Being bilingual is a great skill for a number of reasons. In a professional, career-focused sense, bilingual candidates are often seen as particularly valuable, being able to communicate with foreign clients and colleagues with ease. Equally, if you’re able to speak a widely-spoken second language, such as Spanish – the most common second tongue – you can travel around many parts of the world and communicate easily with the people there.
In the UK alone, around 36% of people are bilingual, many of whom learned languages from family and friends who emigrated to the country and passed on their language with them. Learning young is highly recommended, firstly.
We pick up the natural flow and specifics much quicker as babies and toddlers if our parents speak them to us in equal measure to the primary language of the country we’re living in. However, it’s absolutely possible to start learning a new language anytime and even master it, with a little patience and some real commitment.
A matter of timing
The first thing to remember is that estimates on learning a new language are pretty reliant on the difficulty of the language. Typically, they’re split into groups, with ‘Group 1’ being the simplestand increasing in difficulty as we move down. Rough estimates claim 480 hours of practice can allow an individual to reach ‘basic fluency.’ In group 2, you’re looking at 720 hours or more to reach the same level of fluency.
The best thing you can do, bar none, is to look into hiring a tutor. For group 1 languages that are spoken quite widely, like French, for example – finding french lessons is an effective way of picking up the basics accurately first-time round and correcting errors in real-time.
This hands-on approach is a really useful advantage because you’ll find yourself picking up the conversational flow of a language faster than when learning alone. You can also test yourself thinking on your feet in a normally-paced conversation with an encouraging teacher for support. Tutors are friendly, helpful guides who can steer your learning towards the most useful, practical aspects of a language, too.
The full breadth of words in any tongue is obviously quite wide; a tutor will know the shortcuts to help you build confidence conversing on simple topics you might need while navigating a french-speaking country, which in turn makes learning much harder phrases feel less daunting. It’s typically a higher cost than a free digital platform but brings many more benefits.
Come fly with me
Visit a country that speaks the language! It might seem obvious but immersing yourself in the culture can help you to learn the nuances of languages. Conversational Spanish or Italian, for example, are spoken quite fast and very expressively. It’s part of what makes them easier to learn, but harder to master.
Becoming bilingual is often a labor of love, and that’s why enjoying the food, drink, history, and architecture of a country can bring to life the language you’re trying to learn. It’s also an opportunity to try engaging native speakers in conversation anytime, which isn’t necessarily so easy from your home nation.
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Immerse yourself
Reading foreign language text is great for learning without even planning to! For example, setting your phone to French for the weekend or reading a German novel will allow you to challenge yourself. An exercise like this also makes it easier to put your thoughts into words when speaking a language, which is typically the hardest skill to master.
Entertaining yourself with tv shows or movies in a foreign language, especially comedic, reality, or dramatic genres exposes your brain to the language being used in a variety of contexts. Don’t feel bad if you rely on subtitles initially; it’s part of a learning process that can actually be quite fun, compared to dusting off an old textbook.
The final tip to becoming bilingual is to not fearbut actually, embrace your failures along the way. There will be times when you might become stuck mid-conversation with a native speaker. Sure, it might be a little embarrassing, but don’t let it stop you. The fact you’re working on it is the main thing. Each failure can be considered just another lesson to remember as you go.
They say there is no age limit for learning new languages, but it’s almost well known that the sooner you start, the better. From job prospects to being more comfortable when traveling, bilingual speakers enjoy a whole new side of the world and can connect with a new range of people doing it. All you need to start is by picking your language and starting your bilingual journey on the right foot – with curiosity, passion, and no fear.
