As a language lover who can’t possibly afford all of the language lessons I would love to take, over the years I learned the best ways to self-learn them. This introductory phase doesn’t even require a textbook - I am sure everything here can be found online for free.
Disclaimer: this is the method that works the best for me, and I’m sharing it with the intention of helping other people who are stuck. There’s a million different ways to self-learn a language, so if this one doesn’t work out for you, don’t lose motivation!
Disclaimer 2: this method might not work with all languages. I’m sharing this knowledge keeping in mind my experience with Latin (in particular French, Spanish, etc) and East Asian (in particular Korean and Japanese) languages.
Without further ado, here are the steps:
1. If you’re learning a language that uses a different alphabet, make sure that’s the first thing you learn
Relying on romanization is fine at first, but further down the path it will only serve to confuse you. Romanized words of these types of languages can be written in many different ways, so often they don’t even provide an accurate way of pronouncing them. Furthermore, as you make progress, you won’t be able to access a lot of content in your target language since you won’t find it romanized.
2. Learn your first words
Before actually getting into all the grammar rules and whatnot, learn your first words! These include, among others:
- Greetings
- Answers (yes, no, maybe, etc)
- Numbers
- Please and thank you
Practice their pronunciation to get used to the language’s sounds, and how they’re written (especially if you have to use another alphabet - it’s a chance to practice your calligraphy!).
3. Learn essential vocabulary and grammar
I call these “essential vocabulary/grammar” because they are words you must know to build sentences (other than verbs). These include:
- Articles (definite, indefinite, partitive, etc)
- Basic pronouns (personal, possessive, etc)
- Depending on the language, basic grammatical particles
- Sentence order! In many languages, the subject/verb/noun order is totally different. Make sure to know how your target language orders that.
Make sure to also learn their rules and remember the exceptions. The latter are always annoying, but don’t worry - as you progress, you will learn these by heart, and they will eventually come to you naturally!
4. Learn the most basic verbs in the present tense
Like the vocabulary of the previous step, verbs are also essential when building sentences. Now that you’re only a beginner, you don’t need to learn difficult verbs or tenses, so stick with the most used ones:
- to be
- to have
- to do/make
- to say
- to go
- to know
- to think
- to see
- to want
- to give
5. More vocab!
Now that you know your verbs, complement your knowledge by adding more basic vocabulary. Here are some ideas:
- Places
- Food
- Objects
- Adjectives
- Family members
Knowing these in addition to the grammar points you’ve learned will allow you to construct simple sentences, such as I am going home or This is my sister.
6. Practice for your level
Like many other people, I’m guilty of jumping straight into watching movies and shows in my target language, only to get frustrated with myself when I don’t understand anything despite everything I learned until then. Of course, I’m not saying you shouldn’t do it, since it does help you develop your listening skills (especially if you do it with subtitles!), but I have a tip for the ones who prefer an easier activity.
Look for children’s content! I know this sounds silly at first, but books, movies, shows, etc made for children usually use basic grammar and vocabulary. If you think about it, the listening exercises you find in language grammar books made for beginners often seem like they’re made for children for that reason. Therefore, if you can’t find clips and texts for your level easily, try following this tip!
A few more tips for self-learners + resources
- Write a diary in your target language. Even if you don’t know that much, try describing your day the best way you can (even if that means you have to write everything in the present tense). That’s a way of understanding what sort of vocabulary is useful in your daily life and what are your weaknesses.
- For you listening skills, other than Netflix, listen to music as well! Seize the opportunity to also learn the new vocabulary you find in the songs.
- For speaking skills, if you don’t have anyone to practice with, read texts out loud and record yourself to check your pronunciation. If you’re up to it, finding friends online that speak your target language is also a great way of practicing dialogue!
- Most used words in every language
- Textbook masterpost
- More helpful books!
- Random tasks to practice your target language
- My blog’s langblr tag for more helpful posts
