Our 5 Favourite Ways to Learn Languages Outside of the Classroom

Lessons can be a great way to learn a language. However, if you're like me, you may struggle in traditional learning environments such as a classroom. This doesn't mean that you should just give up on learning a language altogether. There are plenty of ways to learn a language outside of a traditional classroom environment and in this article we'll have a look at a few of our favourite methods.

1: Self-Study

Even if you struggle to learn in a classroom, you can still use all of the resources you'd find in one. You could always sit down with a grammar guide and go over the rules of your new language without the pressure or stress some students can feel when surrounded by other students. You might respond better to using the resources in the comfort of your own home or in a cafe you like.

2: Apps, Websites, and Games

If you're looking for a different way to learn languages, apps, websites, and games are an interesting approach. While it's unlikely that you'll become fluent just by using these types of resources, they can be useful for learning the basics and gaining enough language skills to start conversing with real people.

3: Language Exchanges

Language exchanges are when two people that speak different languages meet up to help each other learn a foreign language. A native English speaker who'd like to learn French could meet up with a native French speaker who wants to learn English, for example.

You can go for lunch, a coffee, or even a beer (if you're old enough!) and spend half your time speaking the language you want to learn and the other half speaking the language your partner wants to learn.

4: Private Tuition

You can hire a private language tutor to help you learn a new language. There are many students who struggle while learning in a normal classroom alongside other students but excel when given one-on-one tuition.

You're much less likely to feel silly asking a question when you're the only student in the class. A private tutor can also customise every lesson to your needs and will work with your strengths and weaknesses in order to get the most out of your potential.

5: Immersion

Our final and favourite method for learning a language is probably the most obvious one. If you're constantly surrounded by people speaking the language you want to learn, you'll inevitably pick it up. Rather than studying for a few hours a week in a classroom, you can turn every minute of every day into an opportunity to improve your language skills.

Do you have any suggestions for learning a language outside of the classroom? We'd love to hear them! Tell us your favourite methods in the comments below!

Languages Online: The Best of October 2017

Let's have a look back at the best stories from around the month of October.

10: How Italians Influenced a South American Dialect on BBC

Why is Argentine Spanish seemingly so different to a lot of the other dialects of Spanish? It might have something to do with Italian. Find out more in this article.

9: How Long Does It Take To Learn Italian? An Honest Guide For Beginners on I Will Teach You a Language

If the first article in this list whet your appetite for learning Italian, you should have a look at this article on learning Italian. The article covers the different approaches to learning Italian and the best ways to tackle it.

8: 6 Epic Translation Fails on BBC

We can't stress enough how important getting a good translation is. However, if you feel like having a laugh at when it goes wrong, you should read this article.

7: Why We Hate the Word 'Moist' on SciShow Pysch

This video on psychology has a look at the reasons behind most people's aversion to the word "moist" which regularly tops lists of the most hated words in English.

6: Mimic Method Review: Will You Sound More Like a Native Speaker? on Fluent in 3 Months

If you're thinking about trying the Mimic Method, you should read up on it on in this article. It comes highly recommended!

5: Professional translators aren't worried about Google's language-translating headphones on Business Insider

Following the news that Google's pixel buds can translate between a number of languages, it turns out that most translators and interpreters aren't starting to look for new jobs.

4: An argument over the evolution of language, with high stakes on The Economist

There are plenty of linguists who agree on when human languages developed. However, there's one who completely disagrees and says that languages evolved at the same time as humans did around 1.9m years ago.

3: The Complete Guide To French Pronunciation: Lose Your Accent & Pronounce French Words Like A Native on I Will Teach You a Language

For those learning French, this is an article you have to read. There are plenty of tips and tricks for those wanting to improve their accent.

2: Google’s translation headphones are here, and they’re going to start a war on The Guardian

With Google's new translating headphones, there's the risk of translation errors cropping up. What's the risk when this happens? This opinion piece on them has the answer.

1: 30+ Blogging Vocabulary Terms in French on Eurolinguiste

Our most popular language piece of the month comes from Eurolinguiste. If you're into French and would like to learn more about the terms they use for blogging, you should definitely give this article a glance.

If there are any other articles or links that you think we should have included, feel free to tell us about them in the comment below.

