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How To Immerse Yourself In A Language Without Leaving The Country
If you can’t just hop on a plane and live in your ideal country for 6+ months then maybe this is the blog for you.
Along with a structured study plan and academic style learning (which we strongly recommend), there are other ways of learning by immersing yourself in your chosen language in more creative and fun ways too.
From listening to podcasts, to cooking your country’s cuisine, to even reading magazines and playing video games – immersive learning is great not only for learning how the language is used in the culture where it is spoke itself, but for learning about the culture of the country too!
If you are interested to find out more about how you can immerse yourself in a language in a more fluid and creative way then read on.
Immerse Yourself On The Go
For times when you are commuting to work, doing the weekly shop or pumping iron at the gym, there are ways to immerse yourself in your chosen language on the go.
Podcasts
Podcasts in your chosen language are great to listen to on the go. Choose from a range of different topics, hit play, and let your brain absorb the words and sounds.
Music
Whether it’s Japanese K-pop or Cuban Son Cubano one way to delve into the culture as well as pick up some words and sounds is by listening to music that gets you popping.
Games and Apps
If you are one of those people that is constantly refreshing your newsfeeds or pretending to stare at your phone so people don’t talk to you, then why not use it for something more productive. There are tons of language learning apps and games for you to get stuck into.
Immerse Yourself During Break Time
If it happens to be raining, or maybe you’ve already seen that funny cat video, then there is no time like the present to be topping up your language learning.
TV Shows
Instead of watching an episode of Friends for the billionth time, why not find a show in the language you want to learn. If you are just a beginner finding kids tv shows are great. Not only are they not difficult to follow but they are normally quite short. Or if you are a bit further along in your learning why not try and find a soap opera.
News and Current Affairs
Keeping up to date with the news and current affairs of your chosen country is a great way to learn and touch base with what is going on over there.
Literature
There is a world of literature out there in all languages. Depending on your level you can select what suits you from magazines, to comics, to kids books to the bible if that’s what you’re into. If you want to push yourself choose something a level higher and use a dictionary to translate it.
Think about what might involve you in the culture more. For example Japanese manga is both easy to read and in the culture of Japan.
Immerse Yourself In Your Spare Time
If you really enjoy the culture of your chosen language then immersing yourself in your spare time should be a fun and enjoyable way to get to know more about your chosen country.
Watch Movies
Stick on and old French noir or a Korean horror show and let yourself take a break from the rigorous learning
Eat Out
Date night? Birthday dinner? Why not go to a restaurant that serves food from the country you want to learn more about, bonus point if the menu is also written in that language! Try and order in your new language as well to practice, hopefully some of the staff will be able to converse with you.
Eat In
Normally (unfortunately) you can’t always be eating out. Instead why not pick up a cookbook in your new language and try to cook their cuisine from home.
Video Games
Video games and watching movies in a list about studying, what more could you want. If you are studying a language that has a video gaming culture, e.g japan, why not pick up some video games if that is your interest. Or, failing that, you can try and switch the language on your video games or play with subtitles on.
Visit places of culture
Get out and about and visit places of culture. If your city has a “chinatown” or maybe a latin american community there will be a lot of people to talk to and ways to learn their culture.
Immerse Yourself During Everyday Tasks
It doesn’t always have to be activities why not write your to-do lists, or your grocery list in your new language. You can turn the settings on your technology to be in your chosen language, how about writing your journal in the new language?
There are tons of ways you can immerse yourself in your new language without having your nose stuck in a book 24/7. These are some of the more fun and creative ways to get more involved in your languages culture as well as learning it.
