Connect Two The Easiest Way to Learn a New Language?

Connect Two The Easiest Way to Learn a New Language? Making Meaningful Connections: The Easiest Way to Learn a New Language Do you ever feel lost and alone?If so, thats okayâ€"we all feel like that sometimes. Humans are social creatures, and we have a built-in need for human connection.When we try to learn a new language, that feeling of being lost can definitely flare up in new and strange ways. But that feeling is also normal, and theres even something you can do about it: You need to make a meaningful connection with both the language youre learning and the people who speak it.Making a personal connection is not only a great way to get rid of loneliness, its also the easiest way to learn a new foreign language.If youre not yet convinced, allow me to persuade you. Ill give you four easy yet important things you should know in order to learn a new language by forging a meaningful personal connection, along with plenty of tips and ideas to help you get started and continue on your road to success. Making Meaningful Connections: The Easiest Way to Learn a New LanguageWhere Do I Begin?Many people want to learn new languages for various reasons, but knowing where and how to start is very important.Nowadays there are many different ways to learn a new language, like taking a class,  downloading the latest language app  or  watching a movie in a foreign language.While its true that everyone learns in different ways and some ways work better than others, I believe the  easiest  way to learn a new language is to  create a personal connection with people who speak the language youre trying to learn.Creating a personal connection with people by spending one-on-one time with them is the most natural way to learn a new language, and my tips below have that crucial idea as their foundation.Making foreign friends and connecting with children are two of many ways to create a personal connection with people who are fluent in the language you want to learn, so well look at those ideas first.Youll Get By with a Little Help from Your Foreign FriendsOne of the easiest ways to learn a new language is to learn from (or together with) friends you already haveâ€"or to make new friends specifically so you can learn a language.Obviously, if you want to learn a language, its especially great if you make friends with native speakers of the language youre trying to learn.There are many great ways to make foreign friends. You can go on an overseas humanitarian trip. If youre planning a trip abroad, you can use a website like Meetup.com  to meet local people who speak the language you want to learn. You can join a club or take up a hobby that has meetings about things youre interested in. There are nearly as many ways to meet new friends as there are new friends to meet.Once youve made your new foreign friends, you need to practice, practice, practice.Not only is learning a new language through your foreign friends a great way to make your friendship even stronger, youll also learn things from them you probably wouldnt learn by taking a language class or by reading a  textbook.These thin gs include elements of language that carry cultural baggage, like figures of speech, jokes and idioms. Learning a new language is much more than just learning about grammar and how to structure a sentence. Its about  learning how a culture thinks and immersing yourself into that culture  through their language. Most of us would agree that its more fun to learn a new language through a friend than it is to learn it  through a complete stranger, and that makes the entire process much easier.One of the biggest advantages to learning a new language through your foreign friends is that  theyll most likely have more friends who speak the same language they do. This is a good thing because itll be easy for you to ask your foreign friend if they can introduce you to their friends, and that will be a great way to practice the language with them as well. The more friends you meet, the larger your friend network becomes, and it will naturally become easier and more enjoyable to learn their lan guage.Learn to Learn a Language Like a Child DoesIts been said that children are able to learn a language much faster than an adult, but why is that?Well, if youve ever noticed, children arent capable of taking a course at the local community college, downloading the latest language app  by themselves or pulling all-night study sessions to learn a language.According to a  Standford University study, children learn a language fastest by simply hearing their parents talk to them in a relational way.So in the case of learning a new language, rather than focusing on growing up, we actually need to grow down to match the simplicity of a childs thinking. Kids dont know anything about the language theyre trying to learn, and thats why theyre always asking, Whats that?Another thing that holds us back from learning a new language is our  fear of making mistakes. Most young children arent afraid of trying something new or making mistakes because they havent experienced failure yet.If your fir st language is English, then the way you think about how a sentence should be structured  will be based on English sentence structure. The problem with this way of thinking is that the rules of grammar and sentence structure are different in every language. In Spanish, for example, el  gato  negro means the black cat. But for native English speakers, they might be tempted to say that phrase as  el negro gato.While that would be a direct translation, thats not the correct way to say it in Spanish because the Spanish rules of grammar  are  different. But those differences dont seem to faze children.One reason children are able to learn languages so quickly is because they dont need to unlearn a previously-acquired sentence structure so they can relearn the process of structuring sentences in another language. Its important when we learn a new language to disregard (or at least view with a healthy dose of inquiry) everything we think we know about things like sentence structure, gramma r and pronunciation.Thinking like a child can also help you to connect personally with children, and connecting with a child in a personal way helps you to learn like a child. While thats certainly much easier said than done,  we can definitely learn a thing or two from children about learning a new language more effectively.Now that weve seen the importance of making personal connections and why its important to learn like a child, lets consider some ways to put those connections and approaches to use.Make a One-on-one Connection with a TutorNow you might be thinking, Doesnt tutoring fall under the same category as taking a class?Well kind of, but not really. The big difference between the two is that tutoring is  one-on-one, and taking a language class often involves 30 or more students trying to learn from one teacher who has a limited amount of time to spend with each student. Many people may think tutoring is not a realistic option because its expensive, but thats not true.In t his day and age there are plenty of  one-on-one online tutors  who offer very low-priced language learning services. For example, a site like  Wyzant  will let you review the profile of your potential tutor to make sure theyre the right fit for you.There are multiple benefits to having a private tutor. Two of the most important benefits  are  that you can receive one-on-one  dialogue  and get an understanding about proper  grammar  as well. These two things are important  because, as I mentioned above, adults need to unlearn the grammar rules of their mother  language before they can  learn a foreign language. Having a private tutor can help to make this unlearn/relearn process much easier by giving you the undivided attention you need to  learn  quickly.Another potential benefit to having a private tutor is that they can be  like  a  personal coach. For those of you  who have trouble  motivating yourselves to connect with other people, let alone those who speak a foreign language, having a personal tutor will help give you the motivation you need to open up and learn a new language as fast as possible.Lend a Hand: VolunteerDepending on the type of charity or organization and the services they provide, volunteering for a humanitarian aid group is a great way to learn a new language by directly connecting with people in need.  For example, I just recently signed up to volunteer for  World Relief  in Sacramento.In this type of organization, Ive discovered that learning a new language doesnt have to be a  one-way  street. Not only does it give me the opportunity to help refugees from other nations learn  English,  but it also opens up the possibility for me to learn their language as well.You can take a similar approach and volunteer where you live, or you can go to a new place to volunteer right in the middle of the actionâ€"where your target language is spoken. Most foreigners  will naturally want to help you learn their language if you take the first step by h elping them with something they need.There are many, many options for learning a language while volunteering, depending on where you live and what language you want to learn. If youre interested in Spanish and live in the US, for example, there are lots of opportunities right at your doorstep.But dont let geography limit you: you can always travel to a new place to volunteer and learn. Doing so will let you experience a new culture, learn a new language and, most importantly, make a personal connection with new people.There are many good ways to learn a  language,  but  building  a real  connection with people who are  fluent in the language you  want to learn  is  the easiest way.For many of you, it may be  challenging to put yourselves  out there and build a real connection with new people.While  taking a  risk  and  getting and to know people who speak a foreign language  isnt  always  easy, youll discover  that this process gets much easier over time.Learning a new language can be challenging but if you take the time to personally connect with the people you want to learn  from,  youll  end up with a much easier, richer,  faster and more enjoyable language learning experience.Ernesto is an author, blogger and freelancer writer, and he is  passionate about helping refugees and the poor. If you would like to  connect with him, you can find  him at ErnestoAragon.com