How to Learn a Foreign Language the Fast Way

Mightily though we may try, Americans sure have a tough time learning foreign languages. Every high school in America teaches them, we spend billions (yes, billions!) of dollars each year on programs and classes and gadgets and gizmos meant to help us learn better, faster, cheaper, etc., yet we still compare miserable to our European brethren and peoples around the world.

I'm not going to get into why that's the way it is (mostly because I have no idea exactly why we can't seem to catch up), but I will gladly share how to learn a language the fast (if not so easy) way. I have learned three languages (French, Haitian Creole, and Spanish) in this way, and it's by far the fastest way I can imagine to learn another language.

Move to a foreign country. Just do it!

As I said, I have done this three times, and it works. Each time I went to the country with a rudimentary understanding of the grammar, which I picked up from the usual methods we use in the U.S. (textbooks, rote learning, vocabulary lists, and the like). Thanks to those methods, I couldn't say bonjour in ANY of the languages! With that small base, however, I was able to jump right into learning by osmosis.

You might find some skeptics out there, but I really believe this works. My strategy is to simply soak up as much of language as humanly possible during my stay, and bit by bit transition to actually speaking it. This saves you from extremely embarrassing pronunciation at the get-go, too!

There are innumerable ways you can be exposed to a foreign language when you're living in a country where it is spoken. That's the whole point actually!

I usually begin with taxi drivers, for several reasons:

- I'm paying to be with them, so they can't really complain
- You'll figure out how people really speak, not someone trained in linguistics talking into a microphone
- If I have to get somewhere, I may as well learn something along the way

Making small talk is the best way to learn the accent, because you will soon get the words down pat and you can concentrate on making them sound the way they should. This also helps you sound like you know what's going on, which can be helpful when trying to avoid paying the "tourist rate" for taxis and fast food!

I start reading the newspaper even before I know the ABC's. You will inevitably pick up words that you can decipher if you're learning a Latin-based language, and you will learn the order and structure of phrases without even studying the grammar. When you learn to hear that something just "sounds right," you know you're really learning a language!

TV and radio are more great sources of practice that won't get angry with you if you want to keep practicing. They also give you insight into the local culture, which, after all, is a major benefit of learning a foreign language.

The final step before you really "get it" is to make some local friends. Even if you're not an outgoing person this doesn't have to be difficult, because foreigners often have a kind of "exotic" factor that interests other people. If you're more comfortable speaking with people from your own country first, try to hook up with some expats that are already established. You'll be meeting locals in no time.

If you can take classes locally, that can also be a very effective method. It can also be expensive though, so if you're on a tight budget I suggest trying the previous methods listed first.

Once you learn the language once, you'll have it with you forever. There are amazing life-long benefits to learning a foreign language, and I hope you get to experience them soon.