How to Learn a New Foreign Language Quickly

There are a few good reasons why you might want to learn a foreign language quickly. Perhaps you are going on vacation in a foreign country and you want to be able to speak the language sufficiently enough to get along in that country. Or maybe you just know that you lose interest in new things quickly if you don't see rapid progress. Whatever the reason, wanting to learn a foreign language quickly is understandable. You aren't the first to want to do this and those who come before you have been successful; there's no reason that you can't be successful as well.

Here are some tips for learning a foreign language quickly:

• Commit to it. Believe that you can do it. The biggest barrier to learning a foreign language in a short period of time is the fear that you can't do it. If you psych yourself out about it, you won't be able to do it, plain and simple. So stop wondering if you can and just commit to the fact that you will. The right mindset is everything when it comes to learning skills.
• Plan to devote some time to it. You CAN learn a foreign language quickly but you can't learn it quickly without some effort. You may have only a few weeks in which to learn the language but you'll need to eat, sleep and breathe the language to do so.
• Immerse yourself in the new language. Listen to it every chance you get. This means that you'll converse in that language with anyone you can find who knows it, as often as possible.
• Take a multi-faceted learning approach to speed things up. Read books about learning the language and books that are actually in the language. Listen to audio language cassettes as well as programs and other audio material in the foreign language. Take a class. Speak with others. Practice writing in the foreign language. In other words, access as many different areas of your brain as possible while learning to make the learning stick more quickly.
• Focus on the important vocabulary words. Yes, you want to be able to get the grammar right so you don't sound like a two-year-old when speaking the new language. But just like a child, you need to learn the vocabulary first and worry about correct verb tenses later. You should focus specifically on learning the vocabulary for your intended environment. If you're taking a business trip to a foreign country, focus on learning words related to your business.
• Learn a few key phrases to break the ice. You should always know how to say hello and goodbye, of course. But find out what the standard greetings are for your language. Also, learn how to say something along the lines of, "I'm just learning to speak the language" so that people will understand and have more patience with you. When in a foreign country, just showing that you're trying to speak the language will gain you a lot of points with the residents.

It's definitely possible to quickly learn a foreign language. Believe in yourself, establish a plan for learning the important things first and then immerse yourself in the language in as many ways as possible.