Have you always wanted to speak good French, but has everything you learned in school faded away? Do you want to order your drinks on holiday on the terrace in fluent Spanish or Italian from now on? For many people, learning a new language or learning to speak a second or third language is high on the wish list. Language courses can be quite expensive. And sometimes you just want to get lessons faster or more than once a week. There are a number of great opportunities to learn a language for free or to support your language course, so that you can progress at lightning speed.
- Learning a language: a matter of practice
- Proficiency in a language: six aspects and six language levels
- Practice yourself from English: Duolingo
- Language exchange via Skype: Italki
- Practice yourself from Dutch: Memrise
- Language exchange via an app: Go Speaky
- Other (offline) free options
Learning a language: a matter of practice
Learning a new language is mainly about making flying hours. The more you come into contact with the language, the faster you will learn the language. This can be difficult if you are not in the country where the language is spoken. Fortunately, there are many ways to practice a language without having to board a plane.
Proficiency in a language: six aspects and six language levels
You can divide the level at which you master a language into six aspects: reading, listening, writing, speaking, vocabulary and grammar. Depending on why you want to learn a new language or improve your language skills, you can determine which aspects are most important to you. If you want to become really good at a language, you will have to divide your attention between the different aspects. It is useful to first determine where you stand. It may well be that you already know quite a bit about grammar, but that understanding the language still takes a lot of effort. Or vice versa.
European Framework of Reference
The European Framework of Reference for Languages has been developed to estimate how well someone speaks a language. The language level is divided into A1, A2, B1, B2, C1 and C2. At level A1 the knowledge is very basic, C2 is a perfect command.
Free level test
A good, free test is Dialang. This program was developed by the University of Lancaster. You can test your knowledge of many European languages on five aspects: reading, listening, writing, vocabulary and grammar. The score given by the program is based on the European reference framework. For example, it may be that you score on vocabulary B1 for French and on grammar A2. That way you know exactly what to work on.
Practice yourself from English: Duolingo
One way to learn the basics of a new language in a playful way is the Duolingo app. You can earn virtual points, unlock new levels, save for extras and follow the progress of your friends. Because it is an app, you can quickly do a few exercises at any unguarded moment. The game elements make it quite addictive. The only (possible) drawback is that you can only learn other languages from English. So you set the app to English-French, English-Spanish, English-Italian and many other languages, but you can only learn English from Dutch.
Language exchange via Skype: Italki
A versatile option is the online platform Italki. In 2016, this website contains more than 2 million people who want to learn a language and share their own language knowledge. The site offers several options:
- You can book private lessons online from real teachers or so-called auxiliary teachers (people who want to help you with their mother tongue). You will then receive an hour of lessons, for example via Skype. For this you pay a modest hourly rate (not free). But to make it free, you can, for example, also offer yourself as an assistant teacher of Dutch and buy lessons from another teacher from the money you earn.
- You can improve your speaking and listening skills for free through a language partner. You are looking for someone who wants to learn your mother tongue and who wants to help you with his or her mother tongue. You speak to each other via Skype and agree in advance that you will, for example, speak Dutch for the first half hour and French, Italian or Spanish (or whatever language you want to learn) the second half hour.
- You can also type a text in the language you are learning on Italki. Other users will respond to your text and remove the errors. So you can practice your writing skills with this.
Practice yourself from Dutch: Memrise
Memrise is an app with which you can learn dozens of languages, also from Dutch. Memrise says it is made up of three ingredients: science, fun and community (each user can add lessons themselves). Unlike Duolingo, Memrise does not use the wisdom of the crowd: Lessons can be added, but cannot be reviewed or improved by other users. But for those who prefer to learn a language from Dutch than from English, it is a godsend.
Language exchange via an app: Go Speaky
Go Speaky is similar to Italki, only there is no money involved. It’s more of an international community of people to chat with in another language. According to some users, it therefore sometimes seems a bit of a disguised dating app. In any case, it is an accessible way to find a peer to, for example, speak Chinese.
Other (offline) free options
Borrow a book in the language you want to learn from the library and read it with the dictionary on your lap. Make a glossary of all the words you don’t know and memorize those words. Listen to French, Spanish or Italian radio via the internet. Watch movies and soap operas in the language you want to learn. When you are on a bike, mention everything you see in your new language. Look up at home what you didn’t know. Make as many flying hours as possible and have fun!