How to Find Penpals/Language Exchange Partners/Foreign Friends on the Internet (All Foreign Languages) Part 2

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I hope you're enjoying this mini-series of articles! 3. Visit blogs which are in the foreign language you're learning and leave comments Try to find blogs which are either just starting out (you could befriend the owner of the blog) or popular already (many potential language exchange partners are visiting the blog!). Look for blog directories that are in the language you're learning. You could also ask your social networks friends for blog recommendations! Leave a few friendly comments and give out an email address. This email address will likely get spam but that's fine, the important thing is that you find a foreign friend! 4. Exploit the power of YouTube in your target language Look for nice videos that are in the foreign language you're learning and start interacting with people that way. Ask them for more video recommendations, post video responses... This is one of the best methods to make foreign friends if you aren't shy! Don't hesitate to ask your new language friends for corrections. In order to become fluent, you will need help from native speakers at some point.

Thoughts About Learning Another Language

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I've just deleted two posts that I intended to publish today. I really wanted to give my opinion on languages and schooling but many people have done this before me.
I need to cater to my main audience (the English-speaking world) and I figured that going off on a tangent about the French schooling system was a bad idea. However, I will happily give general tips to learn foreign languages, and I might publish mini French courses in the future.
Blogging is a learning experience, and one that is similar to learning foreign languages in many ways. Learn from my mistakes. When you're speaking a foreign language, keep it short and relevant. (KISS!)

When I started studying English, I was very talkative. I thought that speaking a lot (and speaking loudly!) was the key to becoming fluent in a foreign language.
I passed up many opportunities to have intelligent conversations with native speakers because of my behavior. I had many English-speaking friends who were amused by my bubbly "persona"... but who didn't take me seriously.
Oh well, at least I practiced a lot.

In hindsight, I'm pretty sure I spoke loudly because I was afraid of being misunderstood. It's funny how humans start panicking when they're faced with the prospect of being ridiculed. :)

That's all for today. I will post a complete review of Rosetta Stone Level 1 as soon as I'm done with American English L1.

How to Find Penpals/Language Exchange Partners/Foreign Friends on the Internet (All Foreign Languages) Part 1

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I'm going to give you advice so that you can find new foreign friends on the internet. Finding a penpal is important if you want to improve your linguistics skills. 1. Try to find specific social networks that are used by people who speak your target language Not everybody uses Facebook. Register on new social websites in order to find language exchange partners. Be honest in your profile--say that you're looking for new friends so that you can learn a language and discover another culture. E-mail members regularly and you might just form new friendships! Of course, never tell people where you live, and avoid giving your phone number because it's possible to track you with it if you don't use a disposable phone.  

2. Once you're a member of the social network, visit the links people post on their walls Leave friendly comments on members' walls and you will soon find a new pen-pal. Don't be shallow though--leaving a short comment is okay as long as you mean what you've written. However, if you're a beginner, just saying "Great find! Thank you for sharing this link! Can I add you to my friends?" is okay. You will soon have many international friends. You can also ask the member if they speak another language, if they like foreign languages/traveling... Don't be shy! See you in part 2!

I'm a Beginner Language Learner: What Should I Watch? Everything Is Too Difficult! Part 2

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This is the second part of the article. Please check out the first part too! Once you've watched a few shows for young children, it's time to graduate to show for teens or shows which deal with your favorite hobby. For example, if you like sports, watch a few matches/games. After watching ten baseball games in a foreign language, you will start to memorize the important vocabulary for that sport. Concentrate on a single topic for some time. Don't hesitate to use a dictionary if there are words don't understand. Using tools such as dictionaries will expedite the language-learning process. I also recommend you read the news from time to time. Websites such as the BBC are a gold mine for English learners. Find the equivalent of the BBC or NPR in your target language. News bulletins usually contain common words, no slang, and some of them can be particularly interesting, especially tabloids if you're into gossiping. May your language-learning goals become a reality!

How to Have More Time to Learn a Foreign Language Part 3

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Announcement: The Social Sharing Icons have moved! They are now located under the title of this page for your convenience. Thank you for the Google +1's on my last article!

This is Part 3 of my mini-series dealing with time management and language-learning.