Five Secrets to Speaking Any Language Fluently by Louise Taylor

We’ve all listened (with varying degrees of envy, depending on our own linguistic abilities) to those who’ve been raised bilingual switching effortlessly between two languages as they converse with friends and family members. Perhaps they can flip from without a moment’s notice from Japanese to English. Perhaps they’re even good enough to offer professional English to French translation services (or translation to and from any other language) and build an entire career out of their linguistic ability.

Whatever the language, fluency in two or more tongues is a wonderful thing. Sadly, for most of us – in the English-speaking world, at least – it doesn’t come naturally as part of our upbringing. 

For most people, mastery of a second (or third, or fourth) language involves a great deal of time learning endless lists of vocab and spending countless hours practicing conjugating verbs – two areas of language that those raised in bilingual homes barely have to give a second’s thought to as they grow up and naturally absorb the languages they hear. 

Grammar and vocab are two essential elements of speaking any language proficiently. However, they’re not the only relevant factors – they are simply two of five items that one must master in order to achieve fluency. As such, we here explore the five secrets of speaking any language fluently, to help speed along your studies and sharpen your linguistic skills. 

1. Grammar

Mastering grammar is essential if you are to speak a language fluently. It is the cornerstone of being able to communicate with any degree of sense. As such, painful though it may seem at times, getting to grips with those dratted irregular verbs is an indispensable part of the process and one that you need to ensure you commit sufficient time to. 

2. Vocabulary

There’s a reason that teachers assign their pupils lists of words to learn, in their first language as well as any other – it’s another essential component of language mastery. The more words you know, the closer you are to fluency. It’s as simple as that. 

If you’re learning another language, therefore, make sure your brain is as exposed to as many new words as possible. Write a list of food items and stick it on the fridge. Read through it every time you open the fridge. As soon as you’ve learned the list, replace it with a new one. Do this in every room in your house, so that you have plenty of opportunities to learn. Bite-size chunks like this should help you to absorb new words every day, particularly if the words are relevant to the room that you’re in, so your mind can build associations to help it remember. 

3. Accent

This is where language learning can be really fun. Accent is a core part of learning to speak another tongue. A superb accent will allow you to do justice to all those hours spent learning lists of words and grammatical quirks. However, attaining the right accent isn’t always easy. 

Babies are born with the ability to speak with any accent imaginable, but lose the skill as they grow up. Studies have shown that part of that loss relates to the way in which we hear sound. Somewhere between six months and a year old, children lose the ability to distinguish between similar sounds that we don’t hear very often. Those exposed regularly to the sounds can still tell them apart, but those with limited or no exposure lose this skill (the English sounds ‘ra’ and ‘la,’ the Chinese ‘shee’ and ‘chee’ sounds and the Spanish pronunciation of ‘p,’ ‘b,’ and ‘v’ all fall into this category). 

As children lose the ability to distinguish between sounds they aren’t exposed to, it becomes harder for them to recreate those sounds. If you didn’t grow up being able to roll your Rs, you’ll have a harder time learning to do so than those who have done it since childhood. 

Research has shown how strong the link between hearing an accent and imitating one can be. If you can imitate an accent, you’re more likely to be able to understand the person speaking to you with that same accent – the brain attunes itself to understanding faster. That’s why practicing your accent when language learning is so important. 

When it comes to accent practice, anywhere will do. Pop in a language CD or tune in to a foreign language radio station whenever you’re driving and chatter along with it. Train your ear to listen to each distinct sound and repeat those sounds over and over. Practice whenever you’re alone, whether it’s in the bath or while you’re making a sandwich. Teach your mouth and your ears to feel their way around the language you’re learning. And if you can’t quite pronounce a particular sound, don’t give up and settle for an approximation – keep going until you’ve perfected it!

4. Immersion 

If you want to speak a language fluently, immersion is key. Textbooks are a great resource, but learning is about more than reading books. Look around you and consider all of the ways in which you are presented with your first language. Then try to recreate that with the language you’re learning. Whether it’s the songs you hear or the videos you watch of the recipes you use to cook your evening meal, try to do as much of it as possible in the new language. 

Linguistic immersion of this nature is a wonderful way of seeing a language from another angle and picking up information that you will struggle to find in books. Does your new language use imperial or metric measurements, for example, when it comes to ingredients? And in either case, how are the measurements abbreviated? Understanding this level of detail is all part of achieving fluency, but it’s an area where vocab lists are of only limited use. You need to experience a language from multiple perspectives in order to understand it fully. 

