BASIS VOOR ABROAD

This is how you learn a language in three weeks

I always get a bit shocked when I hear people say they only speak one language, especially in the year we are living in now. Now, I don't mean to say that you are required to speak multiple languages fluently, but being able to communicate in a language that is not your mother tongue seems quite nice to me, right? I was raised bilingual, given: my English is a thousand times better than my Dutch, but even earlier, before I typed pieces in Dutch, I could manage quite well with a few grammatical errors here and there. I also had to learn the language of the country we lived in at school. A few years back, I could communicate quite well in Danish and I could also speak fluent French. However, once you hardly speak the language anymore, you lose it quite quickly. Although I do think my inner French woman would be found again quickly if I were now required to speak only French for a week. If you have booked a vacation to, let's say, Italy, Sweden, or Portugal, then I have something for you. Within three weeks, you can communicate perfectly with the locals and your trip will be just a bit more pleasant. Because how miserable is it when your rental car suddenly stops working or, I don't know, you're looking for something specific, but you have no idea how to say that? Well, then you’re stuck with your 'yes uh, my car doesn’t work.'. 

Enter the Babbel app. No more boring lessons in the classroom, but learning everything just via your smartphone. The City University of New York and the University of South Carolina both conducted research to see how quickly (and easily) it is for people to learn a language this way. In this case, they took fifteen people who didn’t get further than ‘ciao’ and 'buenos días' in Spanish and looked at how well those participants could speak the language after three weeks. And guess what? Okay, it might not have been, let's say, flawless, but definitely good enough to get by in a Spanish-speaking country. So it's time to get that thing.’
Reason number 1: You are guaranteed to make progress.

During this research, it turned out that 85% of the participants who spoke no more than a few words of Spanish scored three times higher after three weeks than the 15% of the participants who indicated they knew a bit more about the language.

Reason number 2: You don’t have to make it a full-time job.

From that same research, it also turned out that you didn’t need more than two hours a week to improve your language level.

Reason number 3: You are going to enjoy it.

Promise. I actually downloaded the app myself because I’ll believe it when I see it, and yes, I genuinely enjoy it. The clever thing about it is that they work with repetitions (and not in an annoying way). And that is the tactic to remember something: repetition.

Reason number 4: It is easy.

95% of the participants indicated that this is an easy, but especially a fun way to learn a new language. The app is clear and helpful, nothing complicated to find.

And now never say again.

 
that you have no talent for languages, promise?, I always get a bit shocked when I hear people say they only speak one language, especially in the year we are living in now. Now, I don't mean to say that you are required...