The Best Way to Learn a Language

It’s time to find your best way to learn a language. It might look like using proven techniques and strategies from popular methods or it might look entirely different. The best way to learn a language is the way that works for you based on how you learn and your personal goals for each language you’re learning.

Strategies & Techniques

There’s no single strategy or technique that’s going to work for everyone in every language, but there is a best strategy for you and your languages. This is a combination of techniques that you learn in language classes and by observing study skills other people use. Not all of these techniques are going to work for you, but it’s only through trying them that you’ll find the ones that do.

What works & what doesn’t this time, with this language

It might be that the best way for you to learn your second language is to take courses & work with a tutor for extra practice and guidance. Or the best way could be to practice independently with books & online resources at your own pace. The first strategy is better for people who need more support, structure, and accountability. Whereas the second is an option for those who can confidently create & follow their own schedule, find their own resources, and determine when they need help from a teacher or language partner all on their own.

Personally, I prefer a blended approach of courses, tutors, and independent study. I recommend starting with a strong structure, like a course or regular meetings with a tutor and building upon that. From here, you can always adjust by adding in more independent practice of any kind that you like to build your own style knowing that you are making progress toward your goals because of the core structure already in place.

It doesn’t work forever, with every language

Once you’ve found a strategy that works, your next step is improving that process. Your strategy only works the exact way you’re currently using it, with the language you’re learning, at this specific moment, at this level of proficiency/fluency for a short amount of time. This is also how you know you’re making progress because you’ll need to refine your study technique as you become more advanced in your target language.

That same strategy also might not work the next language you learn. For example, if you learn Spanish, then Mandarin, you won’t be able to jump straight into memorizing vocabulary & grammar. You’ll need to learn how to pronounce words & write characters before you can even begin rigorous vocabulary & grammar study. You’ll still be able to learn through taking a course as a core structure, but your route through the foundations of that language will be different. You’ll need new study techniques for this language.

Strategies for learning similar languages

Let’s say you start learning French after becoming proficient in Spanish. You no longer need to go through the process of learning how to learn language, how to conjugate verbs, understanding masculine & feminine adjectives, etc. Instead, you can apply what you’ve already learned from Spanish to French. You still have to memorize vocabulary and learn the different verb conjugations, but the process is different because your brain is accustomed to acquiring new languages and you’ve already learned how a romance language is structured. Your strategy now becomes transferring skills from Spanish to French and developing new techniques for learning that third language.

Time & Resources Available

Your best way to learn a language is also largely dependent on how much time you can dedicate to practicing and the resources available to you. This essentially breaks down into a time vs cost comparison to decide whether your priority is learning a language quickly or cheaply. Both are valid best ways to learn, but you’ll have to decide which fits your goals & lifestyle best.

If you have less time to study and need to learn fast, working with a tutor often can help you maximize your time. A teacher will do the work of organizing what you need to learn and the appropriate way for you to understand concepts quickly, so you can use the rest of your study time to focus on reviewing what you learned with that tutor and gathering your questions about your independent practice to ask at your next session.

If you have more time and less money to spend on resources, you can still learn by researching how to learn a language, being diligent about practicing regularly and problem-solving when you don’t understand a concept. You may even seek out a conversation exchange partner to help you practice. This takes more time, but you can learn a language just as well if you are willing to put in the extra work.

In theory, you can learn a language both quickly & cheaply if you are highly skilled at language learning, exceptionally diligent about practicing, and extremely resourceful in finding creative ways to practice conversation & writing. But for most of us, this just isn’t the case, and we need a blend of learning with a teacher or course of some kind and many hours of struggling through independent practice. You decide what’s best for you based on what’s available at this time, for your current language, your goals, and your learning style.