It has never been easier to learn a language than it is today. Yes, it takes effort, and commitment, but thanks to technology, you no longer need physical books, or a native speaker, or to actually travel somewhere in order to learn a new language. Plus, the whole learning process is made more fun and easier thanks to innovative methods such as memory games, and all of it being online allows us to work it into our lives, at our own pace, instead of planning your life around classes and homework .
There are some easy ways to start learning a language. Change the language settings on your devices.
Change the language settings on your devices. On a device like your phone, you're already accustomed to all the buttons and what action they perform. Changing the language on your device will cause it to display those buttons in a different language. Because you already know what the button itself stands for, you've now learned a new word for the action that button performs. This helps if you choose a language that uses the same script as your native language.
You can also do this to the social media site you frequent as well, or the Google homepage, your Windows installation … anything you want really.
Use translation apps. Translating words before was quite the hassle, not only did you need to carry a thick language-to-another-language dictionary around with you, you then had to find the word in it as well. Now thankfully, all you need is your phone and a few seconds. There are a plethora of translation sites and apps available that will give you multiple language translations for a single word. There are also some attempts at real-time translation for travellers, that you don’t have to wait to travel to use… You can also use Google Assistant to translate a phrase for you, and it will. Give it a try if you have an Android device, just say “OK Google, how do I say <phrase> in <language>?” and Google will say it like a native speaker!
Being able to speak with a native speaker at any time. If you happen to know someone who speaks the language you’re hoping to learn, you now have the convenience of being able to video chat with them at any time, at your or their convenience. If you don’t know anyone, there are sites like italki, Couchsurfing and My Language Exchange you can check out, where people might even be interested in learning the language you’re speaking, so you can teach one another!
Watch videos online. You can get full blown language lessons on YouTube for free, thanks to the many helpful creators on the platform. You’re spoiled for choice here, and you can try a variety of different teaching styles to find one that works for you. Don’t just stop at the videos though, head on over the comments and try to figure those out too. Tip: Watch children’s videos in the language you’re hoping to learn. They’re made with plenty of visual cues meant to help children (and you) learn faster.
While learning a new language is easier than ever with plenty of resources to go about, the need for human translators is slowly dwindling. These days you have earbuds you can wear that can translate a language for you in real-time, such as the WT2 language translator earbuds, which can translate up to 40 languages for you. Even the Apple Airpods are capable of instant translation. Because businesses are all global, learning the languages of some of your customers helps you develop interpersonal skills with them, which is good for business, and you.
Here are some apps to help you with language learning
Duolingo
Memrise
Busuu
HelloTalk
Babbel
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Manish Rajesh
Manish can usually be found fervently playing video games of all kinds or… no wait he’s pretty much always playing games View Full Profile
