Good intentions: How are you really going to learn that foreign language?

Has learning Spanish been on your wish list for a long time? Have you been feeling uncomfortable with speaking English for ages, and now you want to do something about it? Or do you want to make steps in your career in the near future for which better language skills would be particularly useful? In this article, you’ll learn more about the five crucial steps to learning a foreign language. Whether you’re at the beginning of a new year, a new month or a new day, learning a language is always a good idea. Would you like to get started right away? At Regina Coeli, we are happy to help you with a personalised learning programme that works.

Why do you want to learn a language?

When it comes to learning a language, an important key to success is knowing why you want to learn it. That seems like a fairly simple question, but that isn’t always the case. Suppose you want to give your English a boost. What could you do better if you already speak English well? Have professional conversations, write emails, socialise with native English-speaking colleagues... And how would you feel if you did these things? More professional? Confident? Try to imagine this as concretely as possible. Your motivation will help you achieve your goal.

What do you really want?
We recently met a man who was fortunate enough to have had his employer give him a Dutch course as a gift. Yet he didn’t see it as a gift himself. A week away from work and home, studying hard... And everyone speaks English at work anyway, don’t they? Until we asked him what he did in his spare time. His eyes began to sparkle when he talked about his Dutch wife and favourite football team. At that moment, he realised that he really wanted to be closer to his in-laws. He discovered his intrinsic motivation, was grateful to his employer and made a huge leap forward in his Dutch language skills.

If you want to learn a foreign language, figure out what your motivation is.

Get rid of those doubts!

Motivation alone won’t get you there, though. We often have thoughts in our heads that can sabotage the very best of intentions. Some common saboteurs are the thought ‘I don’t have a head for languages’ and perfectionism.

So you don’t have a head for languages. You’re not the only one, because no such thing even exists! Of course, one person might have been better at languages than the other in school. If you were one of the others, you might feel a bit less than enthusiastic about learning a language. But believe us, it is precisely those students who hated German lessons most at secondary school who are the most enthusiastic at the end of a training course at Regina Coeli. 

Anyone can learn a foreign language. The way you learned English, German or French in school may not have suited you, but there is a way for everyone to learn a language easily. A great example of this can be found in this article about how techies learn(ed) a language.

Casual and playful learning like a child
Are you the type who wants to do everything perfectly? That can make it a bit complicated when you want to learn a language. Here’s when can help to think of a child learning to speak. Those first words can only be deciphered by the parents; after that, the child says a number of words in a row that, with a little imagination, form a lovely little sentence. From there, it just gets better and better. If you suffer from perfectionism, try to approach language learning like a child. Make mistakes and laugh at them. It’s important for you to do this in a safe environment. Never opt for a group lesson, but for individual lessons. And not on the work floor, but in a place where you feel safe experimenting with the language.

There are different ways to go about learning a foreign language. In the past, people generally used to learn languages from books; now there are all sorts of apps for that. And then there are people who claim that you can only really learn a language if you go and live a spell in a country where the language is spoken, yet there are plenty of people who’ve lived in a country for years and still don’t speak the local language... We know of plenty of examples of students who sacrificed part of their holiday for a training course in Vught.

If you choose a method that suits you, you’ll have the best chance of succeeding. We can give you a few tips to point you in the right direction:

• Language is learnt mainly from people. You learn good pronunciation from a native speaker by not only listening to them, but also looking at the movements of their mouths and allowing them to correct you until you’ve got it right. In addition, you get to know the culture better when a native speaker supports you. Even though the differences with your own culture might be minimal, you’d be amazed by the effect even those little differences can have on communication. But perhaps most importantly, a professional language trainer can guide and motivate you. Want to achieve your goal? You can't do it alone.
• Apps, websites and books can help you to learn the language. Because there’s an abundance of these resources to choose from, it can help to set goals for yourself so you can focus on specific aspects grammar or particular areas of vocabulary.
• If you take lessons, you can choose between group or individual ones. When you join a group, you know that the language you’ll be learning will be more general in nature. After all, the lesson needs to be interesting for everyone. If you opt for private lessons (and a good trainer), then the lessons will be tailored to your specific needs.
• Are you someone who has the discipline to study independently and can keep it up for months on end? Or does it work better for you to dive into a subject for a short period of time and master it? In the latter case, intensive training is ideal. If you want to study for a longer period of time, opt for online one-to-one lessons or hybrid training. 

If you’d like more in-depth advice than the tips we’ve given you above, you’re more than welcome to come for a free consultation with a Regina Coeli language trainer.