Why You Should Study at a Language Institute

As many of you may have read in my last post, you may have realized that I had mentioned that I had been studying at a language institute. After 3 years of intensive study and dedication to my German studies, I decided that what I needed to eventually reach my goal of fluency was complete immersion in Germany. After a lot of research and looking up affordable language institutes in Frankfurt, I decided on did deutsch-insitut whose mission is to help as many international students learn German as quickly and as effectively as possible. 

I learned that it is standard for any European country to accept a certificate from a qualified language institute. Traditionally, there are 6 levels: A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, and C2. The A levels are for beginners, the B levels are for intermediate learners, and the C levels are for advanced learners. It is most common for universities, master's programs, other professional institutions, and jobs to require a C1 level in order to be able to enroll, and or have a job position in your target language. In order to receive a certificate in any given level, you must take an exam on a particular date at a specific time. In order to be able to take the exam, you must talk to an institute that you are interested in taking it, as well as pay a fee. The overall process is much simpler and smoother than you would think.

Now that I gave a basic rundown as to how most European language institutes work, I would like to try to convince you that this is one of the best ways to make progress in another language. The main argument that most people have made for which not to go to one is that language institutes are too expensive and are not worth your money. Although this decision should not be taken light-heartedly, I believe that the experiences and the knowledge that you gain are unparalleled to anything that you could teach yourself in your spare time. Believe me, I have done self-study for years now, but have not been able to progress as quickly as I have when attending language immersion camps and did deutsch-institut. The reason is simple. It is neither because I do to have a good enough memory nor because I am not smart enough. It is because an artificial immersion experience is nowhere near as valuable and as effective as an authentic immersion experience with native teachers who have a lifetime worth of knowledge and experience in their mother tongues. 

The first day that I arrived at the institute, I was told go to a room and was asked in which level I would like to try to be. I told the lady that I was hoping to either be in B2, or in C1. A little while later, I was given my schedule for the rest of the week with the times and names of my teachers and was thrilled that I had been put into B2. My first class was somewhat daunting, as I was asked to take the B1 exam, but it was over before I knew it. From then on, I saw the classmates that I would have for 4 weeks. Since our class exceeded the maximum number of students for a class, the owner of the institute felt that it would be best to not add more students to our class as new students arrived. Because of this, I was able to form deep bonds with my classmates. During our breaks, I would stay in our classroom and spark up conversations to anyone who was near me. Before I knew it, it was over in the blink of an eye. 

At did deutsch-insitut, we were told that we could only speak to our classmates and to our teachers in German , which, in reality, was not very hard to do, because most of my classmates did not speak any of the other languages that I speak, and if they did, they did not feel comfortable enough to carry on complex conversations in them. I ultimately learned the power that language has in bringing all of my classmates of my institute together. German united us and gave me friends from Vietnam, Sweden, Korea, China, Russia, Tanzania, Portugal, Spain, Brazil, and Guatemala. Despite our differences, ages, and cultural backgrounds, we treated each other as one: as a family and helped pick each other up. We ultimately made each other better learners and cheered each other on.

My institute used the Aspekte Neu textbook, which is by far the best textbook that I have ever been asked to used for class. Instead of being made and tailored to students who are obliged to take a language class, it is made for international students who want to learn German. The instructions, the readings, the grammar explanations, the listening comprehension exercises, and all of the activities were in German. Aside from doing what was in the book, we would work on expanding our vocabulary (ex: we would learn and write down vocabulary by classifying it into thematic categories instead of simply learning words without any context randomly). Since I had decided to pay for an Intensiv Modul, which stands for a designated extra time for more practice, I was able to have a lot of conversational practice with my classmates, as only 5, or 6 students were in it at any given time (you had to pay a little more in order to have it as a part of your weekly schedule). It was not only worth it, but also gave me more exposure to hearing a native speaker talk in German at a rapid and native space, as well as more time to ask questions and clarifications about the grammar and the vocabulary that we had learned in every chapter. 

After years of time and dedication to my German studies, I am happy to say that I received a B2 certificate. I am thankful for all of the laughs and conversations and for making me regret not staying longer, hope to someday visit my classmates in their home countries, and that I continue staying in touch with them in German. My hope is that by the end of this post, you learned the value of a language institute education and that you consider to study in one and experience it for yourself. Studying at a language institute not only helps make your resume stand out and look more impressive, but ultimately allows you to be independent, learn more than you ever thought that you could achieve in a short amount of time, and gives you lifelong friendships of other individuals whose ultimate goal is your own. 

Foreign Language Vocabulary Builder Using Anki (Application)

I have been waiting months to write this post, because I wanted to make sure that I gave you the best tips and that I genuinely knew how to best use Anki. In case you have never heard of it, Anki is an application, which you can download online for free, or on your phone for a decent price. I first found out about it when I read a book that gave practical tips on ways that you could start making a better use of time when learning languages. Although I have not been able to use it every day, due to being a full-time student and doing a lot of extracurricular activities, I have used it for a total of over a year, so I can confidently say that Anki alone is one of the most valuable tools of which I have taken advantage over the years. I have not only increased my vocabulary, but also now know how to teach myself abstract words that are harder to master.

