A medium to convey one’s emotions and intentions, languages not only connect us around but also provide us the identity of self worth as we can learn a fair amount about the person from the language he or she speaks. According to famous German writer and statesman, J.W Von Goethe, “He who knows no foreign language knows nothing of his own.” A fair amount of world’s population today speaks more than one language apart from their mother tongue. According to a recent survey, out of the top ten most spoken foreign languages of the world, ‘Mandarin Chinese’ tops the chart with 1.1 billion speakers followed by ‘English’ with 983 million speakers considering the number of native as well as non-native speakers. The language widely spoken across one of the largest democracies in the world ‘Hindi’ bags the third spot with 544 million speakers followed by ‘Spanish’ and ‘Arabic’ having 527 million and 422 million speakers respectively. Learning a new language certainly adds a feather to the personality of an individual which justifies the quote of Italian film director and screen writer, Federico Fellini, “A different language is a different vision of life.”
Explaining the ‘why’ factor to learn more than one languages, a recent study shows that with the advancement of technology maximum MNCs plan for global expansion in nearby future providing a chance to the young minds to venture out the world. This might be the reason for the increasing interest in multilingualism among young generations, as learning a new language can make someone appear more competitive in job market as well as opens a window of opportunity. For example, for an on sight project or client meeting in France the TL will certainly look out for a person who can converse in French. In the 21st century where knowledge is a click away, we can certainly try to walk that extra mile in order to avoid such kind of situations in future. Acquiring the skill set to speak in more than one language has been comparatively easy now, due to accessibility of internet but what matters the most is the learning of smart strategies to master a new language.
So here are few tips from the experts to help the young minds mastering over a language:
1. Set heart over a language as the process of learning certainly begins with the need and interest to learn the specific foreign language.
2. Turning over to the internet, the most important thing to look out for right instruction tool containing educational programs as well as source content which will provide the platform for learning the new language.
3. To achieve the fluency over the particular language the person also need immersion methods of exposing himself more to the language and the native people apart from classroom teaching.
4. Watching videos or movies of a particular foreign language with or without subtitles can certainly improve the vocabulary levels of the learner as he advances from a beginner to a proficient one.
5. Finding a language exchange partner of native language or a tutor to have real time communication which will certainly give the desired boost to the skill as well as polish the speaking ability.
6. Most importantly, setting smaller goals like reading a novel or memorizing new vocabulary and achieving them with time, will certainly keep the person motivated.
With a lot of practice and an attitude of learning through the mistakes all we need a little patience and commitment. Exploring a new language will be like reaching out to the part of the world to which it belongs, within you. It will be just like covering a journey and reaching the destination being a triumphant, conquering all the adversities throughout the way.
