Language Learning Strategies

I've received guidance from other PCVs, Peace Corps staff and Peace Corps recruiters on how to effectively learn a host country language. I figured that those tips could help others, so it recently occurred to me to share them here on my blog, so here they are.

Notebook.
It can be helpful to have a notebook in which you write new words and phrases you learn. By writing them down, you're likely to be learning them better for a couple of reasons. First, you're practicing them, or imprinting them onto your brain, by writing them out. Second, you'll be less likely to forget them if you write them down, partly since you can go back and look at them later.

You're also more likely to get more out of the notebook if you carry it around with you. Then when you hear a new word or phrase, you can write it down and not run the risk of forgetting the new word that you learned (or how to spell it, since you can write down the spelling when someone tells it to you, rather than later--or not at all).

Some people also suggest copying similar and related words and phrases over into new lists so that similar words and phrases are grouped together. If you do so, you might better remember the new words and phrases for a couple of reasons. First, again, you're imprinting them onto your brain by writing them out. Second, you'll be reinforcing the meaning of the words by making associations between similar words.

Tutor.
By having a tutor, you can benefit for various reasons. First, by having a consistent tutor, you'll get help from the same person, which can be efficient. Second, you'll have someone whom you can not only ask questions about the language, but also on a consistent basis. Third, you can set up usual times to meet, so that you are regularly spending time learning more about the language. Fourth, you can ask a tutor more technical questions, such as about grammatical rules, the answers to which you might not be able to discern from just having conversations with others.

Often a tutor is only as effective as you help him or her to be. While a tutor can help you spot your strengths and areas in which to improve, the primary responsibility of benefiting from your experiences with your tutor rests with you. Let your tutor know in which areas you are struggling, and how you feel he or she can help you. If you rely on the tutor to develop material for your meetings, you might end up focusing on areas which don't best use your time.

Language Partners.
Of course, the more you practice speaking the language, the more likely it is that you'll get better at speaking the language. Even though this point is obvious, people often don't think of having people with whom they regularly meet to practice speaking the language. You can do so just on a social basis, hanging out with a shop owner, in a barber shop, with people at a cafe, or just at someone's home. Often PCVs fall into the trap of not being social and sequestering themselves in their homes, which, of course, causes them not to be social, and thus not to practice their language skills. Because they have lower language skills, often PCVs then further avoid social contact. It's important to force oneself to get out there and be in the community, for various reasons, including to develop one's language skills.