13 Useful Gift Ideas For Language Lovers This Christmas

It’s the time for gift-giving! Make your fellow language geek feel special this coming holiday by giving these useful language learning items. 

Everyone loves the festive mood and great ambiance of the Christmas holidays. This year has been a rough one, and everybody just wants to relax and forget all their worries for a little while. And one of the best ways to spread good vibes is by giving gifts and sharing smiles with our loved ones. This season of giving, it’s time to give our aspiring polyglot friends something that they would love. 

Gifting something special to a polyglot loved one is quite tricky. This is especially real if you only know little about language learning. You might be thinking of giving a book and other resources that can help them learn their second language. But reading books might not fit their schedules. 

Do you know someone who is currently learning a new language or just love language study in general? Are you trying to think of gift ideas for language-lovers that they can use in their studies? You’ve come to the right place! In this article, we will feature the 13 items that every language learner should have while learning a new language. 

What Kind Of Gift Should You Give To A Language Learner? 

Each person has unique ways of learning new languages. Some would prefer getting visual cues and audio cues instead of plainly written materials. In the end, it all boils down to who the person you’re gifting, and his or her current level on the L2 language. It’s pointless giving a level B2 Spanish learner (upper-intermediate) some study materials for beginners, and vice versa. 

Books are great resources, and there’s nothing wrong with gifting great ones for language learning. You can even get some for yourself if you fancy reading a new story or a series. But besides the children’s book, most of the translated items are not beginner-friendly for new learners. For learning a new language, consider giving one or more of the items listed below. These items are focused on helping language learners improve their L2 skills, regardless of their current level. 

13 Gifts For Language Lovers (That They Would Actually Use)

1. Handy Grammar Charts

A grammar chart is usually a sheet of paper that consists of helpful yet concise information about grammar rules. It is helpful for students who are learning multiple languages at once, regardless of their levels in their studies. These resources are usually available online, but physical copies are helpful for offline learners. 

Additionally, the student can tape it to their study walls or table to use as a quick reference while studying. You’d be surprised at how useful these things are during serious and long study sessions. Not to mention that you can print them yourself or buy them cheaply online. Grammar sheets might not be expensive, but they are undoubtedly useful for every polyglot out there. 

2. Empty Flashcards

Customizability and portability are just some of the known benefits of using flashcards. Whether you’re reviewing for a hard exam or memorizing new words, this method is still very effective. Even the TESOL International Association add printable flashcard resources as a supplement for English language speakers worldwide.

Blank flashcards are relatively cheap, a box with 100 cards usually costs under $5. Of course, you can buy fancier and flashier flashcards if you want the recipient to feel more special.  You can add a bit of thoughtfulness by adding small messages of encouragement. 

3. Justlearn Subscription

Is your beloved polyglot having a difficult time learning a certain concept of a grammar rule? Tons of online resources are really great in teaching vocabulary and pronunciation stuff. But when it comes to grammar rules, a student might need help from a native speaker and a professional tutor. 

If your loved ones are really finding a language hard to grasp, you might want to gift a JustLearn subscription. JustLearn helps language learners get into higher language levels with the help of professional tutors. Who knows? Maybe a native tutor is all that it takes to get out of the language rut? 

4. Notebooks / Planner

Another way of getting rid of an unwanted rut is by going on  “planning before studying” mode. Learning, in general, is more effective when there is a routine built around it. That’s why traditional schools are quite effective in learning basics in languages. If you want someone to tidy up their learning routines, why not give them a notebook or a planner? 

Study planners do exist, and these are awesome for organizing your time. Pair it with a notebook to write down new words and pronunciation, and you have a more efficient learning experience. Just like in flashcards, you can also add some quick messages that will encourage your loved ones to study.  

5. Language Phrasebooks

Phrasebooks are like dictionaries, which consist of entries with meanings explained wholly and concisely. Unlike a traditional dictionary, what’s written in these books are common phrases that might or might not make sense to a foreigner. It’s an excellent gift for beginners and lower intermediate students. 

Almost all the Romantic and West Germanic languages have their phrasebooks. Some languages that have plenty of phrasebooks are French, Italian, German, Portuguese, and Spanish. Mandarin and Japanese also have their phrasebook versions, but most of these are written and printed in their respective alphabets. 

