1.

Start speaking today

A huge misconception is that you should spend a long time 'learning' a new langu
age (usually through academic study) before you ll be 'ready' to speak it. But lan
guages aren t learned
they re lived. Practice makes perfect, so set yourself up with
a (free) language exchange or (surprisingly cheap) language teacher online, and
talk to a native right away. Your skills will improve through genuine use of th
e language. Immersion doesn t require a plane ticket; it can be totally virtual. S
o you have no excuse not to start today
2. Memorise an introduction about yourself
The cat-got-your-tongue feeling happens to all of us. Get over it quickly by inv
esting a few hours in learning basic pleasantries
"hello", "thank you", "excuse
me", and a few others to ease you into conversations. Next, write out a quick in
tro about yourself in English, and have your online language exchange partner or
teacher help you translate it well. Having a script to follow for the first few
seconds can take off immense pressure and allow you to hit the ground running e
very time you meet someone new.
3. Use mnemonics to expand your vocab
You don t need a supercomputer for a brain to learn a whole new vocabulary. Succes
sful language learners aren t memory gurus; they simply come up with good ways to
acquire new words quickly. One method is to use mnemonics
little stories that yo
u attach to words. For instance, when I was trying to memorise the French word f
or train station, gare, I used the mental image of the cartoon cat 'Garfield' ru
nning through a train station. It sounds silly, but it works.
4. Make at least 200 mistakes a day
Many academic courses focus on reaching perfection, and punish you for every min
or mistake. This makes many people hesitant to speak early on. Instead, I like a
communicative approach that focuses on conveying your point and getting the gis
t of a response. Don t be ashamed if you can t conjugate a verb perfectly. Instead,
try use more words that may not have perfect grammatical features
to get the oth
er person to understand you. The more mistakes you make, the more practice you g
et, and the faster you will improve.
5. Have fun!
The one thing that separates successful language learners from unsuccessful ones
is passion for speaking the language. And your passion can dwindle if you spend
most of your time doing tedious language exercises. Why not read a comic book i
n your target language? Or watch a movie, without subtitles? Or listen to stream
ed radio? Or go to a community or city district where you can practice your spok
en skills?
Have fun with it, and your passion will never dwindle
tly before you know it.

and you ll be speaking fluen