Getting a jump start on language learning before leaving home

Many people wait until they are overseas to begin preparing for and learning their new language. However, the most successful learners are often those who take some key steps toward language learning before they leave home. These people are the ones who get that all-important jump start that pays big dividends in how quickly and how well they learn their new language.

Here are five steps you can take to help yourself become a more effective language learner.

1. SLA Course. Perhaps the best financial and time-management investment you can make is to take a pre-field second language acquisition (SLA) program, like the summer ICCT course. Those who arrive overseas with this type of preparation consistently report that pre-field SLA preparation saves far more, in both time and money, than they spend to take the course.

2. Find a native speaker helper to work with for a minimum of two hours each week. Your helper may be a neighbor, a student, or any person who is willing to give you some time. It's usually better if this person is not a language teacher. (Your pre-field course should teach you how to learn from ordinary native speakers and give you practice in doing this. This will allow you to make the most of your language-learning sessions because you will know what you need to learn and how to go about the learning process.)

First, work on learning "survival language"--the kind of language you'll need right away in your new country--and some basic "building blocks" such as the alphabet, numbers, and a few of the most basic sentence patterns.

Here are some suggestions to choose from, but you should add to this list items that will be immediately useful to you and delete items that you will not need right away.

a. alphabet

b. numbers: most common numbers (e.g., 0 - 100) and common numbers used in currency denominations

c. common food items (e.g., fruits, vegetables, meats, etc.): 15 - 20 common foods

d. names of stores, shops, and other place names: 10 - 15 most common place names

e. names from a few of the most common signs such as street signs (e.g., Metro, exit, entrance)
f. names of common modes of transportation (e.g., train, bus, car, metro, etc.)

g. conversational management phrases/sentences: 6 - 10 phrases/sentences (e.g., Please speak more slowly. Can you repeat that? I don't understand? What is this? How do you say ____?)

h. basic greetings and leave-takings

i. basic self-introduction

j. basic sentence patterns (e.g., a few of the most simple types of sentences in which you can substitute new words to change the meaning of the1 sentence. Here are two basic sentence patterns in English: "I need________." and "Where is _______?" However, basic sentence patterns in your new language may be very different from these.)

For some languages you can find some very basic on-line language lessons to supplement what you do with your native-speaker helper. These materials are usually no more than some basic vocabulary, a few conversational management phrases, and perhaps simple greetings and leave-takings. Two sites for on-line lessons in multiple languages are Foreign Languages for Travelers and Transparent Language. At each of these sites you can see the word or phrase and also hear it spoken by a native speaker.

3. Collect resources which you can use before you go overseas and/or in on-field language learning. These include language textbooks and dictionaries as well as articles, books, web sites and other information to help you become a more effective learner. See FAQs about Second Language Learning. Also look for resources for your target language in Locating Resources for Language Learning.

4. CD-ROM programs. If these are available for your target language, purchase one or two programs. Use the lessons primarily for listening comprehension. Rosetta Stone, for example, is good program to use in this way. If you are also using the program to learn to speak a little of your new language, be sure to check what you are learning with your native-speaker helper. See "How can I identify a good CD-ROM language learning program?"

5. Take a language course. For the most popular foreign languages--and for many of the less commonly taught languages--many universities, colleges, and community colleges offer courses that run from a week to a semester in length. The methods and techniques used for most North American language courses are "communicative." This means that learners are involved in actual communication from the first day of class, thus providing a good foundation for continued learning in the on-field language program.