by Ralph Mcallister

Created on: December 30, 2008

Immersion into a culture, almost without saying, is the best way to learn a foreign language. If you have the option of moving to the country where the language is spoken, this is ideal for learning the language and becoming fluent quickly. However, relocating may not be an option for the majority of you who are looking to learn. Fortunately, here in North America many languages can be found in books, on the airwaves and with native speakers throughout the metropolitan areas on the continent. The degree to which you immerse yourself into a language and culture will vary the time it takes for you to become fluent. There are steps that you can take which will afford you great advantage in your learning process, travel included or not.

The first step you always want to take in the process of learning a foreign language is to sign up for an entry level class. Several resources in or near your community are likely available for a language class; a local college or university, continuing education center or even your local library. With an entry level language class, you are going to learn proper pronunciation of the alphabet, the most common words and phrases used; and you will get support on the correct syntax and sentence structure. As your instructor might tell you, repeatedly, repetition is the key at this point. Do not skip out on repeating what practices or homework you are given. This will give you a good foundation when you take on a more challenging part of hearing the language in the real world, as in conversation, radio or television.

Conversation is the second step you want move ahead to mastering a foreign language. Once you have a good start with the basics, work on your network of native speakers. This is easy with Spanish, Japanese or French, some of the more commonly spoken languages in North America. Others languages from Europe and Asia are very common as well and should not pose a problem finding a contact. Once you find a language partner or mentor, you will not likely encounter resistance getting help with practice in conversation. A person from another nation is going to be more than willing to help someone interested in their language it serves as a source of pride for them. You may even get some cultural lessons you might not hear in the classroom. Starting out with repeated conversation lines is the best approach, much like you would learn in class, while being sure to ask your partner to work with you on different levels of fluency and speed.

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