You undoubtedly lead a very busy life. I'm honored you found some time to visit my blog about language-learning.
Second language acquisition doesn't have to eat up all the hours of your day though.
I think most people have at least 30 minutes of unused time per day.

If you're washing or doing the dishes, how about playing the radio at the same time? A foreign language station can keep you entertained for hours.
While you wait for the water to boil, get that grammar book out. It may not be the most interesting book in the world, but reading it beats looking at water that's sitting in a saucepan.

You could also listen to some language-learning CDs and repeat the dialogs to memorize them. That way, you will work on foreign vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation at the same time.

Using these little abandoned chunks of time will help you become fluent in a foreign language. Thirty minutes of daily study is plenty. If you kept this up for a year, you would have accumulated over 150 hours of study!

Trust me, after 150 hours, you will be reasonably fluent in French/Chinese/Japanese/English/Spanish... I know that languages which use other writing systems take longer to learn at first, but 150 hours is plenty to learn all the basic kanji you need and some phrases/grammar/pronunciation.

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How to Have More Time to Learn a Foreign Language Part 2 Commuting

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This is Part 2 of my mini-series dealing with time management and language-learning.
Here is Part 1: http://fluent-language.blogspot.com/2013/06/how-to-have-more-time-to-learn-foreign.html

If you work or if you're still in school, commuting probably takes you a lot of time. Maybe you take the train or the bus if you're still fairly young. You might also drive to work with your own car (lucky you!).

What you have here is wasted time, even if you like to people watch. How about putting that time to good use instead?

Here are some language-learning tips for commuters:
* Put a CD into your car stereo and turn up the volume. Voilà, you're bopping your head to groovy Spanish music! (Or maybe not.)
* If you're more of a traditional language learner, you might like listening to audiobooks in your car. There are language-learning tapes out there, but they usually aren't any good. Play a simple audiobook instead, and your language abilities will improve quickly!

All those wasted minutes turn into hours if you don't harness them. Moreover, commuting is a lot more fun with a little music.
If you're alone, you could repeat the words to a song to practice your pronunciation.

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Become Fluent in a Foreign Language Fast by Memorizing Spanish Phrases for Your Trip Abroad Part 1

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It's nice to be able to go on vacation. If you are visiting a Spanish-speaking country, you might be a bit intimidated because you don't speak Spanish well enough. Making yourself at home in your hotel and ordering food at a restaurant can be quite difficult if you're unprepared. That's why you should learn Spanish phrases if you want to survive in Spain or Mexico.

Of course, if you have time to take a Spanish course to learn the language, do that. Learning to speak conversational Spanish will make your stay much more pleasant. The more fluent you are in the foreign language, the more enjoyable the trip will be.

However, you may not have the time to learn Spanish on a daily basis. You need to learn the language well enough to satisfy your basic needs in the foreign language. You will probably find English-speaking people if you get in trouble. However, there will be times when you have no choice but to speak the foreign language, so you'd better become fluent in it fast.

Studying phrase books is a good idea. The bilingual sentences they contain will help you learn how to introduce yourself and say “please,” “sorry,” and “thank you”.

In part two, you'll learn more tips for becoming fluent in Spanish before your trip.

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Part 3: Becoming Fluent in a Foreign Language Fast by Using the News—Learn Spanish

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Another form of news media you can use to become fluent in your foreign language faster is television news. 

In the past, few people in the US had access to Spanish television stations. Now, there is a variety of Spanish language stations to choose from. Moreover, virtually every one of them broadcasts news in Spanish.

To learn Spanish by watching the news, you have two choices. First, you can put yourself to the test by watching it in real time. This is good practice if you want to improve your listening comprehension in the foreign language. You will be surprised at how much you will get out of the broadcast if you listen to it closely. If you don't understand everything yet, don't worry. Just keep listening, and it will get easier!

The second option is to record the Spanish show and watch it a little at a time. 

You can learn Spanish in more depth this way because you can translate every single word. It will take more time, but you will learn Spanish vocabulary that is up-to-date. This way, you will also know about current events in Spanish-speaking countries.

Using the news to learn Spanish faster and to improve your vocabulary is a good move, especially if you are a busy person who doesn't have much time to learn foreign languages. It doesn't require a lot of time, even if you use translations. Furthermore, you get to read or watch the news every day while learning Spanish faster than ever before.

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