The way that it is used is very simple. When you open up the application, you have three tabs from which to choose: Decks, Add, or Browse. If you click “Decks”, you can directly click on one of your decks and start learning a fixed number of cards a day. For example, in my deck named “Deutsch”, it currently says that I have 30 new cards and 0 new cards. This means that, based off of the amount of cards that I want to learn per day, I should review all 30 of those cards today.

If you click on the tool icon to the right of where it says “New”, you have 4 options: Rename, Options, Export, and Delete. If you want to change the name of one of your deck of cards, simply click “Rename” and type in what you want that deck to be called. In the options tab, you can choose “Default” if you feel that you can study the amount of cards that the program is defaulted as. You can also choose “Show new cards in random order”, or “Show new cards in order added” under “Order”. Lastly, you simply choose how many cards you want to learn a day in a certain graduation interval (ex: 1 day), as well as change the easy interval and the percent of your starting ease.

I usually learn 10, or 20 cards a day, but what is great about this application, is if you ever feel that you cannot learn, say 20 cards a day like you originally set out to do, you can adjust that every day if you feel like it is necessary to do so. Anki is an application that you can adjust based on your particular needs and does not make you do something that you do not want to do.

Now that I have covered the basics as to how Anki works, you are probably wondering how I actually use it. Although I will try to do my best to explain how this application works, please make sure to watch the video that I attached above, so that you know how to properly use it step by step. Otherwise, you will probably be very confused and will not understand what I feel like any language learner should know how to use. The first step to adding cards to a deck that you name is to click “Add” and to click on one of the decks that you have, so that you are assured that the new cards that you will add are placed into the correct deck.

Then, I go to www.google.com/images and search for an unknown word in its original language (keep in mind that this step is absolutely crucial if you want to get the most out of this application). For example, if I did not know that “la Estrella” were “the star” in Spanish, I would type in “la estrella” and would find the image that most appealed to me. In other words, I try finding images that are not only visually appealing, but that also help me remember what the word means without translating it from Spanish to English. I then pu the word in its original language where it says “Back”, or I will copy and paste a phrase that is attached to an image and leave the word that I am trying to learn underlined like this: ___________.

Although this process can be time-consuming, what is great about it is that there is truly no wrong way to do it. You do not have to add 100 new words every day. Instead, you have to be consistent and try to use it every day when you are starting if you can. If you cannot, then try using it several times a week. It should not take you more than 15 minutes to study the amount of words that you asked Anki to show you, and it is a really fun and interactive way to expand your vocabulary. Instead of simply using the traditional notecard method that can be tedious to write and use, you are using, reading, and saying new words in your target language. This forces you to switch from, say German mode to English mode.

What is most important about this process is that you search for words, or even phrases of the words that you want to learn in your original language. Avoid translating words as much as possible, and only do so to quickly check if you know the direct translation from your target language to your native language, but avoid putting in any words, or even images that contain words in your native language if you want to expand your vocabulary by twofold, or threefold.

I hope that you found this post practical and helpful. Have an amazing week and continue enjoying summer!

Review of Easy Languages YouTube Channel

Have you ever struggled finding authentic learning material for your target language, or have spent countless hours trying to find material worth using? If you answered yes, then I would strongly recommend checking out the YouTube channel called Easy Languages, which is currently produced in over 30 languages. What is great about each language is that you learn it from the streets, allowing you to hear natives speak at their normal pace about whatever is on their mind. Instead of simply watching a 4-minute video completely in Russian when you are a beginner, English subtitles and a transliteration are provided as the host asks a question to people on the street. Thanks to this method of language-learning, you slowly start to associate sounds with words and words with meanings.

Before finding this YouTube channel, I had spent more hours than I am willing to admit trying to find a free resource that was more challenging than a textbook, but still understandable for Russian. Since I have only been taking it for two semesters, I wanted to find a YouTube channel whose goal was to find native speakers without translating everything that was being said.

I recently started seriously and religiously watching Easy Russian, but have found it to be extremely effective. The main reason why I like using it over other channels is, because each episode is based on just one question, such as "what makes you happy?", which allows you to focus your full attention on a specific topic, or to use thematic vocabulary. Instead of being all over the place, I can learn words such as "любовь" (love), or "жизнь" (life). Not only are these words useful and are used in everyday conversations, but I can also associate words in specific phrases, or in idiomatic expressions. In other words, you can slowly start expanding your vocabulary by associating words with meanings instead of learning words by themselves without any context on how they can be used, as you would typically do in high-school.

How I recommend using Easy Languages:

As I have already mentioned many times, what is most important is consistency and quality versus quantity when studying a language. Since Russian is the furthest removed from my native languages, it makes sense to spend the most amount of time on it, so that I can continue picking up its rhythms, its sounds, and its pronunciation. Since each episode is approximately 4 minutes, I would recommend watching it more than once.

When you watch it for the first time, make sure to write down any important, or unfamiliar words or phrases on a piece of paper, or in a noteboo­­­­k (the more organized you are, the faster you will eventually progress). After being satisfied with a good-sized list, re-watch it as many times as you feel necessary. Make sure to read the English subtitles, and transliterations as little as possible each time that you watch it, and try to focus on understanding entire phrases instead of individual words (ex: the ones that you wrote down that were new to you).

Remember that this channel can be used for any level. Whether you have no prior knowledge of your target language, or are close to native-sounding, you are bound to learn something new, considering that there is always room for improvement. I hope that you found this post helpful. Feel free to let me know what you think about it in the comments down below. 

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•  Easy Languages Website