10 Non-Boring Tips to Learn a Language During Quarantine

As we enter into the third, fourth, or fifth week of restrictions as a result of the world-wide crisis that is the coronavirus pandemic, adjusting to the situations can be tough, especially if you do not have a job to work on all day.

You have probably tried doing a lot of stuff to keep you busy, but time is not moving as you expect it to move. Well, have you tried learning that new language as you self-isolate yourself or stay quarantined at home?

Learning a new language can be a great deal in pushing time, especially if done in a fun way. Well, here are some fun ways of learning that new language you have been passionate about.

1. Conversation exchange

Now being in quarantine does not mean you are cut out from the outside world. Find someone online who wants to learn a language you speak and speaks the language you are interested in learning. It might be a tad hard finding someone, but it is worth it.

Say you want to learn French and you know how to speak English, you will need to find someone who speaks French and is interested in learning English. It, however, requires a lot of self-discipline and patience to learn this way. The fun part is that you interact with someone and even share experiences and have a cultural exchange.

2. Home immersion

This is a fun way of complimenting your other language learning efforts.
This you can do through labelling items in the house using the language you want to learn, label spices in the kitchen, utensils, detergents, and other household stuff. Once you set this up, you can subconsciously learn new vocabulary with little effort as you find your way around the house.
This should be fun!

3. Watch movies online

Watch some of your favorite movies online in the target language while learning a new language.
Find movies that provide audio or subtitles in the desired language and watch. This is a great way to learn a language since the audio can be in the language you are learning and the subtitles in a language you are already familiar with.

4. Family games

Having fun is an efficient way of learning; therefore, games are crucial in language learning. There are quite a number of games one can play, but a particular example can be charades, but with a twist to it.
If you are learning French or Spanish, for example, then you will need to find a way of incorporating it into this game. Have a Spanish charade with your family members inside during this quarantine period. Make sure to have basic verbs written down. Have some keywords like danza (dance),  nadar (swim) and saltar (jump). Have family members draw from a bowl or a hat and then act out the word, and you get to guess the verb. Voila! Learning couldn’t get any simpler and fun.
Have family members even go ahead and write sentences in that language. You can look up writing services in 2020 as you write these words and sentences.

5. Cook and eat your way to fluency

A big part of cultural identity is the food consumed by that culture. Opening your mind to this will help you learn a new language faster than you ever expected.
Adopt cookbooks in the target language online and use them to prepare meals while catching their names in that language. Examples can be Italian dishes; hence you will meet words like antipasto (appetizer), pollo (chicken) and pesce (fish). Also, the home immersion comes in with the food labels like sel (salt) and oeuf (egg).

6. Listen to a podcast

If you just began learning a new language, then you can listen to a podcast aimed at helping you pick up the basics. Podcasts are also a great way of boosting your listening skills at all levels. Listen to slow spoken content like news in slow German or French or whatever language you want to learn. Also, broken-down dialogues are a great way to learn as they are explained.

7. Turn on your karaoke

Learn new words by singing along to tunes in the target language. This helps develop your pronunciation skills. Focus on getting the sounds to sound as similar as those of the singer as much as you can. If you are a little self-conscious, have a go in the shower.
Find some free playlists on the language you are learning or try typing karaoke+your chosen language on YouTube and see what comes up.
Have the most fun while learning a new language.

8. Shake your body and work out

Lookup a keep fit video online in your chosen language and stay in shape as you learn new vocabulary. You do not have to understand everything, follow along by watching what the instructor does. It can be a great way of learning body parts as you will hear the same ones repeated over and over again.

9. Use your social media

Instead of tapping away on other people’s dogs, babies, or even lunch on Instagram, use this time on Duolingo to learn a new language instead.
Duolingo offers a wide array of languages you may be interested in learning. The learning methodology is also as fun as it can get.

10. Change your phone settings

Change the language settings of your phone from your native language to the one you are learning. It will be fun using your phone in a new language; however, remember how to reverse the settings.
With these fun ways, you will find yourself holding a formidable vocabulary list in your brain in no time. You never know, after the quarantine period is over, you might meet actual people who speak your new language.

Author Bio

Author’s bio. Daniela McVicker is a contributor to Essay Guard. She has a master’s degree in English Literature, and she is truly passionate about learning foreign languages and teaching. Daniela works with students helping them to reveal the writing talent and find one true calling.
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