How to Start Learning a Foreign Language

Only a few lucky people manage to learn a foreign language properly at school. Maybe your teacher didn’t inspire you, maybe the curriculum was too weak, or perhaps there simply wasn’t such a subject. Don’t despair! Learning foreign languages from infancy is beneficial for intellectual development, but if your school years are already behind you and a specific goal has only appeared now, you will reach it many times faster as an adult.Whether you are starting from zero or from a different level, the first thing you should do is formulate your goal—ideally, even write it down on paper. It is very important to set a specific deadline for achieving your goal; then you can create a study plan from today until that date. It’s also important to set realistic time frames, and a teacher can always help with that. They can then explain what needs to be done to reach your goal. You can break the stages of achieving it into more specific tasks.A goal statement is always individual, for example:

• By February, bring my boss an Advanced-level English certificate and get a promotion.
• Go to Spain next May and be able to communicate in Spanish on simple topics.
• Prepare for the TOEFL in December so that a month later I can get an internship in the USA.
• By September 1, master the school English curriculum to help my child with homework.

Let’s look more closely at the first example.

Goal: By February, bring my boss an Advanced-level English certificate and get a promotion.

Where am I now? Five years ago I finished an Upper-Intermediate course, but I didn’t use English at work, and now I don’t remember anything.

What do I have? To get the certificate in February, I need to pass the exam in January. It’s June now, so I have 6 months in reserve. I can devote 3 evenings a week to studying.

What do I need to accomplish? Our tasks:

• thoroughly review all grammar from the very beginning, since I’ve forgotten everything;
• restore the vocabulary that is already somewhere in my head and expand it;
• learn the skills required for the exam—that is, complete as many exam tasks as possible;
• register for the exam on time.

As soon as you formulate all this based on your specific situation, you stop stumbling around in the dark and start moving in the right direction. The main thing is that you and your teacher are pursuing the same goal, so don’t hesitate to describe it in detail—even if you joined a group of 20 people.The next step is to decide on the format of your studies. The main options are group classes, one-on-one lessons with a teacher, and independent study.The last option suits those who have already successfully learned something on their own, or who are completely confident in themselves and have the opportunity to consult specialists. If you have enough self-discipline and determination, this format will be the most useful for you. Unfortunately, there are very few people like that.

Group classes are not suitable for every goal. As a rule, a group moves at its own pace, steadily covering the curriculum. And there is a firm rule: the group moves at the speed of its slowest participant. In smaller towns it is especially hard to form a group where all students are at the same language level, so you won’t understand some of them, and others will annoy you with their slowness. The opposite of this is intensive courses in large language centers, which can afford to teach several groups of different levels at the same time. With properly organized interaction in the group, such courses are invaluable for the speed at which you “start speaking.”

Individual lessons are usually the most effective format for most students. You move at your own pace; no one holds you back. How strongly you move forward depends only on you and on your initial agreement with the teacher. If you feel that you can’t keep up with the chosen pace, you can slow down and adjust your goal slightly. The main thing is not to be lazy and to give it your all each time. You forget once, skip another time—and your goal shifts back by a month. Always keep your teacher informed if you change your tasks or want to go back a couple of steps. That is your main advantage.So, what should you keep in mind when starting (even if not for the first time) to learn a language?

• Formulate your goal. To do this, answer the question: what do you want to achieve?
• Consult specialists on what you need to do to reach your goal.
• Choose the optimal study format.
• Always keep your goal in sight.
• Take action!