5. Culture

Culture, too, is a key part of learning a language. This is particularly true when it comes to keeping up with languages as they evolve. In English, ‘corporation pop’ has just been added to the dictionary as slang for ‘water.’ It’s not a term that you’re likely to find in any textbook that teaches English. Most of those who teach English to speakers of other languages probably don’t include it in their syllabus either. To appreciate why ‘corporation pop’ refers to water, you need to understand the office culture of chatting by the water cooler for a few minutes and the social role this plays within companies in the UK.

Understanding the popular culture references and idioms in any language means having a feel for its culture, from ancient traditions to current trends. Magazines and newspapers, both online and offline, are an extremely useful resource in this respect. Keeping up with current developments can reveal a great deal about a country’s culture, morals, standards and more. A decent delve into its history can also be extremely revealing.  

So there you have it – the five key elements of learning to speak a language fluently. If you’re currently studying another tongue, make sure that you incorporate all five of these components in your studies if you want to achieve fluency faster.

Louise Taylor is the content writer of the Tomedes Translation Blog.

The Best Word Game Apps 2017 by Michael Gorman

Word games are a perfect fit for today’s crazy lifestyle. They sharpen your vocabulary, train your brain, and provide entertainment whenever you feel like exercising your mind. Because of these great benefits, there is no shortage of word games for both Android and iOS.

If you are new to word games, you will find something interesting in the list of word games below. All of them are free and you can play advanced levels without having to pay anything.

1. Word Cookies

The first game on our list challenges players to create a number of words from a set of letters. They are contained in a special pot below the screen and you have to swipe around them to create solutions. If a player exceeds the number of words in the task, the game rewards them with coins. These helpful items can rescue in difficult situations by providing hints.

Word Cookies are available for both Android and iOS. 

2. WordBrain

An awesome word game with a 4.4 rating on Google Play. WordBrain has pretty simple rules that frequent players will certainly recognize: a set of words is provided which should be used to compile a word. As simple as it sounds, higher levels in the game are difficult enough to keep you playing for hours. People working with words often find them awesome for training.

The player’s development system in WordBrain is also amazing. A user starts with an ant with the smallest brain weight and ends with a unicorn with the heaviest. Additionally, the players can choose to play in different languages (15 languages with 700 levels per language).

Get WordBrain on Google Play Store or App Store to begin becoming a brainiac!

3. Wordscapes

If you have a nature-themed wallpaper as a background on your computer, you will want to grab a few from this game. Every level is played on a stunning nature background to help the player relax. The rules are simple: crossword-style structures on the top of the screen need to be filled by words which you put together by swiping a box on the bottom. The bonus system rewards the player with hints that help to complete more complex levels.

Wordscapes has in-game ads but they are unobtrusive and displayed only between levels. So, if you are ready to challenge yourself in this game, get it for your Android or iOS device now.  

4. SpellTower

This app was named the best by 148Apps' 2011 Best App Ever Awards, and for a good reason. The main idea is to create words from a jumble of letter tiles to clear the entire screen before a complete refill. This task is pretty addictive and SpellTower has confidently survived the test of time to become a true classic of the word game genre.

Five modes for are available for single player including puzzle mode, extreme puzzle mode, rush mode, debate mode, and tower mode. If you feel like playing against your friends, switch to the multiplayer battle mode and let the game begin!

SpellTower is available for download for both Android and iOS as well. 

5. Wordfeud

The first truly multiplayer word game on our list deserves special attention. Wordfeud is played by more than 30 million people all around the world which makes it one of the most popular in this genre. The purpose of the game is to create and place words on the 15 x 15 tile board and earn as many points as possible.

To try your skills against an opponent, a player can challenge them in a mini-competition. You can also play against your friends and even chat with them! Wordfeud has a high rating (4.4 on Google Play Store and 4.8 on App Store), so it will definitely become one of your favorite word game.

Install it for Android or iOS to begin playing.

6. Word Search

The last item on this list is another true classic of word game genre that many people love. The title of the game pretty much reveals the task: the players need to find words hidden in the board. Hundreds of puzzles will keep you playing for a lot of time and enjoy this great game. If you’re stuck playing a difficult level, the app gives you hints to make sure you advance to the next level.

