How to be conversationally fluent in a new language in one year

If you learn language as a hobby instead of a job, if you do it to build relationships instead of studying the language, and if you use curiosity as your greatest learning tool you can learn language even part time with great efficiency. You will be surprised at how you can insert language learning into your daily life without having to make it a time consuming, draining experience keeping the mind at its highest learning curve!

A friend of mine moved to Greece and his job entailed that he learn Greek. He became frustrated and depressed because he found himself unable to speak the language. To alleviate his mind of his learning frustrations, he finally decided to take some time to relax and rejuvenate by going to the park. While sitting on a park bench, he noticed a man playing with his dog. As the man gave commands to his dog in Greek, my friend crawled into depression with the realization that the dog understood better Greek than he did. He missed the target in learning a language. How can a language learner avoid this frustration?

When shooting at a target, it is better if you aim for the bull’s eye. Even if you don’t hit it, you still have a better chance of hitting something on the target, than when shooting a wild shot. Language learning is a target that also has a bull’s eye. The bull’s eye is relationships.

Build relationships instead of studying the language

Language is a secondary tool for communication. Communication is a tool for building relationships. Language learning also goes hand in hand with motivation. The higher one’s motivation to learn something, the more information it is possible to retain.

Nothing feeds motivation like curiosity.

Stimulating curiosity builds the kind of motivation that allows you to retain what you learn. What is easier to do with all your heart, a hobby or a necessary task? Does a busy working person with a hundred things on his or her mind prepare dinner with the same pleasure as the person with a day off expecting long awaited and loved guests?

There is a way to learn languages that help you not only shoot for the bull’s eye, but get closer to the target.

Not only do you build relationships, but you have a language mentor who also had to learn the language you are learning and can help you walk through the swampy aspects of language. You will have a place where you meet the same people who will appreciate you learning their language and turn into friendly language helpers.

You can explore your own context to find the situations and subjects that give you the highest motivations to learn and you will use what you know to the maximum. Your language learning confidence will increase as you move from the known to the unknown. As you jump into the things you want to learn you can use your own curiosity to bring the cat to life! Your hand held dictionary will become one of your best friends. By making language learning a hobby rather than an obligation you can fulfill the requirements of language class. With this approach you can learn at an accelerated rate through private teachers. One who speaks your language will explain the whys of the complicated tongue you are learning and one who only speaks the national language will force you to communicate. The balance will make it neither too easy nor too hard.

The answers to the following questions will open the way for methods to learn a new language

• Why do people study languages so hard, - and yet have such a difficult time speaking them competently? Because the brain does not want associate language learning with work.
• Why is it so easy to forget what you have learned in language class? The brain needs a small dose of retention stimulation at the end of the day.
• Why is it when I try and speak in what little I know, people start speaking English to me, or worse, look at me like I came from another planet instead of another country? This is normal and turning it into humor instead of humiliation will lighten up the brain.
• Why is it that language study is often a burden, something to accomplish rather than a delight? It’s all in your head! Make it what you want it to be.
• Why is it I can understand my lessons and some conversation in the market or superficial conversation but I can’t understand jokes, songs, and group conversations? These require more sophisticated thinking in the language and each one you learn is a major acquisition!
• Why do I feel so relieved when I can speak my own language after a long language learning headache? Like muscles the brain gets sore after too much workout.
• Why is it that I feel that if I don’t have two years to devote to full time language learning, I’ll never get it? Language learning is a day by day relationship tool, not a goal. Changing from a goal oriented to a people oriented view will make it an adventure of discovery rather than a daunting task.
• Why do people get stuck on an aspect of the language and can’t seem to pull out of it? We don’t like to let things go. When you find what you can easily learn the brain gets happy. Taking the path of least resistance will accomplish more to overcoming what at this time is a barrier.

Anyone who will do the following can be conversationally fluent in a short time (10 months to 1 year). Remember, language learning is all in the head! You must structure your mind for language learning.

Bull’s Eye Language Learning

Bull’s Eye is a language learning method that accelerates a person’s ability to learn the language and remember what was learned. It takes daily life and turns it into a language learning experience that compliments any course you may be taking, or serves on its own, as a way to learn the language. Besides language teachers, it uses a language mentor - someone with whom you can regularly share your language learning journey.

Train the Brain and Retain

The idea is to train the brain to accelerate learning and to retain what is learned. The brain uses chemical switches to turn information on and off according to how it will prioritize it. It will also open or use existing paths to store information in high or low recall places. If it’s high priority for the brain, switches go on and info is put into nearby recall places. Low priority, switches go off and distant recall places. One way to help motivate the brain is to conform to its logic. The brain knows- work is to survive. If you can survive speaking English, the brain will not turn on the switches that say- “I have to do this!” When we moved to Brazil, I told my 5 year old daughter that she would have to learn Portuguese. She replied, “Daddy, we don’t need to do that. Let’s just teach everyone in Brazil to speak English!”

