Jo's Tips For Maintaining Your Language Skills

Many students ask me how they can best maintain their skills once they have the level of language they are happy with.  (Assuming you can’t live overseas for 6 months every year!!)

Firstly, the more of your language that is stored on a subconscious level, the less you need to consciously maintain and secondly, the higher your level, the easier the maintenance.  It’s like riding a bike - you may be a little wobbly when you start riding again after 20 years, but the skill soon comes back. (This is one of the advantages of learning using accelerated learning rather than traditional learning). Here are some ideas I have picked up along my language journey:

Tip 1.    Watch videos in your new language and use actual language subtitles – not English subtitles.  One of my students gave me this tip to practice my Russian. I started with some short U-Tube children’s videos and then went to short movies. If there are no subtitles, use the hard of hearing settings which will give you the written prompts. When you don’t understand the oral communication or it’s too fast, you can pick up the meaning in the written prompts (and you are NOT translating). Make music and videos a part of your bilingual life. They don’t replace free conversation but are useful to maintain your comprehension.

Tip 2.   Find out if there is a language community in your city/town.  In most cities, there are groups of new Australians who can feel isolated, either through language or culture. (Especially women who are raising children and only work in their homes). Put a note on the community board or ring the local library to see if someone is interested in swapping English conversation with language conversation. Make it fair though and do a real swap.  30 minutes in one language and then 30 minutes in the other. 

Tip 3.    New vocabulary. Don’t stop learning new vocabulary. Aim for a certain number of words each week. Keep extending yourself. 

Tip 4.   Let native speakers help you. When you are with speakers of your new language, either in a foreign country or in a non-English community group, ask people for help. Point to something and ask how to say it. Ask questions. Most people are friendly and willing to help you out. Don’t be shy….take a few leaps of faith..

I was buying flowers in a florist in Kazan. I knew I was speaking Russian correctly but the florist wasn’t giving me what I wanted.  She obviously wasn’t used to talking with a non-native Russian and I didn’t understand what she was trying to tell me. It was a very challenging few minutes.  Another customer interrupted and she explained that it was bad luck to give a dozen roses in Kazan– I needed to give 11 or 13…  Easy when you understand! 
When I am in Russia, I often sit in a coffee shop by myself and start to talk to the shop assistants or other customers (if they look friendly and it’s not too busy). It is a good way to practise and I meet lots of people.  I remember how many times I help people with their English! 

Tip 5.   Like mistakes, miscommunication will occur. It is important not to get disheartened when you have a miscommunication - words are used differently in different languages. Intentions can be easily misconstrued and clarification is always critical.

No matter how good you are in your new language, you’re not likely to have a complete grasp over the shades of meaning and intuitive differences between words, phrases or idioms that a native speaker does without living in the country for years. I have a rule that when a misunderstanding occurs, before getting mad or discouraged, check – if it is a cultural or language misunderstanding – take a deep breath and keep going.

Tip 6.   Play a sport, game.  One of our students would come into the Centre every fortnight and play Mahjong with the Chinese tutor. As they played, they spoke Chinese. 

• Another student started playing soccer with a Russian team;
• Another student went to Italian church every Sunday.
• Another student took up Latin American dancing to practise her Spanish;
• Be creative!!

Tip 7.   Speak – speak – speak.   Use every opportunity to use your language in free conversation.  If you can manage it, continue having one to one tuition regularly – fortnightly or even monthly can help maintain your level. 

Tip 8.   Plan your next holiday. But plan to go outside the tourist regions. In this way, you will meet ‘real’ people – yes they won’t speak much English, but you will have a great time practicing your new language.

I hope this series of blogs has given you some different ideas of how to learn, practice and maintain your language.   Many of these ideas have been given to me by students – if you have ideas that work for you, share them with the VLLC community.
Happy learning, Jo