As global communication nowadays expands rapidly, multilingual become more and more common in ordinary lives. In order to live and work in this global village, one language seems to be not sufficient if wanted to go beyond one’s local area. Some people prefer to stay in their comfort zone and are a little intimated by this new language learning process. However, not to mention that a second language will at some point benefit them while traveling, studying abroad, or working internationally, a language learning habit gives your brain a good workout and this learning process can be full of excitement and fun.

We believe that a language is a key to a culture, so obtaining the key is the perfect way to unravel and immerse yourself in a country’s diverse and rich cultures. Thus, in the following article, we wish to let you know secret tips to smartly learn a new language, offer you options on how to make it fun along the way.

“Don’t Wait Until Tomorrow, Act Now.”

*All mind maps in this article are graphed with the new Daisy theme in XMind 2020 Update.

Procrastination is always the number one reason to not start a thing today. Some people benefit from their procrastinating habit by generating more thinking space. But the rest of people tend to use it as an excuse every time when they are about to step out of the comfort zone and delay any upcoming challenges. However, the truth is, it is certain that there will be countless obstacles along the way, and you will never be ready for all of them, so why not take the procrastinating time to get a head start.

• Fall in love with a foreign language and transform the learning process into a daily habit.

Interest is the best teacher. Deep passion or love for a foreign language is the best appetizer to start a learning journey and a good stimulant in the future process. It’s not like exercising which may only take weeks to show impressive results; it takes years to fully understand and master a foreign language. Therefore, even if learning can be a dull and dry process, at least you’ve found the language itself captivating to explore, making the learning journey much more inspiring.

Transform your love for a language to a long-term habit. This habit can be a structured learning schedule from textbooks or a casual hobby to relax. For example, combine your interest with the learning process: watching French movies or playing Japanese video games.

However, if you are not learning a language out of personal interest but are required due to external factors, then

• Find your motivation first and start by setting up small & attainable goals.

Besides the factor of love/interest, motivation is another effective driving force in life to achieve results. In many cases, people decide to pick up a new language not because they like to do that but because it comes as a handy and beneficial tool along the way to achieve a goal. This final goal is a form of motivation that urges them to start and progress on the learning path. By setting up small and attainable language goals at first such as memorizing 50 words a day, motivated people will be satisfied to see small achievements soon, getting closer to the final objective.

“Create an Immersion Environment.”

There is a long-time debate that whether studying or living in a country is a requisite for mastering the country’s native language. If one studies French, then he or she needs to go study or live in France for a while in order to become possibly fluent at it. It is undeniable that a local experience would help learners to better understand the essence of a country’s culture and language, but we’ve known people who’ve lived in Australia for years but aren’t fluent in English and people who’ve never been to Japan speak perfect Japanese. It is good if you have an opportunity to travel and immerse within the language environment of a country, but if not, then create the language environment around you!

• Bring the language environment to your house

Play foreign news radio in the morning while brushing teeth and having breakfast. Turn on the foreign television shows while exercising at home. Talk to yourself in a foreign language while thinking in head. These are easy methods to adopt in order to create an immersive language learning environment around you.

• Let technology help

Online education system has been taken over a larger role in people’s learning process. Without stepping outside of the house, people can register online classes or hire an online tutor to learn at any time. Advanced learners can even change the language setting of their technology devices to help them read and become familiar with a foreign language faster.

• Make foreign friends and join the language circle

Make foreign friends of people with similar interests or around your age to better connect and stay in touch. Transfer what you’ve learned from a textbook to a social conversation with that country’s people is one of the best ways to practice speaking and using a new language in a practical way.

“Find the Perfect Study Tool.”

The next step to begin the official learning process is to find a handy study tool. It is important to take notes, summarize and constantly review learning materials because everyone forgets things quickly.

Hesitate no more and study a new language with XMind today! It is your perfect study pal and an awesome tool for notetaking. A special note that in our recently launched XMind 2020 Update, we’ve included a new brace map structure. As this structure helps to identify whole and part relationships, it is perfect for summarizing grammar structure when learning a new language. See examples of study notes below!

*If haven’t done so, please go to the updated XMind 2020 and try brace map yourself!

“Make Mistakes? No One Cares.”

Last but not least, don’t be afraid to make mistakes while learning a new language, remember to always keep positive and maintain a learning habit. You’re not a native speaker so don’t be embarrassed by making mistakes. The more misses you make, for example when chatting with a foreign friend, the more possible you will not make the same mistakes next time and therefore become better at this language throughout time. Those who eventually speak fluent foreign languages are not ones who are smart, but ones who don’t give up and stick to a consistent language learning habit over years. Hear some tips from multilingual!