How to Learn a Language Fast when You Can't Move Abroad

Living in another country gives you a great opportunity to learn a language fast, but let's be realistic: it's just not an option for everyone. Maybe you have a job you don't want to leave, kids in school or an elderly relative to look after and taking off for three months or more isn't practical.

Besides, moving to another country doesn't guarantee you'll learn a language fast or otherwise. We've all heard about or even met people who've lived overseas for years and still know only a couple words of the local language. Meanwhile, millions of people of modest financial means or who can't get travel visas manage to learn a language quickly without ever leaving their homeland or even taking classes. So it's clear if you go about it the right way, there's no reason you can't learn another language without taking a decade to do so.

Make the Decision and Get Organized
Nothing's wrong with dabbling in a language for fun, of course, but if you really want to become fluent, the first step is deciding that you will reach your goal. No dabbling, no long breaks, no changing your mind. Go at it full steam ahead! For at least three months (ideally six months to a year), be determined to study consistently and make progress with each study session.

To define your goals, ask yourself what you want to be able to do with the language. Goals my be phrased something like, "talk about sports with native speakers," "write simple business correspondence," "understand 80% of most TV shows" or "ask for and give directions." If you need some ideas for goals check the guidelines of the American Council for the Teaching of Foreign Languages or the Common European Framework guidelines. SIL International also has some good suggestions for specific goals at various levels.

Give yourself a time frame, too. In most languages, you can reach somewhere around Intermediate (based on ACTFL guidelines) or B1/B2 level (based on the Common European Framework) in six months if you study consistently and efficiently, and you're willing to really use the language. If you're used to slow-moving high school and college language classes, that might seem unreasonable, but it is possible. The reason most learners don't make it is because they either get distracted and give up or they don't know how to study a language efficiently. Knowledge of these little "efficiency increasing tricks" is one of the reason people working on their third (or forth or fifth) foreign language can learn a language fast.

Get Good Tools
At the very least, try to get a dictionary with around 40,000 entries, a phrase book, and a course book or grammar reference. With some rare languages, it may not be possible to find all this material. If you can't find anything, use a phrasebook in any language to build a list of useful phrases and have those translated into the language you're learning. You may not learn as much as quickly, but this will at least give you something to start with.

You'll also want plenty of native-level material in the language your learning. The goal is to reproduce an immersion situation as much as possible. In other words, surround yourself with the language. Listen to music, watch TV, read anything you can get your hands (online, too), and of course, talk to people whenever you get the chance. Don't worry if can't understand much, just soak up what you can.

Stick with the Essentials
Surrounding yourself with the language doesn't mean you have to try to learn every word you come across, though. Don't make the mistake of trying to wolf down a whole language in a few months. You'll only dilute your efforts and end up with broad but shallow knowledge. What's the point of knowing a little about all the tenses in a language before you can actually use at least one past tense comfortably?

Instead, focus your attention on what you absolutely must know to reach your communication goals. If you have a course book, use it as a guideline, but don't feel like you have to work through the lessons in order if that order doesn't suit your needs. Learn the basics of how to talk about things in the past, present and future. For vocabulary, focus on common verbs, pronouns, prepositions, basic adverbs of time and manner, and a few essential adjectives. Naturally, you need nouns too, but they tend to be easier to pick up, so they require less attention. For more specific ideas of what words and phrases to learn first, try this eight-week language learning plan.

Start the Using Your New Language
To really consolidate your knowledge and turn all those vocab words and grammar rules into a usable language, you need to communicate. Ideally, when you want to learn a language fast, your first steps toward communication would be simple conversations with native speakers. This can be a little stressful at first, but it will really put your learning into overdrive. If you can't find a native speaker locally, look for a conversation partner online at a site like italki.com or livemocha.com. If you can't find anyone to talk to locally or online, though, there's a way around the problem: write out and act out dialogues. Creating dialogues not only helps you practice the words and grammar you know, it also prepares you for real conversations.

Start with the basic phrases in your phrasebook or course book. Imagine situations you might be in when you need to use the language. Can you make up a dialogue for greeting a neighbor? Something like, "Good morning, Mrs. Martin."--"Good morning, Mary. How are you today?" and so on? What about shopping? "How much are the apples?"--"They're 1 Euro per kilo."--"All right. I'd like one kilo please." Or calling friends? "Hello, is Inez home?"-- "I'm sorry, she's out. Can I take a message?"--"No, thanks. I'll call back later." Don't merely read them aloud, but get up and act them out. It might feel silly, but it can really help you remember.

Don't let a bad experience in high school or college convince you you can't learn a language fast unless you live where that language is spoken. Travel can definitely speed up your language learning, but it's by no means a requirement. If you've always wanted to learn another language, don't cheat yourself by waiting until you can move abroad. Make your decision, gather your tools, and give it a shot right now.