How to Fully Immerse Yourself in a Language

Being good at something takes determination, good habits, and continuous practice. Think of like becoming fit and healthier. You won't achieve the results by buying workout clothes and signing up for a gym membership. You have to put on your tennis shoes and go to the gym. Learning a language is no different.

When you decide to learn a language, you are shifting your mind in a sense. Learning a language is like putting on a new glasses prescription. Yes, you could see with your old pair, but now that you have them, the world looks way different.

Now obviously if you can live and study in another country, you will be fully immersed in the language. Considering recent events in 2020 and a lot of the world still recovering from the pandemic. How can you create the same environment as being in that country? Well, unfortunately, you can't experience that full effect. Nevertheless, you can manipulate the variables in some small ways. So, here's how to fully immerse yourself in a language.

Immersing Yourself Without Being in The Country

At this point in the game, you probably have your study schedule set up. That is fantastic for your daily study and practice. However, you have to think that your studying hours are most likely only a fraction of your day. There are 24 hours in a day that you are exposed to a language. So, it's safe to say that you should fill in all those cracks with your target language to reinforce learning when it's not structured.

Change Your Phone Settings

The world has been taken over by smartphones over the past decade or so. It has its good and bad sides but, with languages, we can take more good than bad. Start by changing the language on your phone. As simple as this sounds, it has been tried and tested. Guess what? It actually works. It also won't be an adjustment because you are already accustomed to the general setup of your device.

Podcasts and Music

Take a break from your playlist and switch to something new and fresh. Many people can pick up a language by incorporating that music into their lives. It's an easy and fun way to get lost in the words of your target language. If you are looking for something more serious and heavily listen to podcasts, you can find a ton on the app. You can find shows that have the news, talk shows, and even daily lessons in your target language.

Watching TV Shows and Movies

To continue the entertainment theme, switching what you watch to your target language. Netflix offers a plethora of shows in your target language for international viewers. This is also a great way to immerse yourself in how native speakers sound and the vocabulary that they use daily. If you don't watch much Netflix, you can also watch Youtubers that speak your target language.

The News

For anyone who likes to stay informed, I highly recommend this method of immersion. Bookmark news websites that offer the news in your target language. If you are learning Spanish, CNN and BBC both have Spanish versions of their websites. It's a fantastic way to know what is going on in the country and learn even more vocabulary.

Take Classes with Justlearn

Taking online courses should be part of your language study, but why not take advantage of casual conversation daily with a native speaker? With Justlearn, you can sign up for classes to talk about many topics with another person. It doesn't matter what level you are on. It's just great practice.