3 Fun Ways To Learn a Language by Teaching Others
What is one of the most effective ways to learn a language (or anything for that matter)?
Teach somebody!
I tend to write a lot about concentrating on hard and intensive work in learning. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t have some fun from time to time!
You can’t deny that every language has some funny or quirky words. Explaining them to your loved ones or friends might be a great way to strike up a conversation! And let’s be honest, when I say funny, I don’t mean just-spat-my-soda funny. The best you can get, in most of the situations is probably a faint smile.
And as with everything, you can definitely overdo it.
Among some of my friends, I am known as the “fun fact” guy. I try to throw in some fun facts, whenever I can. The problem is that they are rarely fun for others. Once, during a family dinner with my ex-girlfriend, her aunt asked me to “say something interesting since you learn so much”. I sat for a while before I said, “Well, there is this little-known fun fact that Hitler had only one testicle”.
The silence which ensued was deafening. The rest of the dinner was awkward, to say the least. So please do it at your own risk!
Here are three ways to entertain yourself and (hopefully) others while learning at the same time
1) Teach them some foul words
It’s nothing to be ashamed of. Many of us are attracted to anything labeled “taboo”.
Use these websites to learn some swear words which you can later pass on to others.
- www.youswear.com/
- www.insults.net
2) Teach them false friends in your target language
Not everybody likes swearing. It’s perfectly understandable. But you can’t deny that false friends are one of the most fun ways to learn vocabulary.
I’m sure you have your share of embarrassing stories involving such words. Saying “embarazada” (pregnant in Spanish) instead of “avergonzado” is definitely one of the things which come to my mind.
One of my favorite awkward situations ensued when I was visiting the Czech Republic about 3 years ago. I stopped a group of Czechs to ask them in Polish, “gdzie jest najbliższy sklep?” (where is the nearest shop). I figured out that Polish and Czech are so similar that it should be clear what I mean.
Little did I know! “Sklep” in Czech means “a basement”. Basically, I came across as a creep looking for a place to devote himself to God knows what. Fortunately, I didn’t have a mustache!
Here are some lists of false friends to get you started:
GENERAL LIST of false friends between English and other languages – Wiktionary
FALSE FRIENDS OF THE SLAVIST – Wikibooks
DUTCH – Heardutchhere.net
ESPERANTO – Wikibooks
FRENCH – FrenchCrazy.com
GERMAN – Englisch-hilfen.de, Coerll.utexas.edu
ITALIAN – Reference.tjtaylor.net, Italian.speak7.com
NORWEGIAN – Norwegianlanguage.info
POLISH – Wiktionary
RUSSIAN – Masterrussian.com
SPANISH – Wiktionary, Elearnspanishlanguage.com
3. Teach them weird / funny-sounding words or phrases
My experience is that people love learning funny-words or peculiarities of different countries. Make a short list of them and start sharing it with your friends.
This is a good example of a quirky sound which falls into an “interesting” category.
Another good idea is to google “untranslatable (name of your target language) words”. Each language has a truckload of them.
They are not only fun to learn and memorable but also can expand your way of thinking.
What about different traditions or dishes typical of a given country?
For example, as the BBS explains, Kiviaq is a typical winter dish out of Greenland that is made from fermented seabirds
The delicacy is created by first preparing a seal skin: all the meat is removed and only a thick layer of fat remains. The skin is then sewn into a bag shape, which is stuffed with 300-500 little auk birds. Once full and airtight, the skin is sewn up and seal fat is smeared over all over the join, which acts as a repellent to flies. The seal skin is then left under a pile of rocks to ferment for a minimum of three months to a maximum of 18 months.
As you can see, it’s not that difficult to consolidate your knowledge by teaching and entertaining others. You are only limited by your own curiosity.
Feel free to add some funny or embarrassing stories which you have experienced during your language learning journey!
Brain wants more? Read this:
Conversational Topics for Specific Language Levels (A1, A2, B1, B2, etc.)- How to Learn Grammar Fast – How to Learn a Language on Your Own (Part 4)
- You Don’t Learn Languages Like a Child – Start Learning Grammar and Vocabulary
- How Pretending to Be an Assassin Can Help You Remember Poisons in Food Better
- The Curse of a b2 Level AKA the Language Learning Plateau – What It Is and How to Get Unstuck
- Polyglot Tips, Advice, and Strategies – Why You Should Take Them With a Grain of Salt
- How To Have More Time And Energy To Do The Things You Care About
- Optimize Your Language Learning – Limit Passive Learning Activities
- The Guide To Effective Problem Solving For Beginners
- Make Your ANKI Learning Sessions Longer and More Enjoyable by Manipulating Dopamine Levels
Hi Bartosz,
Excellent article! Thanks for sharing so much knowledge for free.
One question: Have you heard about a learning language method called Suggestopedia (also called Desuggestopedia) developed by the Bulgarian psychiatrist-educator Georgi Lozanov?
I’m really curious about your opinion about this method as you already have a lot of knowledge about language learning and learning methods and the science of learning.
According to Suggestopedia professors (there are still very few) this method was recognized by UNESCO in the late 1970s as a superior method. They verified that Dr. Lozanov could teach a language 6 to 10 times faster than the conventional methods at that time. There is anecdotical evidence that in just a few days (1 ~ 3) students could remember almost 1,200 words actively.
Like Hermann Ebbinghaus, Dr. Lozanov also made contributions to the forgetting curve theory. By using his method the forgetting curve can be substantially modified if the student is given the right stimulus to learn. As a result, there will be less need for repetition
According to Daniela Montagner (a teacher who uses this method) in a nutshell, the method consists basically of: “From the learners’ point of view, the acquisition process is a flow of enjoyable and playful activities, such as language games, music-based activities, dances and drama. Although the students are exposed to a huge amount of stimuli, they never feel under pressure, stressed or frustrated by this. The key point is that, in a suggestopedic lesson, students learn as smoothly as they did when they were little kids.”
PDF on UNESCO where they talk about the method and recognized it: https://twinspace.etwinning.net/files/collabspace/4/14/514/112514/files/b7ad4b200.pdf
UNESCO Report Digital Library: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000036400
European Commission wepage – Daniela’s article: https://epale.ec.europa.eu/en/blog/suggestopedia-method-pros-and-cons
Cambridge book/paper about this method: https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/approaches-and-methods-in-language-teaching/suggestopedia/BB0A6AEA27E23BA6F7084ACB293989D6
One of the late Lozanov presentations in Venice(Italy) about his method in English translated to Italian: https://www.youtube.com/@suggestopediaitaliasuggest3749/videos
Thank you so much!
Would you have any advice on how I can teach my children a foreign language? I started to homeschool them and I have an intermediate knowledge of a couple of languages but am not fluent in them. Where should I start? I thought about having them watch kid’s cartoons and teaching them songs in the target language, as well as follow a method for kids. The problem is that there isn’t a lot of material past the beginner level for kids…
These methods are definitely good but I need more information about your children and their age to give you more specific advice.
Please drop me a message 🙂
Definitely agree with both of you! What first comes to my mind from foreign languages is cursing and I’m pretty sure that language beginner would like to get to know curses at first and after it would be interested in more formal speaking 🙂
great article btw!
True that! Thank you for your comment!:)
Great ideas, Bartosz! I actually have a few Hungarian curse phrases in my language notebook and I was memorizing them today. Also, i learned some pick up lines which i used with my ex. It cracked him up 🙂
Thanks! Great idea with pick-up lines! I will definitely add it to the revised version of the article! 🙂