A great way to maintain your new language skills is through direct interaction with native speakers of foreign countries.
Start Reading Foreign Books
We know that reading is a crucial part of developing language skills, so the easiest and most affordable way to round out your vocabulary is to read books that have been published in your new language. Of course, you’ll need to start with easy and familiar stories until such time as your comprehension improves. You can now download books from the Internet in any language within just minutes. Reading will improve your vocabulary and teach you new words and phrases. Remember to keep a translation app or dictionary nearby for any difficult phrases or words.
Connect with People from Other Countries
A great way to maintain your new language skills is through direct interaction with native speakers of foreign countries. There are many websites where English speaking people can be connected with people from all over the globe via chat rooms, teleconferencing, message boards, and so on
Explore Your Own Neighbourhood
If you live in a city or town where your second language is spoken, explore your neighborhood and visit community centers or dining establishments where you can practice your language skills. It’s much more fun meeting people in the real world instead of having to use virtual communication.
Join a Language Group
Many big cities and towns have language clubs which hold conversation circles allowing non-native speakers to practice their skills. There are websites, such as Meetup.com, that will point you in the right direction for finding language groups where you can connect with other language learners.
Work as an ESL Tutor
English as a Second Language tutors are always in high demand, particularly in areas with large populations of immigrants. When you become an ESL tutor and you’re working so closely with native speakers, you’ll not only be serving a community need, you’ll also learn a lot about foreign languages.
Travel the World
Of course, the only true way of learning a foreign language is to immerse yourself among the speakers of that country, which means visiting foreign countries where your language is spoken. Why not consider planning an extended trip, or plan to study abroad so you can expand your knowledge and skills. What an exciting way to improve your translation skills!
Learn to Write Your Foreign Language
Now that you’re comfortable reading in your foreign language, writing is the next step. This will force you to learn how to create your own sentences, which is one of the key aspects to not only maintaining but improving your second language skills. Of course, absorbing new information is very important, but physically applying that learning will challenge you to put your new skills into practice. Why not start keeping a daily journal in your target language? Alternatively, there are many pen pals out there who would love to correspond - this would be a great challenge for you and you’ll benefit so much from having to write in your second language.
Don’t forget that the Internet is a fantastic language learning tool, so make sure you use it to your advantage. Remember that formulating sentence is the key to maintaining your foreign language abilities, and that’s why human interaction is so important. Watching movies and reading books are great, but it’s more important that you get out into your neighborhood and meet people – and practice!
