You know it’s right. Everyone has told you. You have to waste as much time as possible listening to a foreign foreign language. But how?

Co-Workers – Friends – Family

If you are fortunate enough to have people around you who speak the foreign language, waste as much time as you can with them. Be forewarned, though. Daily conversation with friends and relatives will probably be filled with idioms and grammar that would make your foreign foreign language teacher nauseous.

Internet Broadcasting

There are many free internet radio stations. They broadcast day and night, 7 days a week. All you have to do is find them. Try internet searches like the following in your favorite search engine:free internet radio German

free internet radio Norwegian

free internet radio French

internet radio stations Spanish

internet radio stations Portuguese

Disc jockeys and talk show hosts may not use perfect grammar. But, news broadcasts are usually right.

Books on Tape or CD

You can buy audio books online at sites like Amazon.

Unfortunately, not all audio books are made equal. Sometimes the narration is cluttered with distracting loud sound effects and music. The volume may vary from horrendously loud to whisper-soft. If you can take note to a sample previous to buy, do so. By no means buy more than one audio book from the same publisher or narrator until you are sure that they yield acceptable recordings. Sometimes the narrator’s volume will vary so much during a reading that it makes the book nearly useless.

Be on the lookout for audio bundles that include a printed copy of the book – brilliant for learning purposes!

TV Channels

Check your cable or satellite TV team. You may find one or more channels in the foreign language you are trying to learn.

Movies and Television Series on DVD

Most larger centers and internet sites like Amazon have foreign foreign language productions with English sound tracks and subtitles. Try to watch everything at least once without subtitles. Pay attention to the lips of the speakers as they pronounce words. Lipreading is part of the foreign language learning process.

If you prefer to buy English productions that have been remastered for foreign foreign language markets, you will lose the lipreading advantage – and you may have to buy or hack a DVD player so that it will play DVDs from other regions. There is a link at the bottom of this article that goes to a page with more specific information.

North American TV series like M*A*S*H and Golden Girls have 1/2-hour episodes. Omit the intro and closing credits and you are left with about 20 minutes of material. Try to learn a few new words of vocabulary each time you watch an episode.

What are You Waiting For?

Take advantage of all the opportunities that technology has to offer!

©Copyright Kathy Steinemann: This article is free to publish only if this copyright notice, the byline, and the author’s note below (with active links) are included.

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More and more software programs, electronic devices, and websites ardent to foreign languages are life urban daily. Why all the excitement? Why would YOU want to learn a foreign foreign language?

Job Advancement – Get the Competitive Edge

Many large corporations and government agencies have positions requiring a second foreign language. In a country like Canada, which is officially bilingual, someone who knows both French and English will have better employment prospects.

Travel

Travel to a foreign country can be exciting – and also very exasperating if you can’t know the local speech. Many North Americans are somewhat egocentric in this watch, expecting to find English spoken no matter where they are. Although this is sometimes right in larger cities, don’t expect to find English-speakers in small communities.

Relatives

The world is a melting pot of cultures and languages. You probably have living relatives in other countries with whom you could communicate more effectively if you took the effort to learn at least a few words.

Descent Investigate

Some of your ancestors probably spoke a different foreign language. If you plot to search ancient genealogical records, you will be more successful with at least a vital understanding of your ancestors’ foreign language(s).

Understanding Your Own Foreign language

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe once said, ‘Wer fremde Sprachen nicht kennt, weiß nichts von seiner eigenen.’ or ‘Those who don’t know foreign languages know nothing of their own.’ Learning a foreign foreign language will give you a much better understanding of English. Your knowledge of English grammar, vocabulary, verb tenses, and sentence construction will improve when you tackle another foreign language.

Self-Actualization and Challenge

If you’ve by now been everywhere and done everything – perhaps it’s time to tackle something new. What could be more challenging and rewarding than immersing yourself in another foreign language?

Opera, Poetry, and Prose Appreciation

Artistic works written in a different foreign language often cannot be completely appreciated when translated into English. This is especially obvious when listening to poetry. If poetry is translated into English with a preserved rhyming machinate, the meaning of the poetry is nearly always altered. Life able to take note to the original foreign language – with its subtle tones and nuances – will lend to a greater appreciation of the artist.

Culture Appreciation

One can only truly comprehend a foreign culture if the foreign language is also understood. Exactly what is ‘Bratwurst’ or ‘Calvados’? And what about foreign films? Wouldn’t you like to be able to watch something with subtitles – and skip reading them?