Also, you will love Word Search for a lack of in-app purchases and little obtrusive ads between levels. If you have an Android device, you can get it on Google Play Store for free. iOS users are welcome to download it from the App Store.

Any Favorites?

Are you interested in trying some of these games? Well, have fun playing and training your brain! All of them are free and available for both Android and iOS, so you can download them today!

Michael Gorman is high skilled editor and proofreader who currently works at Awriter. He is proficient in blog writing and online freelance networking. Feel free to contact him via Facebook .

If you have any word game apps to recommend, tell us about them in the comments below.

How To Develop Speaking Skills Through Reading by Adela Belin

Learning to speak the another language can be an extremely rewarding process once you get the hang of it. People who've just started learning a language tend to get nervous when they have to speak. This can hamper their abilities when it comes to speaking. While a lot of people in the world can read another language, many struggle when it comes to speaking.

While reading and speaking are often seen as different skills, you can improve your speaking through reading. The more you read, the better you will speak. Here are a few ways in which you can improve your speaking skills through reading.

Read Aloud

Reading aloud is a "classic" way to increase your speaking skills. Since every writer has their own tone and rhythm, if you pick up a book and read it aloud, you'll inevitably pick up this rhythm. If you keep doing this with different kinds of books from different kinds of authors, you'll get a feel for each author's rhythm. This can help you speak the language in a more natural and expressive way, rather than like a robot.

Make a Note of New Vocabulary

Reading is the best way to build vocabulary. Avid readers have a broader vocabulary and therefore are therefore better at expressing themselves. When you read, keep a notepad next to you. You can use this notepad to jot down the new words that you come across and their meanings. You should also go back over the new vocabulary once or twice a week.

Join a Book Club

Reading together in a book club is a great way to build a community of language learners. Join a club (or start one yourself) where you sit together for a few hours, read a few chapters, and then have a discussion. This will not only enhance your speaking abilities while reading but also let you practise speaking.

Reading is one of the best things in the world. In addition to being fun, it can help you master a language.

Adela Belin is a private educator and a writer at Writers Per Hour. She shares her teaching experience with colleagues, students, and writers. Feel free to contact Adela on G+.

Do you have any techniques for improving your speaking? Tell us about them in the comments below.

7 Brainy Benefits to Learning a Foreign Language by Arthur Berner

Why Learn Foreign Languages?

There are plenty of studies that support studying a foreign language. There is proof that a bilingual's brain functions differently to that of a monolingual and is more adaptive to change. Don't forget that adult learners can easily achieve the same level as their younger rivals in the same period of time and enjoy the same benefits of language learning.

1. Boost Your Brain

Intense language learning uses different areas of the brain in different ways. This helps your brain to become more efficient and adaptable. Studies show that bilingual students tend to perform better in tests than their monolingual counterparts.

2. Multitasking

The ability to switch between two languages also makes you better at multitasking. Language learners are able to dedicate their attention to a variety of different tasks.

3. Reduce the Risk of Dementia

The consumption of new information and brain activity involved with learning a foreign language has also been shown to reduce the risk of Alzheimer's and dementia.

4. Mending Memories

Although the brain isn't a muscle, it sometimes seems to act like one: the more you exercise, the better it works. When you study a language, you need to remember a lot of information including words, rules, conjugations, etc. This brain exercise can help you improve your memory overall.

5. Observation Skills

Bilinguals tend to be more observant, focus on details better, and also distinguish relevant and important information better than a monolingual would.

6. Problem Solving

When you study a second language, you regularly need to think laterally. This process can help you become better at solving both verbal and non-verbal problems.

7. Learn More About Your Own Language

Studying the details of a foreign language can help you better understand the same concepts in your own language. These skills will help you to communicate and write better in your mother tongue.

Arthur Berner is a professional freelance writer, SMM expert and online business growth consultant at 10 page papers. He's an expert in SEO, copywriting, establishing social media presence, guest and blog post writing, viral marketing, and video content production.

10 Things to Do If You Find Learning Languages Way Too Difficult by Rachel Bartee

Language learning is an exciting adventure but at the same time, it can be a mind-boggling process. However, it’s not a sprint race but rather a marathon. You need to invest a lot of time and efforts in this project and that’s mostly why many people find language learning way too difficult.

For that reason, only 7% of college students in America are enrolled in a language course. That doesn't mean that you should despair and give up. Remember that the more languages you know, the more human you are. With each new language you learn, you enrich your personality and extend the borders of your self-awareness. At the same time, language learning even boosts academic achievements. 

