Language Exam Looming? Here Are 3+1 Tips to Make Studying at Home Easier

Before You Start: What Is Your Goal?

If you are just starting to learn a completely new language, it is important to clarify what you want to achieve with it. While some aim for fluent speaking without inhibition, others find success in confident writing and reading. You will need different techniques if you just want to be able to order a pizza in Italy without any problems, compared to writing a doctoral dissertation at a foreign university. In our article, we aim to help you with both speaking and writing and reading skills.

1. Fun Ways to Learn a Language at Home

Just as it was useful in childhood, it’s also beneficial in your teenage or young adult years to incorporate some fun into your learning. The internet is full of various level tests and challenges that don’t take much time to complete but greatly contribute to your development. Try to accurately determine your level; setting the bar too high can demotivate you if the results are poor. You’ve set your level correctly if you confidently tackle the tasks but still find them challenging. A less playful but very practical solution is to start completing the final exam test papers of recent years in the given language. These always come with solutions, so you can check how well you performed.

Fun Ways to Learn a Language at Home

2. Focus on Speaking

When learning a language at home, the biggest challenge is often practicing speaking. Of course, this isn’t impossible, you just need to bring some creativity into the process!

1. Find your favorite series/movie online (preferably something you've already seen, as the key is to encounter familiar context)!
2. If possible, choose the language you are learning in the settings!
3. Do not add subtitles!
4. Try to interpret the heard text sentence by sentence, and if needed, rewind and play the same few sentences over and over again!
5. Try to repeat the text you hear from the actors!
6. Record your own speech to compare your pronunciation with the original. It might seem strange at first to have actors as your teachers, but you’ll see that it makes a big difference to have someone “correcting” your pronunciation.

Focus on Speaking

3. Combine Pleasure with Usefulness

Passionate about sports? Do you read every fashion blog recommended by an influencer on Instagram? Have you watched Game of Thrones back and forth? Find the area that truly interests you and start reading about it in a foreign language! It’s important not to do it out of obligation but because you genuinely enjoy reading, as this is the only way to maintain your enthusiasm in the long run when studying a language at home! We recommend not to look up every unfamiliar word, but instead focus on the context and understanding the “big picture.”

+1. Writing

We haven’t forgotten about improving your writing skills! We have two options for you: the first is to keep a diary! You don’t need to write novels, just jot down what happened to you that day. Start with small steps, in short sentences, and as your vocabulary grows, expand your stories with new words, expressions, and tenses. If diary writing isn’t your thing, write letters instead! This can also be a great way to involve family members and friends in the home learning process. Agree on a topic each week and imagine you are writing the letter to your family or friends! If someone has the appropriate language skills, they can even check your work.

Need more tips? Read our previous blog post on language learning!

And if you’re looking for student jobs, you know where to find the best offers. Head over to Y Generation!