Set realistic and attainable goals
If you know in advance what you would like to be able to do in the language you are studying, you can select courses or adapt your approach accordingly. If you are mainly interested in reading, for example, you will want to spend less time perfecting your pronunciation. If you are interested in everyday communication, you will be able to translate classroom activities into steps toward that goal : instead of seeing a dialogue about dining out as a mere dialogue, you will see it as a chance to develop your functional ability to order food in a restaurant. Remember to keep your goals realistic: Language learning is a complex and long-term investment, and you can expect to go through stages in your ability to use the language that change as you progress.
Take an active approach to learning
Don't expect to learn language "by osmosis." Only you can truly take charge of your learning. You are the most important participant in language learning and you have to approach the task actively. This does not necessarily mean that you have to be talking all the time-- listening or reading for meaning and trying to identify new features of the language are also important. It may help you to:- set a schedule for regular study. Language learning happens bit by bit, so the best strategy is to plan some time for study every day. (Waiting until the last moment before a test, then cramming, of course, tends not to work very well in the long run.)- take note of what works for you. If you find that a particular kind of activity seems to help you, for example if you remember vocabulary better when you try to use it in a sentence, try to continue using that strategy whenever you can.- take note of what works for others. Talk to classmates or other fellow learners and your teacher about how they learn, and what suggestions they may have for you.- keep track of your learning, perhaps by writing a diary or keeping notes on your successes and failures- in class, pay attention to interactions between the other people present. Try not to tune out what is going on when you are not talking.- in class, use the opportunities you have to practice the language in meaningful ways. Take an active role in classroom discussions, whether they occur in small groups or with the class as a whole.
Use what you already know
You should not be reluctant to use all the knowledge you already possess when learning a language. Among the things you know are:1) how grammar works. You may not be able to talk about all the rules of grammar, but as a speaker of English you can tell what functions words have in sentences. Lewis Carroll took advantage of this knowledge when he wrote The Jabberwocky: "Twas brillig, and the slithy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe...You can tell, for example, that "slithy"describes the "toves," whatever they are, and that "gyre" and "gimble" are words referring to actions, and that these actions could be described in different ways: "They gyred." "They gimbled." "They used to gyre, but now they are gimbling." and so forth.2) a lot of words. Your knowledge of vocabulary can help you to figure out the meanings of many foreign language words. (Add a list of cognates from French, Spanish and German + and exercise to identify their meanings.)3) facts about the world. You know, for example, that dinosaurs are extinct, so that a text about living dinosaurs would either be referring to the past or to a fictitious situation.4) how certain predictable situations normally occur. When you go to a restaurant, you expect that certain events will take place and others will not. You will receive food and pay for it, but no one will wash your hair or manucure your fingernails. You can use this knowledge of universal "scripts" for predictable events in order to fill in your understanding of the language.
Strive for meaning in language-related activities
To acquire language, you have to participate in meaningful interactions. When people use language, they convey information but they also provide social meaning about how they feel in a particular situation, or how they evaluate what they are saying (see the Sociolinguistics Test). As a language learner it is important to try to understand both kinds of meaning. It can help you learn to be appropriate in the language if you take note of how language varies depending on the situation, for example how people of different social status say the same thing. Paying attention to nonverbal communication, such as gestures, facial expressions, touching and physical distance, can also help you to understand both social and referential meaning.
Pay attention to the forms of the language
Studying grammar and vocabulary will help you, but probably only in an indirect way. This does not mean that you can afford to ignore the forms of the language, only that the best way to learn to use grammar and vocabulary is to experience them in meaningful contexts, while you are focusing primarily on what is being communicated. You will find that your ability to focus on form will increase along with your language ability. In the beginning, it will be relatively difficult to think about what forms of grammar are being used at the same time that you are trying to understand what is being communicated. Practicing grammar, vocabulary or pronunciation will be much easier to do as a separate activity from trying to use what your know in communicative activity. As your proficiency increases, however, it will be ever more appropriate for you to refine your ability by paying attention to the ways that more expert language users manipulate forms, and comparing these with your own use of similar forms.