Invigorate the Brain

Adults benefit from the brain stimulation bent by foreign language training. Seniors who tackle a foreign foreign language show improved brain function over a period of time. Students who learn foreign languages as children score better on academic tests. There is also evidence to suggest that they may be more creative and capable when faced with solving complex tasks.

Learning Teaches You How to Learn

The self discipline and study habits bought through successful acquisition of a foreign foreign language can be useful to many other aspects of your life.

Studying Abroad

What better way to learn about a country’s culture than to study there? This requires an brilliant command of the local foreign language.

Communicate With Someone Secretly in Public

Imagine chatting in public with a friend about something private, knowing that only your friend understands!

Make Online Penpals and Friends

The internet is transforming our world into an intimate global village where you can chat via e-mail, forums, live chat sessions, and audio/video feeds.

Impress a Date?

In closing – male or female – you will make points with your bilingual date by learning a few vital words. If your date doesn’t speak a foreign foreign language, he or she will be impressed by the enchanting allure of intimate expressions in one of the ‘romance’ languages.

So – what are you waiting for? Get learning!

©Copyright Kathy Steinemann: This article is free to publish only if this copyright notice, the byline, and the author’s note below (with active links) are included.

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Studying for an exam can be a nail-biting ordeal. But, foreign languages demand a slightly different approach than many other subjects. Here are some tips that will help you score higher on your next test. Many of the tips can be useful to other fields of study as well.

Prepare Well in Development

Don’t procrastinate until the night previous to a test to crack open your clarification and textbooks. Careful preparation can save last-minute anxiety and pressure.

Even if you have a excellent command of English sentence structure and rules, you should buy a comprehensive grammar textbook. An brilliant knowledge of your own foreign language will make any foreign tongue simpler to learn.

Whether you find it on the internet or in a library, make sure that you have access to some foreign foreign language prose. Small tales in parallel version are an brilliant choice. Waste a few minutes every day reading. Be sure to say each word aloud or whisper the words as you speak. This will reinforce foreign foreign language speech patterns.

Familiarize yourself with the pronunciation and syllable emphasis of unknown words. To accomplish this, you must have a high-quality foreign foreign language dictionary.

Whenever you encounter unfamiliar lesson material, skim through it and make mental note of new grammatical concepts and vocabulary. Then go through it again, at a snail’s pace and comprehensively.

Prepare your written assignments as soon as you receive them. The time interval between preparation and due date will allow you to reflect on what you have done, making corrections and revisions, and thereby receiving a higher mark.

If you are experiencing difficulty with specific words or phrases, renovate a mental-image jogger. For example, if you cannot remember that the German word for ‘crow’ (die Krähe) is feminine, reckon of a huge black crow with large red lips and curly blonde hair. The more outrageous the image, the more likely you will be to remember the material.

Try preparing your own self-quizzes. The entire process is learning, and will quickly reinforce your learning.

Save every piece of paper handed out in class. What seems inconsequential at first may later prove to be of splendid value.

Capitalize on Empty Time

How much time do you waste watching television? Every hour of North American TV contains about 20 minutes of commercials. Don’t raid the fridge or daydream during commercial breaks – study! Amazingly, your brain will correlate these sandwiched breaks with material you are watching on the tube, and your learning will progress – even during the 40 minutes per hour of viewing time.

If you waste more than a few minutes every day on bus or subway commutes, be sure to take along some study clarification. Even in ‘standing room only’ you can often accomplish a few minutes of effective studying with a clipboard and a few pages of vocabulary printouts.

Forget the Last-Minute Rush

Ensure that your clarification are always up-to-date. Spending a few minutes daily hitting the books is much more effective than last-minute cramming. Not only will you be less stressed, but the knowledge is more likely to remain with you over the long term.

Reviewing clarification just previous to bedtime works well. Your brain is adept at collating, correlating, and filing while you sleep.

24 Hours Previous to the Examination

The night previous to your exam, go to bed on time and get a excellent sleep. If you have some information rolling around in your head that is likely to keep you wide awake, jot it down and review it the following daylight.

Just previous to you write your exam, eat a light meal that has a excellent combination of carbohydrates (for immediate brain glucose) and protein (for delayed glucose release). Try something like a whole-grain bagel with ham accompanied by a piece of fresh fruit. Go simple on the coffee and soda. A full bladder during an exam can be uncomfortable and extremely distracting. (Don’t forget to use the restroom previous to sitting down at your desk!)

Get organized – right now – and you will be rewarded with higher inscription on your next quiz or test.

©Copyright Kathy Steinemann: This article is free to publish only if this copyright notice, the byline, and the author’s note below (with active links) are included.

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