Hi there!
First of all, I am honored to write in Nesh’s blog since I consider her an inexhaustible source of creativity and inspiration. Secondly, I am glad I am here “talking” to you all, because only the fact I am publicly writing in a language that is not my native one, makes me feel powerful. For this reason, I am happy to break limiting beliefs that often interfere with our language learning progress. I consider the process as a continuous development since you will never get to an end while learning. Consequently, you may risk access to uncountable knowledge which may be useful at some point in your real life 🤓.
Let’s see together how it is possible to learn a language fast!
If you have the chance, go on Erasmus to learn a language fast
Communication is the aim of languages and without it in a foreign country you would basically die so, trust me Erasmus may be your most “comfortable” zone between not-comfortable ones. This opportunity will help you to learn a language fast.
I would like to give you some context before referring to my experience. I have been studying English for ages and I forgot how much listening, writing, or speaking I had to stand, but it turned out that I currently prefer Spanish to express myself even if I studied this language for one year. This is because I am way more used to speaking Spanish.
Why does this happen?
Because, dear readers, it is not worth spending so many hours only studying grammar or vocabulary when the beauty of the language is the fluency and your capacity to be understood by others.
I do suggest you dare and venture into the flowing world of languages, because trust me, you will never feel totally ready to speak to a native.
What happens is that you are so focused on the structure of the sentence that you lose the concept. I will tell you a secret, people do not care about your grammar as long as the message goes through (whereas it is not your teacher 🤓).
Live the language and enjoy the journey.
Corrections. Don’t take it personally!
Admitting your own errors may be a way to learn a language fast.
Trust me, it is better to understand how far you are from your aim even if it hurts, rather than thinking you have been doing it perfectly all the time. It may be that your conversational partner corrects you. Try to appreciate a small dose of corrections while speaking. If you are a person who feels that may struggle with this, try to settle boundaries such as letting your interlocutor know that there are some contexts in which corrections are not welcome. I am a native Italian speaking Spanish daily and even if I see correction as a valuable tool, try to ask my Andalusian boyfriend if he can stop me while fighting to enlighten me with the correct word. 😂
Combine business with pleasure
I know you watched La Casa de Papel 3 times in your own language. Please let El Profesor speak Spanish now and then. 🤣
Nesh offers you different ways to learn a language fast such as Netflix Series, Chill songs, and The Best Reggaeton Playlist. You can find these helpful resources here.
Believe in yourself and you will learn a language fast
I have been in that place where you are at a party and only want to whisper a foreign language because you are ashamed, like I was in a dark place when I just moved to a new country and had to start over my entire life and I was struggling to find a supermarket.
I perfectly know the sensation of not feeling enough, and also, I know how it is restarting from zero and perceiving the fear that the change and the new entails.
I left the home where I was raised, I moved away from family love and old friendships.
I changed my job, I created a brand new amazing life in Malaga, I built long-lasting connections and learned to love when there was no hope at all to love again.
It was like I was born again.
If you are interested in this topic you may like my article about the benefits of being an expat.
And where did it all start?
From shame, fear, and the never ending sensation of not being ready or enough.
I started from a lack of confidence and the fear of failing. This is the exact point you can start from when learning your second language, from mistakes and uncertainty to finally pushing yourself to the mastery of a chaotic and colorful bilingual mind.
