My desire to learn new languages comes from two thoughts.
The first: “I don’t want to die knowing only the language I started with.”
The second: “I want to be able to talk to as many people as possible in the way that resonates with them most.”
The root of the world’s disagreements can be found in its misunderstandings. Most people are well intentioned, but fail to get their point across because it gets lost in translation. Initially my pursuit in learning new languages was from not wanting to be confined to a single form of communication, but through learning my second language, Spanish, their came a new reason.
When you begin to learn a new language and truly understand it, you begin to see the world from a different perspective. Initially, you don’t see this because you are simply translating all of the new words to your native language, but over time you begin to wear a new lens to observe life.
In English you have morning, afternoon, and night, but in Spanish you have mañana, tarde, noche, y madrugada. You find a fourth part of the day to represent the early morning. In English, you say I am hungry, but in Spanish you tengo hambre (I have hunger); a distinction in its separation from identity that will impact your perspective if you only know one or another. There are countless examples of this, but these are just some simple examples. The more you dive into the roots of these words and phrases, the more you can come to an understanding of how someone else may view life in all contexts.
In a word, utility. In my home country of The United States there are over 40 million Spanish speakers. In Latin America, there are 455 million Spanish Speakers. Without crossing either the Atlantic or Pacific Oceans, I would be able to speak to an additional 500 million people in their native tongue. I could tell stories, get emotional listening to the music, movies, and TV shows they enjoy. At its root, I could express love and have a connection with more people.
An added benefit is the ability to use it in a professional setting. If I were to travel for business or meet with Spanish speaking customers, I could readily switch to the other language.
There is also something to be said about the ability to practice more often. I am at a stage now where I feel I would need to live full time in a Spanish speaking country to reach the next level of fluency. It can be hard to perfect a language you don’t use in practice, especially if it is your first foreign language. Why? Because not only are you learning a new language, but you are simultaneously learning how to learn a language. Those are separate things.
After learning my first foreign language, there are skills and mental pathways I will likely be able to use when learning other languages especially if they are Latin based.
I started much like anyone else, Spanish in high school, a little Duolingo now and then, but it didn’t really progress my proficiency. These are the things that really helped me.
You need a timeline. You may say it’s irrelevant, but it gives you something real and finite to work within. My mentality was that I can learn any soft skill in 3 months and any language in 3 years. For this, I set a time of three years to be fluent. I would seek every resource I could to become conversational in that time whether it was realistic or not.
You need to have a why. You already know my why, but what is yours. Feel free to use mine. I think it is a solid one. Just remember that learning a new language is not only learning new words but it’s discovering a new way to connect with your emotions and the emotions of others.
This is your standard from which you measure your progress. I used Lengalia, which is a self paced online course that has programs from A1 (beginning fluency) to C2 (full proficiency). I am communicating in C2 English right now. Having a standard course like this will provide you with structure and introduce you to new vocab and topics to talk about.
Additionally, when someone asks you if you know the language you will know exactly where you stand on the spectrum of fluency. For quick reference A1/A2 is beginner fluency, B1/B2 is intermediate fluency, and C1/C2 is advanced fluency. Lengalia also has an A0 section for super beginners.
You need someone to talk to, it’s the fastest way to progress. You will be corrected and learn how to speak with less effort in real time. It’s the only way that I ever saw any meaningful progress when it came to “speaking without translating first in my head.”
I used Preply. I found an affordable tutor for $15/hour in the country I wanted to learn from. I met with her once per week and she would assign homework.
This enabled me to focus on the language in a formal way. It also held me accountable to my goals. I needed to show up on those sessions because I had another person in the loop and I didn’t want to waste their time.
We would speak in only the language I was learning for an entire hour. Each time I felt that by the end of the session I had become more fluent than when I started. It was as if it took some time for my brain to switch over.
This topic is broad, but I’d like to consolidate it. Obviously, the most powerful form of immersion is moving to another country, but most people can’t afford to something like this. As an alternative, use media.
When learning a new language you will quickly realize their are four main measurements of proficiency. They are reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Do some form of immersion that improves each of these four.
Music could be for listening. Some of my favorite music artists now are Spanish speaking artists. For reading you could either read books or read subtitles of Spanish speaking shows. La Sombra del Viento is my favorite book and Romina Poderosa is a fun Colombian show about twins separated at birth.
Your tutor can be your speaking immersion and your homework can be your writing immersion. I like to journal as well which has helped because it allows me to connect with my emotions through that second language.
I have been learning Spanish for about 2 and half years. I should be about B2 by the 3 year mark. For you, I would set the same goal. Try to become B2/C1 by 3 years.
As for my next languages, I am just starting to dabble in Italian as I would like to be able to communicate with locals easily when I travel there. Additionally, I’d like to speak Chinese as well due to the large population of speakers. I believe with English, Spanish, and Chinese I should be able to communicate with most people worldwide.
I am planning trips to these places over the coming years. If you’d like help from me or additional resources I’m happy to point you in the right direction.
