DRAFT POST (In Progress)

Things that worked for me

Learning a new language and improving the ones you already know

Some of the following are impossible if you are not in the country when that language is spoken daily but taking the sections that can be done at any time and doing a bit everyday, you will turn back one day and be grateful to have started when you did, thats why daily streaks are important.

Workbooks (Grammar)

Like going to class

Reading

Start with children’s books and comics, as the extra illustrations on the page are amazing at giving context reading out loud, memorising text, being able to recite it later Apps like Rosetta Stone, Duolingo

Writing

Morning Pages- Freestyle writing about any topic for 15 minutes a day Also writing an opinion piece about a current event news story without the opinion Stories (here is where reading is critical) Posts like this one (hand translated in to the language), it doesn’t matter if its not perfect, and don’t fear the comments, hopefully somebody sees the errors, lets you know in you learn

Listening

movies are a great opportunity to check your understanding (and cost less than a class) Shadowing the lines Watching a movie over and over to learn the lines to be able to recite them over

Speaking

Presentations / Speeches talking to people (ex Meetups, about any topic you are interested in and other group activities, also great place to meet friends) vocal exercises and tongue twisters (practicing the tricky sounds of the language) Talking about your stories (comedy is your greatest asset here) calls (X/day) to foreign country great questions yes, and (Provide additional information)

Absorbing

Adopting a Culture (Ken Robinson)