Five tips to resume learning a language
- Apr 1
- 2 min read
Updated: Apr 2
Think stages rather than a level
You're keen to get in back into it, but the muscle is cold, so you're going to have to be patient! Thinking in terms of stages helps lowering the pressure you might put upon yourself and be more realistic in terms of times spent interacting with the language, i.e. listening, speaking, reading, and writing.
Check how organised you are
Looking at your notes, can you find quickly the information you need? If the answer is no, start using tabs and sections to organise yourself. If all you do, is write a long liste of words, your notes will never be of use to you. What you need, is your own bible!
Review your own method and tools
Do you have a grammar book and, if so, is it bilingual English/the language you're learning or entirely in the language you're learning? You want the latter, in order to dive in and leave English behind. It may sounds scary, but all these books are made for learners like you, so be brave and bite the bullet!
Drop the language app and start looking for podcasts, movies, series, simplified books, articles, etc. in the language you're learning.
And, crucially, spend time finding the right teacher for you. Experience and personality are key, obviously, as are the following two factors:
1. Can the person explain a language point clearly?
2. Do they create a safe space for you to learn?
Now is not then
The past is the past. With new tools, organisation, and a new teacher, you will be ready to resume learning the language, leaving behind any bad memories. You don't need them!
Have fun
And yes, while there's rote learning and grammar rules to be learned, language learning also means exploring a new culture and a new country, with the view to communicating with new people. That's exciting and fun! So use your passions/interests/hobbies to learn the language and forget about school. You're choosing to do this, you might as well enjoy it!
And if you have any questions, don't hesitate to get in touch.