6. Decent-Quality Headphones

This gift idea is probably one of the most expensive items on the list. A decent headphone that can last for months can cost at least $50. And that’s for the essential sound reliability, comfort, and durability. However, a decent headphone is needed to study pronunciation and deal with new sound forms. 

Gifting a decent-quality headphone will not only help the learner hear the pronunciation clearer. It will also help the learner focus on the topic and hear the teacher better (for online classes). If you can find one, an excellent noise-canceling headphone with a decent microphone is the ideal choice. 

7. Netflix Subscription

Learning a language or not, a Netflix subscription is appreciated by almost anyone who likes to watch movies or series on the internet. It’s one of those things that you can live without, but sweet when you have it. What makes it a perfect gift for language learners is its large repository of dubbed or subbed series in foreign languages. 

In language learning, using video materials can help in training your ears and improve your vocabulary. You can learn how to use the subtitle options to challenge yourself and pick up new words. Not to mention that you’ll get a glimpse of how a language is used in daily conversations. All these learning experiences are created while you’re enjoying a good story. Utilizing Netflix and other online materials is like taking two pigeons with one bean. 

8. Language Boardgame

It can take years of learning to be really to reach the highest mastery level in a language. But this doesn’t mean that you can’t have some fun with your fellow language learners. For those who love to play games like Monopoly or Snakes and Ladders, you might want to try the Language Boardgame. 

In this board game, players will be using what they know about a language to win and dominate the board. Each board is often used for one language. Some decks represent lessons (like tenses and phrases) used for challenging each player. 

9. Handy Dictionary

A language usually consists of thousands of words with full meanings, spelling, and pronunciation. Only a small portion of those words are being used even by native speakers. You can encounter an entirely new word every day. In fact, even native speakers can encounter an unfamiliar word of their language from time to time. New words are always added each year, further expanding the lexicon.

Gifting a dictionary to your loved ones is an act of support for his or her polyglot aspirations. It will not only help the learner with basic words and phrases. Dictionaries will still be useful even if the learner is on advanced levels. 

10. Vocabulary Sticky Notes

Sticky notes are probably considered a study and office staple in almost all places around the world. But did you know that there are different ways to use this nifty little piece of paper to make language learning easier? In fact, sticky notes can even change your system in learning new words and phrases. 

For instance, you can pick up to ten common household objects. Stick a note to it with its equivalent name in the language you’re learning. As you use these objects, their names in the other language will be stuck with your memory. You can also do this for numbers, letters, or even easily visualized common phrases. 

11. Digital Pen Text Scanner

Languages that use different alphabets can be a tough nut to crack for most of us who use the Latin alphabet. After all, it’s hard to learn anything if you can’t read and understand a text. This is where a digital pen text scanner can come in handy. A pen text scanner has a technology called optical character recognition or OCR which is used to translate printed text into another language. Other pen text scanners would also have an in-built pronunciation tool. 

12. Comics / Illustrated Art

Unlike books (which usually only have a huge chunk of text), illustrated art like comics and manga is a beginner-friendly tool to learn a new language. There’s no text-heavy dialogue because the action in the story is told by the illustration itself. If you want your child to learn a second language, materials such as these would be able to get their attention. 

13. Travel Tickets

And last but not least, the best gift you can give for a language learner is a travel ticket. There is no better language learning experience than talking first hand with native speakers. Give your loved ones (and yourself too) a great way to experience the culture and polish your foreign language skills by visiting a foreign country. Who knows? You might meet someone willing to have a language exchange and become a life-long friend. For remote, real-time interaction with native speakers, trying tutoring services like JustLearn is also worthy of consideration.

Final Thoughts

And that’s all for today’s list. I hope this list helped you decide on the perfect present for your loved ones. Don’t forget to support your aspiring polyglot on each step of the language learning journey. If you’re also learning a new language, don’t forget to give yourself awesome language learning gifts too. If you’re unsure about any topic or lesson, take free Justlearn trial classes today. Consider gifting yourself a Justlearn subscription to improve your language learning experience. Enjoy the holidays!