One of my all time favorite science fiction scenes comes from the cult movie ‚The Matrix‘, when Keanu Reeves ‚downloads‘ martial arts skills into his brains by plugging into a computer and having a faithful sidekick ‚install‘ packages that teach him Jujitsu, Taekwondo and other esoteric fighting skills. It was so cool to imagine that I could master an art by just installing relevant knowledge into my brain instead of having to put in all that time and effort that would be better used fighting agents and sentinels.

Unfortunately, such technology is still in the realms of science fiction and for good or for bad, one needs to invest a significant amount of resources to pick up a skill such as a German. However, there are some hacks and guidelines that we can practice to be more efficient in picking up a new foreign language.

Finessing your skills in a new language requires much sweat and burning of late night oil. There are multiple dimensions to a language, the vocabulary, grammar, nuances in pronunciation and spelling are just the obvious ones. Some of these hacks and guidelines to learn are obvious while others are quite counter intuitive, some very genuine and the rest looked a bit shaky. I decided that making a small look up list would probably be a good idea. The list below is a condensed version of other more exhaustive articles that I have referenced for the interested reader.

1. Have a strong motivation: Language experts suggest that having a clearly defined, strong motivation to learn a language is a key element to acing it. Our motivations have a big impact on our actions and on how well we ‚take up‘ to something and linguistic skills are no exception. One must be clear on why she is putting in all this effort. The reasons should also be credible and be more than ephemeral fancies. For example, someone learning German for professional growth or to genuinely benefit from the benefits of knowing a different tongue is likely to do way better than somebody else doing it because she feels like ‚trying out something new and impressing friends‘
2. Practice, practice and practice!: The nature of linguistic skills demands that we actively put into practice all that we learn. To be able to fluently converse in a language means that we are able to process the vocabulary (oral or in written) in real time to its underlying meaning. Generally, beginners have to mentally translate what they are reading into their own tongue and then process the meaning. However, this puts natural limits on usage. For example, when I try to literally translate a long sentence from English to Deutsch, I always have issues with the verb placement as sentence formation in two languages is quite different when you have more than one verbs. The only feasible way to get around the problem is to force yourself to use the language repeatedly so that common phrases and sentences become second nature.
3. Understand your own learning patterns: It seems that picking up a language is a very personal process. Some activities that are helpful for some, may not be that useful to you. For example, I find classroom discussions with the teacher very helpful in learning proper usage of words, while others pick it up subconsciously when they are going through exercises. So, to use your time more effectively, you must try to identify what works for you and what does not. Do you find that you build your vocabulary faster by answering multiple choice questions rather than memorizing from a word list? Can you speed up memorizing words by drawing pictures when you come across them? Also, make a list of what does not seem to work in your case. That way, you can use your time more effectively
4. Take your skill to the real world: The faster you can start having conversations in your new linguistic muse, the better. The real world is where the rubber meets the road when it comes to your new linguistic exploits! So be ready to start talking with your security guards, waiters and colleagues in Deutsch. Mistakes are a part of learning, and you are going to make a lot of embarrassing mistakes in the beginning, but the practice it gets you is more than worth the blushes!

I hope you find the above list useful and practical. Some of the more elaborate articles that I found online (and borrowed heavily from) are here. I will probably have another article on this topic as there are many other interesting aspects that we could find useful.

1. 22 Tips For Learning A Foreign Language
2. 10 Tips And Tricks To Learn Any Language