By the time you finish exams in May to starting University in September, a good 4 months will have passed by without maintaining your foreign language(s) on a regular basis.
Personally, I found this to be a real challenge during the summer holidays; I was not surrounded by people speaking in my target languages and I definitely was not being set homework to learn my grammar cases and vocab! Yes, we would be encouraged to travel, but visiting countries is easier said than done, especially now during a time where we are all staying at home. So, I have decided to put together some ideas to motivate you to keep up with your foreign language(s) from home!
I am sure we have all been enjoying what Netflix has to offer, but did you know that they have quite a good selection of international films and TV shows?
Watching international films is not only a useful way of improving your language skills, but also learn about the culture, which is just as important. What I recommend you do is watch the film in its original language with subtitles in that language (for example, I will watch a French film with French subtitles). A lot of the time, actors speak quickly or use vocabulary you have never learnt before. So, the subtitles will help you catch every word and learn what you do not know!
Here are just a few suggestions for some of the languages taught at Queen Mary. Some of these I have seen myself and others have high ratings on Netflix:
There are endless videos on YouTube and in endless languages! Watching vlogs, interviews, and reality programmes (as trashy as they may be) are a fantastic way to familiarise yourself with colloquial language and slang. At University you learn the official style and proper vocabulary. But when you communicate with young people, you will find that they use a lot of slang (as do we!). This is a great way to improve your language(s) for social settings. Just be careful not to mix slang with what you learn at University!
MUSIC
Like you, I normally listen to music while I am studying, working or on public transport. Before I have realised it, I’ve subconsciously learned all the lyrics. So why not incorporate your foreign language(s)? Playing music in the background will train your ear to the language. It does not matter if you do not understand what they are saying. What is important is that you get used to hearing the language. You could even look up the lyrics and learn the words! You will have successfully learned new vocabulary without even noticing it.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Whether we like to admit it or not, most of us check social media first thing in the morning. We all have influencers we like to follow, so why not find some international influencers? As you are scrolling down your Instagram feed, you consume content by reading posts or watching stories. If you follow influencers, who speak the language(s) you are learning, you’ll be exposed to the language(s) on a daily basis. Before even having breakfast, you will have already learned new vocabulary!
Hopefully, these suggestions will help you or even inspire you to come up with your own ways of maintaining your language(s). The key, here, is for you to see how simple it is to incorporate your language(s) into your everyday life. Before you know it, you will be quoting from your new favourite Spanish TV show or singing along to your favourite German song. Good luck!
Remember, if you have any questions, pop over to the Forum ask me there
Chrisanthi (BA French & Russian)