Learning languages has many benefits, whether on a personal, professional, scientific, cultural or economic level, and therefore this is what motivates us to learn at least one foreign language such as English, French or others, either because of our passion for learning languages or to make our chances of finding a job greater or because of our desire to travel for study, tourism or work.
Who among us has not tried to learn a new language and every time he starts he is very enthusiastic and with time this enthusiasm decreases until he stops learning. You may think that you are the only one who loses enthusiasm or finds it difficult at the beginning of learning a language, but you are not the only one. Therefore, in this article, I will show you some tips and mistakes that you should avoid when learning a new language.
Learning the pronunciation of letters from someone who does not speak this language as a mother tongue:
At the beginning of learning a new language, we have to learn the correct pronunciation, especially the vowels, as they are the main key that helps us understand others and make them understand what we say quickly and easily, so we have to avoid learning the pronunciation of letters from someone who does not speak this language as a mother tongue.
To learn how to pronounce letters correctly, we can watch videos of native speakers of the language and learn how to pronounce letters and words correctly.
After learning the correct pronunciation, we can continue watching videos explaining grammar rules for the person whose style we prefer, as we will have learned the correct pronunciation of letters and how to pronounce words correctly, which will make it easier for us to communicate with people who speak that language in the future.
For example, we can learn English in Arabic, as there are many videos on YouTube that teach English grammar in Arabic, but after we have learned how to pronounce letters correctly.
Avoid using your native language too much:
One of the most common mistakes people who learn a new language make is using their native language too much while learning to understand the meanings of words and to understand the rules of the new language.
This is usually acceptable at first, but with progress in learning and having a fair amount of vocabulary and terms, we must reduce the use of the native language and rely on what we have learned from terms and words to explain new terms and words and to understand the rules.
Read:What is the difference between intensive reading and comprehensive reading?Arabic is very different from foreign languages of Latin origin, so it will be difficult for us to try to link the rules of Arabic to the rules of English or French, as there are many differences at the level of grammar between languages.
For example: We know that the French language divides inanimate objects into masculine and feminine, like the Arabic language, unlike the English language, which does not distinguish between masculine and feminine for inanimate objects, but masculine and feminine in French differ from Arabic, as masculine words differ in Arabic from French, as do feminine words.
If we try to link masculine and feminine in Arabic and French, this will lead us to a big mistake and will lead us to confusion and our inability to distinguish masculine words from feminine words.
For example: the door in Arabic is considered masculine, but in French it is considered feminine, so we should avoid using our mother tongue too much and rely on the language we are learning to understand the words and grammar of this language. It is also better to get used to communicating with our teachers and colleagues in the foreign language we are learning, whether English or French, because this will develop our communication skills and will make it easier for us to use this language in speaking and communicating continuously.
Read:What is the difference between intensive reading and comprehensive reading?Avoid thinking in your native language and then translating what you want to say into a foreign language:
We usually think in our native language and then translate what we want to say or write into a foreign language. This method is wrong because terminology differs from one language to another, sentence structure differs, and the structures and vocabulary differ, and thus the sentences become weak and the vocabulary incorrect. It will also be difficult for us to explain our idea and convey it to others in a correct way.
In addition, this method will make us think a lot and take a longer time when speaking, and thus the listener will get bored and lose enthusiasm for talking to us. Therefore, it is very important to practice thinking in the foreign language we are learning. For example: If we are learning English, we can search for the most important words and sentences in the English language, and if we are learning French, we can search for the most important words and sentences in the French language and memorize them well so that our mind can use them immediately without trying to compose sentences and make sure of the correctness of the rules and try to translate from our native language to the foreign language. Thus, the sentences we use are eloquent, the structures are connected, the rules are correct, and we have more confidence in ourselves when we speak.
Avoid using one method of learning:
To learn any language, we must learn 4 skills and use the educational tools and methods that suit each skill:
Listening and watching:
Watching channels, programs and movies that attract us and listening to music, and with time we will get used to hearing this language and understanding what we hear immediately.
Watching cartoons is useful at the beginning because they depend on simple words in addition to using graphics extensively, which helps us connect words with their meanings. They are also more useful to us than regular movies at the beginning of our language learning, as the vocabulary and topics are simple and fun at the same time.
Conversation and speech:
We must start communicating and talking with others as soon as possible, as we can have simple conversations after several weeks of learning the language and we must take advantage of any opportunity to talk and exchange dialogue, whether with people who speak this language as a mother tongue or with people who are still in the stage of learning this language. It will be a positive step to increase our self-confidence and increase our ability to speak fluently and with greater confidence over time.
Reading:
Like reading children’s stories, it is very useful at first because it is directed at children, so the words and terms used in it are simple and easy to understand, after that we move on to reading short stories and then longer stories, then news and newspaper websites. This way we will have a linguistic stock that we can use in other skills such as speaking and writing as well.
Writing and expression:
Writing down everything that comes to mind of words and ideas or even tasks that we have to do during the day helps us improve our expressive and writing skills at the same time, and it is also useful to add the (Grammarly) tool to your browser as this tool will help you correct your spelling and grammatical errors when writing in English.
Thus, it is our duty to focus on these skills and use all educational methods that strengthen and develop each skill.
Avoid the fear of making mistakes: The main goal of learning any language is to learn to speak and communicate with others who speak this language. One of the biggest obstacles to learning is the fear of making mistakes and the reactions of others towards the way we speak or pronounce and their attempts to correct the verbal or grammatical mistakes we make. Therefore, we should not be upset or sad when others correct our mistakes. On the contrary, this is very useful for us, as it is impossible for anyone to learn a new language without making mistakes. Therefore, we should avoid the fear of making mistakes as much as possible and learn from the mistakes we make by recording these mistakes to practice them and avoid making them the next time we speak or write.
Avoid stress from always trying to remember grammar rules:
Learning new grammar rules is very important and often these rules are difficult and complicated at first, as many of us enroll in courses or read books or watch videos to learn English grammar, for example.
When we first learn grammar, we may get confused and afraid when we speak because we think a lot before we speak, so our focus is on speaking correctly and grammatically correct, which makes us not talk much or makes our speech slow and somewhat boring, and it also limits the number of topics and conversations that we can discuss, and thus we cannot benefit from every possible opportunity to speak. The best solution for us is to take the subject as smoothly and simply as possible, especially when we talk to others. It is important to relieve pressure and stress on ourselves and speak fluently and confidently without constantly thinking about whether our sentences are grammatically correct and without any mistakes or not, and thus we will benefit from any opportunity to exchange conversations with others and enrich our linguistic stock of new vocabulary and terms.
Don’t lose your enthusiasm for learning:
At the beginning of learning any new language, we have great energy and enthusiasm, but after a short period, we find it somewhat difficult to maintain this enthusiasm and drive, so we have to focus on the topics that we love and attract us, and this matter differs from one person to another. For example, if you love cars, read topics and watch programs and news specialized in cars in the language you want to learn.
As we have seen, there are many mistakes that we may make that delay our learning process and affect our speaking and pronunciation skills correctly.
Therefore, we must be careful from the beginning of our learning to avoid making such mistakes because they will greatly affect us and the language learning process without us realizing it, whether in terms of our ability to speak and pronounce correctly or in terms of our enthusiasm and persistence in learning the language and reaching our desired goal.
