Learn a new language easy
At an older age it becomes more difficult to learn a new language. The perfect age to learn a new language is before the age of 7. At that age you can learn a language as easily as your mother tongue.
Before the age of 7, your brain absorbs a language in a different way. Your brain associates the sound of a word with the meaning of that word. At a later stage, you will need to memorize the words and put them into word groups to make the association, doing so will make it easier to remember.
After the age of 28 it is more difficult to learn something (anything) and especially a new language. The speed of learning a new language can be positively influenced by the type of job you have or even by the type of hobbies, but it will be more difficult at a later age. And the older you are, the more difficult it becomes.
So what can be done?
The best way is to trick your brain, reteach it to make an association of the words and sentences you learn. But this time it has to be done in a different way than a brain before the age of 7!
There are different ways to trick your brain, it will take some getting used to, but after a certain period of using this system, your brain will automatically start applying this system. One of the most efficient ways is to visualize the sound of the word.
Here is an example.
In Dutch, the word for pants is “broek”. [brook]
Find an English word that sounds like this. Book, for example.
Close your eyes and visualize a BOOK that is on RED PANTS, try to keep that image in your head for about 15-30 seconds.
Trust me, the day you need the Dutch word for pants, this image will pop into your head and you will remember the word.
Another example. The Russian word for pencil is “KARANDASHI”
Close your eyes and visualize yourself sharpening a pencil and drawing a CAR-AND-DASHboard.
This will help you to memorize karandashi, from then on you will make the link to KARANDASHI.
Third example. The Spanish word for table is “MESA”.
Visualize a table that is very messy.
To use this method you will need a little creativity to make visualizations but you will see that after some time, this will be easier. By using this method to memorize new words, your brain will begin to make these associations on its own.
The best way to start is by learning 100-150 words, this way you get used to the sounds of the new language and your brain will start to “think” that way. It takes some time before your brain does that, don’t give up, you will see that this will lead you to success.
Another way to learn Spanish
After that or even alone, a good way to learn a new language is to repeat it constantly, in fact that’s the way you learned your language, your brain absorbed the sounds and you imitated them. So if you learn a new word or phrase, you should use this word in any way you can. For example, if you want to learn the word “EAT”, you must repeat often: I eat an apple, Juan is eating an apple, we all eat an apple, etc…
Difficult words can be divided into parts. By repeating the syllables back to front, you’ll learn a difficult new word in a way you’ll never forget.
An example.
The Italian word for wonderful is “MIRACOLOSO”
Pronounce the last syllable aloud: “SO”.
Then add the previous syllable and say it again: “LOSO”
Keep adding the previous syllables one by one and saying it out loud: “COLOSO”, then “RACOLOSO” and finally “MIRACOLOSO”.
The method mentioned above may sound strange to you, but by doing it, your brain picks up a word much more easily, and especially for long or difficult words, this method has proven to be very efficient.
Let’s do a test.
The Italian word “particolareggiatissimamente” which means “in an extremely detailed way”.
Now break it down from start to finish and say it out loud.
TE,…MENTE,…MAMENTE,…SIMAMENTE,…TISSIMAMENTE,…GIATISSIMAMANTE,…REGGIATISSIMAMENTE,…LAREGGIATISSIMAMENTE,…COLAREGGIATISSIMAMENTE,…TICOLAREGGIATISSIMAMENTE,… PARTICULARREGGIATISIMLY (pfff)
A good way to visualize might be to imagine a PARTY where everyone is wearing a funny NECKLACE (used by clowns), it’s actually a CIA meeting, and everyone is singing AMENDMENTS to the constitution. Having this scene in your mind will make it easier for you to remember the word, you will have memorized it efficiently. (Though there’s only a slim chance you’ll ever need this word 😉 )
