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When learning a language … take risks!

2024.10.07

Photo Credit: Ivan Samkov @pexels.com

 

Risk is an essential part of our human journey. We take risks all through our lives as we grow up. Think about how you learned to speak your native language. You experimented with sounds and meanings all the time. You used humor and emotion and wild ideas. You took risks. And it felt natural to do so.

 

How can you imitate that natural risk taking in your learning of a new language?

 

Firstly, think about the environment you have cultivated around your language learning. Do you study alone? Do you mostly read or listen to the target language? Are you a passive learner in this sense? Or do you prefer to interact with others in the language and use it primarily to communicate and connect and share? In this way, you might be a more active learner.

 

Everyone is different in their approach to learning, but what is essential is that you take a risk by stepping out of your comfort zone and challenging yourself to use the target language in new settings and in new ways as much as possible. Join a discussion circle in the BBP Communication Room on campus, make friends with students from other countries, set up a social media account in the target language and chat with other accounts in real time online (chatting during live sports matches is a great way to do this). All these activities involve a certain amount of risk taking.

 

Secondly, set challenging goals. Use one of the many online level checks for a language proficiency test. If it’s English, there is EIKEN, IELTS, TOEIC, or TOEFL. Ideally, target a level that is a little beyond your current ability. As extra motivation, register for a test at the same time as a friend for some friendly competition. Set achievable and measurable goals that push you harder. If it’s within your ability to remember 10 new words a week, try 10 new words a day. If it’s easy for you to write 100 words without pausing, try writing 1000 without looking at a dictionary or erasing any words. Using an official language test as a goal and targeting a level that is currently a little above your ability is a great way to add more risk to your language learning.

 

Adding an element of risk is a great way to become a better language learner. And maybe it’s easier than you think.

 

Questions:

 

Q1. True or false: it is unnatural to take risks in life.

 

Q2. True or false: commenting online in a foreign language about a soccer game is a fun way to interact.

 

Q3. True or false: language learners should only take aptitude tests that match their levels.

 

Scroll down ↓ for the answers

 



















A1. False

A2. True

A3. False

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