The most important skills for a language learner

Reading Skills

To really knock it out of the park, find ways to incorporate reading practice in your everyday routine!

• Change the language on your phone to the language you're learning.
• Add the language's keyboard to your phone to make googling for reading material even easier.
• Read blogs, follow Twitter accounts, and join Facebook groups with posts in the language you're learning.
• Read articles and news in the language. You'll often be able to rely on your general knowledge of current events to help you understand.
• Read Wikipedia and books in the language, maybe starting with topics you're already familiar with.

For rookie learners, consider starting with reading material on topics you're already familiar with – that way you have a sense of what to expect, which will help you learn and remember the meaning of new words and structures. (That's top-down processing helping you get to the meaning!) You can also read short books, children’s books, and books you already know and love in your own language. You might even consider re-watching a favourite movie, but with subtitles, in the language, you're learning!

More veteran learners might enjoy reading brand new material in the language. You can also challenge yourself to practice reading more informal, conversational language on social media. Find movies in the language and turn on subtitles to practice reading with helpful visual context.

Listening Skills

To really knock it out of the park, find ways to make the most of listening and be sure to incorporate listening practice in your everyday routine!

• Adapt listening exercises to your needs! Especially when you're starting out, use the turtle button to hear the language slowed down, and replay the words and sentences as many times as you need.
• Get extra listening practice by first listening to an exercise with your eyes closed, before you even see the sentence. If that feels too tough, first listen as normal (eyes open!) and then play the recording a second time with your eyes closed before you respond. Listening without seeing the text helps train your ear to identify the words and even individual sounds in the language.
• Listen to music in the language you're studying. Music is catchy, has lots of repetition, and helps you learn useful phrases in a memorable context. Look up the lyrics to check what you hear!
• Watch shows or movies in the language by switching the audio to the language you're learning. You can check out movies originally made in the language, and you might be able to find options that are dubbed into the language, too.
• Find apps or podcasts in the language. Look for options related to news, sports, history, fashion -- any topic you like to hear about in your own language! Some apps may have helpful videos, too.

For rookie learners, it may feel more comfortable to practice listening to a language that's somewhat simpler and has more repetition. Check out YouTube videos (with captions!) to find music videos, children's stories and nursery rhymes, and videos on topics you are already familiar with. Any kind of listening helps you get used to the language's rhythm, new sounds, and useful expressions, even if you don't feel comfortable with all the vocabulary or grammar yet.

More veteran learners might want to try out materials created for adult speakers of the language. These can feel more challenging for sure, so start out with listening opportunities that also have transcripts or video to help you along. Even listening to the language without understanding everything is good for learning! Training your ear takes practice and lots and lots of exposure (hearing the language).

Writing Skills

To really knock it out of the park, find ways to incorporate writing practise in your everyday routine!

• For fast and easy practice, try writing your shopping list in the language you are learning.
• On your phone or computer, install a keyboard in the language, so that you can more easily text, search, and Tweet in the language.
• Find Facebook groups, subreddits, Twitter communities, and other groups that use the language, and spend some of your social media time writing quick responses in the language. Soon you might be writing even longer messages!
• Check out this guide of writing goals for more ideas at different levels!

For rookie learners, focus on writing what you do know. It can be tempting to want to write out everything in your own language first, but it's even better practice to think up what you want to say using only what you know. You can start your writing by relying on the exact words and sentences you learn in the course, and then build up to writing on your own, reusing familiar words and grammar. That means that if you don't know past tense yet, just worry about writing everything you can in the present tense! Another good strategy for beginners is to practice useful "chunks" of language; "I am going to" and "I would like" are two chunks that you can use to write all kinds of sentences ("I am going to the park today. I am going to walk. I am going to bring a snack and I am going to eat it."). You can tailor this to yourself by thinking of the specific words and phrases that you use the most in your own language, and learn to write them in the new language!

For more veteran learners, try using writing to engage with the community who uses the language you're learning. This could be through forums or websites, by finding digital penpals, connecting with people in your own community who use the language, or even by writing the old fashioned way -- pen and paper -- to people around the world! You can also use writing for more personal practice by starting a language diary where you write a little bit each day--maybe a paragraph or more as you get more comfortable! To practice specific topics, try switching up when you write your entry each day: to practice writing in the future tense, write in the morning about your plans for the day, or use entries at the end of the day to practice the past (“Hey diary, today something really cool happened…”). And remember to treat your diary like a close friend: don’t worry about making mistakes, anything you tell your diary will be a secret!

Speaking Skills

To really knock it out of the park, find ways to incorporate speaking practice in your everyday routine.

• Keep up your listening skills! Since speaking and listening go hand-in-hand, make sure you’re listening to all kinds of speech in the language. This will help you develop instincts for what to say and how to say it.
• Take advantage of the time alone or at home to do a little talking to yourself. Narrate what you're doing, think out loud about plans, or challenge yourself to describe favourite traditions or childhood memories! Just like with writing, a big component in speaking is retrieving words from memory, and you can do this kind of practice on your own from anywhere.
• When you watch movies or videos on your own, repeat what you hear to give your tongue and brain some practice with the new sounds. Write down or record especially funny lines or catchphrases to incorporate into your around-the-house speaking practice. You'll be developing your own repertoire!
• There will be some sounds in the language that will feel especially tricky to get right. If you’re having trouble with a sound or particular set of sounds, odds are others are too--search online for guides and videos for extra visual information to help pronunciation.

For rookie learners, find a fellow learning buddy to speak with! Many learners assume they won’t receive “good” practice from a fellow rookie, but in reality, feeling comfortable enough to speak with another learner can be a huge confidence booster that will encourage you to keep improving your speaking skills. A big part of speaking is getting used to putting words together to express your ideas, and you can definitely do that with a peer!

For more veteran learners, try to find a way to authentically speak the language in your community—online or off. Volunteering or finding an online community can be great ways to engage in the language you’re learning. Another option is to find a partner for a bilingual language trade--you each take a few minutes to speak one language, then switch to the other. You can also speak creatively in your new language in the same ways you do in your own language. If you're a poet, actor, or musician, try performing your art in the language you're studying!

Source: Duolingo Blog