Bearing all these things in mind, you should never give up trying to master a foreign language. Here is my list of the 10 most practical things that can help you while studying. 

Start Off Slowly

The easiest thing you can do while learning a new language is to give up because you plunged into learning and exerted yourself too quickly. What you should do is to prepare yourself for a long studying period and don’t expect huge improvements in the beginning. Be patient and learn gradually. 

For example, you could begin by learning only a dozen basic words each day. This may sound silly but you’ll actually learn a lot of words that way in only one month. After all, keep in mind that it takes only around 500 words to reach the A1 language level.

Set Clear Objectives

Whatever you do, you should set the personal objectives and follow the plan you have created. It’s the same with foreign languages – you should decide how long it will take you to become fluent or how many words per month you would like to learn. Additionally, you can narrow down the focus. If your mission is to become a football coach in France, you can start simply by learning the sport-related expressions and phrases.

Practice Regularly

Our brains often resist new things or things that we don’t want to let in. The same is with a new language. This seems like the unfathomed deeps you may be afraid of. However, after several repetitions our brain starts to accept it as something familiar, something that is usual and common. So the clue is making it regular and regular practice makes perfect in everything. 

Combine Reading with Writing

Reading is one of the essential activities in this process. Seeing the language working in context helps you grasp it more effortlessly. You should take a few books or magazines and read them every day. Of course, don’t engage in heavy philosophy at first but instead begin with the simplest texts that more or less match your current knowledge. While reading, you can always stop, consult a dictionary, and check the new words. Dan Wilson, a writer at www.essayontime.co.uk, you should write a small review or summary of what you read using the key phrases and structures in the book. This activity really upgrades your knowledge. So try it out!

Join Online Communities

In the Internet era, it's easy to find a lot of interesting online groups where language students exchange opinions and ask others to help them while learning. The good thing about this is that you can find many people who used to be in the same position like you. They'll understand your confusion and explain things even better than real-life tutors. At the same time, you won’t feel ashamed to make mistakes in front of the peers, which is a common problem among language students.  

Play Online Games

Today, many courses in all areas of expertise accept gamification elements as the natural part of their syllabus. Games are interesting and keep the students engaged, while it is very easy to adopt new knowledge using this mean of studying. Online language games can help you big time to develop language proficiency, so make sure to use this learning method. It won’t feel like you're really studying but you'll gain a lot of knowledge in the meantime.  

Listen to Music and Watch Movies

You probably enjoy listening to foreign music and watching dubbed films. This is a great way to learn a foreign language because it really makes you relaxed. You don’t have to understand everything and you can always look up any word you find important. You can learn new phrases and adopt the accent and pronunciation of native speakers.

Furthermore, music and video materials are great tools to find out more about the culture of any given country. This is an important step in the language learning process. The best thing is that you can choose the genre you like so it won’t feel like too much of a burden.   

Engage in Conversations

You can't master a foreign language by avoiding one-on-one discussions and group conversations. It always feels awkward when you stand in the middle of a group and don’t exactly know what is going on but this is the phase that you must go through. Don’t be afraid to ask people to repeat something or even to re-phrase their sentences. If you want to learn, you'll occasionally need to swallow your pride and be ready for some confusing moments every now and then. 

Test Your Knowledge

With all these steps being taken, it's obvious that you're going to make good progress. Testing your knowledge every now and then is a great way to see how you're improving. There are a lot of online language proficiency tests that you can take for free so don’t hesitate to check them out. They don’t take too much time but they can give you an additional incentive to keep improving.

Reward Yourself

There is one more way to nurture your learning enthusiasm: promise yourself a reward once the studying is over. Buy a ticket to visit a foreign country or organize a party. Whatever makes you happy will be a nice incentive while learning.

Language learning is an inspiring process but it also brings a lot of obstacles. In this article, we made a list of 10 interesting, effective, and practical ways to make the language learning process easier and more reasonable. Using these tips, you can overcome the most common difficulties that may occur along the way but feel free to give us your own suggestions in comments. 

Rachel Bartee is an ESL teacher and a freelance writer who finds her passion in expressing own thoughts as a blogger. She is constantly looking for the ways to improve her skills and expertise. Her life principle is “Always do more than you can”. Get in touch with her on Twitter.