign a different gender to each floor and place words on the appropriate floor according to their gender.

Avoiding language mix ups

Associating words from each language you learn with places where they are spoken will help you to avoid getting your languages mixed up. For example, if you're learning French and Spanish, imagine a map of Europe and place the French words in France and the Spanish words in Spain. Alternatively you could imagine a map of North America and place the Spanish words in Mexico and the French words in Quebec.

Testing and revision

To ensure the words stick in your memory, test yourself on them at regular intervals. If you learn some new words in the morning for example, check that you can still remember them later that day, the next day, a week later and a month later. If you find some words hard to recall, try thinking up different associations for them. You may need to try several different associations before you find one that works.

Learn related words & phrases

When learning the word for hand, for example, try to learn related words, such as parts of the hand; actions of the hand; other parts of the body, and things you might wear on your hands. Also try to learn words with the same root and phrases which include the word hand.

As you learn more words you will start to spot connections between words. The more words you learn the easier you will find it to guess the meanings of new words.