To the brain, language learning is not work, but a tool for pleasure- namely relationships and fun. When you approach language as a task, the brain does not understand why and recall and priority go down. This is essential. Why do kids learn language so easily? Could it be it is because they do not learn it for work, but to play? My daughter who wanted to teach all of Brazil to speak English learned Portuguese in 5 months. She did it because she wanted to play with Brazilian kids! One must change the reason for language learning and convince the brain- “This is for fun!” It is a hobby, not a job. Why do women usually (not always) learn faster than men? They want to talk! If language is for communication, switches will go on and brain paths will lead to places of high recall.

Therefore, as you learn a language, do fun things: eat good food, have nice music playing, be in a pretty or comfortable place so the brain sees language learning as a treat! Notice that dogs learn faster when you give them a treat? We are not dogs… but our brains are made of the same material!

Ten Steps for Language Learning Pleasure

1. Spend 4 minutes per day with the language at the end of the day, either reading, speaking, listening to music, TV, or any media. This will cause the brain keep the language at the front burner. I first heard of this from Doug Stewart, OT professor at Gordon – Conwell encouraging his students to keep up with Hebrew. This is a commandment for recall! DO NOT NEGLECT THIS!

2. Find a language place: a family, coffee shop, Bible study, etc where they can meet the same people on a regular basis who know that you are language learning and will encourage them, share things with you, etc, and you must do this at least 2x week.

3. Get a language text written by a woman - their instinct to communicate is often built in. A man’s text is usually about technical mastery - the brain does not understand this with language and automatically blocks the learning process.

4. Find someone to build a relationship with in the new language, and work on the relationship. This makes the brain want to learn. The brain understands that language is a tool for communication / relationship and will kick in extra motivational chemicals for this.

5. Carry a hand dictionary and use curiosity. When you see a billboard, hear a word or any other thing that sparks your curiosity look it up! The brain is in its highest learning mode when it is curious.

6. Learn a song, a 3 minute piece from a dubbed movie (a familiar one in English), if you like theatre, from a play, and a page from a book. No hurry take your time to do it well. Go to the movies that have subtitles if possible. Again make it ones you like. Make it fun.

7. Include a mentor that is from your country and has learned the language or is ahead of you in learning. It is good to meet 2-4x per month and report how you are doing at the stage you are in and share experiences.

8. Have 2 language tutors and pay them well. One must speak the language and no English and the other speak English as well as the national language. Alternate them. The one only speaking the language you are learning forces you to use the language but will bring on a language headache if this is the only helper. The language headache puts the brain in an eject mode for information. The one speaking English will be able to explain things to you and help you understand how the language works from the view of a native speaker but English will become a default mode if only this person helps and will set learning backwards.

9. Build yourself a micro-world in the new language. If you love to cook, learn all of the kitchen utensils, stove, etc. and favorite foods of your favorite recipe. If you love to drive and work on cars, learn all about car parts, tools, etc. Try and find a national speaker who will help you. Learn your micro world very well in the new language.

10. Read children’s books, learn children’s songs, learn kiddie rhymes.

If you do the above, you will be fluent in little parts of the language. You can know every inch of small islands rather than trying to understand a continent. From your small islands of fluency you will have confidence (and this is another brain stimulator) to go from the known to the unknown and language learning will motivate, not intimidate.

A special note to perfectionists

Remember, learning a language is not like flying a plane, it is like a child learning to walk. A pilot has no room for error once he is flying a plane. One major mistake will be the pilot’s last. Learning any language is like a child learning to walk. It is by falling, getting back up, trying again and again that a child walks. Language learning is the same. Mistakes often are the greatest platform for learning.

But you can go farther and deeper if you practice these things. There are more “accelerator” exercises such as learning how to use grammar or vocabulary as your driver (depending on which one moves your brain), accent exercises, and motor stimulation while learning.

Don’t look at yourself in terms of success or failure. Every word learned, every person that you can say something to and understand something from is an acquisition.

Every day you will be more fluent than the next.

Finally, good language learning requires 2 things to happen: acceleration and retention. Motivation causes acceleration and the little 4 minute exercise guarantees retention. If you follow these steps, though not as a job, but in order to enjoy life, you will find yourself conversational in about 10-12 months. But don’t count the days- go day by day as every day has enough trouble of its own. Set no goals but to have fun, meet people, and do things you love in your new language!