How to improve a language in shortest time?

Finland
May 9, 2010 7:34am CST
Hi everyone! I must be able to understand and use Finnish in one month. I have some basics, everyday I listen to radio and study materials on the Internet, read local newspaper, but I'm afraid it's not enough to understand when people are talking. I'm worried, how to improve a language faster, to be able to understand I should learn more grammar or memorize new words?
3 people like this
23 responses
@airakumar (1553)
• India
11 May 10
I think it needs to take over as your primary language for a period of time. If you want to improve the most important thing is practice. Even for people who don't have to write in English, writing can be a great way of properly learning the kind of vocabulary you need to describe your own life and interests, and of thinking about how to stop making grammar mistakes. The problem most people have is that they don't know what to write about. One traditional way to make sure you write every day in English is to write an English diary and a more up to date way of doing this is to write a blog. Another motivating and easy way to make yourself write in English is to write a review for a site such as Amazon or Internet Movie Database. Many non-native speakers write reviews on sites like this, and if you have some special understanding of the book, music or film due to your first language or knowing the artist personally, that would be very interesting for the English speakers who read and write reviews on the site.
@cheongyc (5072)
• Malaysia
11 May 10
I think you already doing great. It needs a lot of effort and time before we can really master a language. Daily exposure to news, papers and internet is essential to improve the language proficiency. If you really want to learn even faster, you should consider staying for some time in the place where the language is used daily. You will learn very fast from the locals there!
• India
11 May 10
I would suggest to practice more with someone who already know the language after doing all this. This has to be in addition to all you doing currently. Or Make a boy/Gorlfrind who knows the language you want to learn. believe me you will learn so fast. Just kidding :)
@balaman (146)
• India
10 May 10
Would suggest lookout for Foreign Language training centre in your city. Find out they have the right person to help you then enroll yourself. Speaking to person who knows the language everyday would help you grasp faster.
11 May 10
Me too ,i wanna to improve my englsih wirrten and spoken,but for me it's too diffcult who can i help me
@issa66 (2)
11 May 10
just keep on doing what you doing and you will finally understand it.
@enyrad (21)
• Philippines
10 May 10
I think that it will also be a big help if you will have someone to talk to in finnish language because i believe that you will learn and adopt fast if you hear and speak it. And you will also know if you use and say it correctly.
@cncoke (439)
• China
10 May 10
Listening more and speaking more are important to improve our language,you dont't worry writing.It is important to talk each other.When you practise the language don't think own language, I often do as I talked.
@umabharti (3972)
• India
10 May 10
hi,learning a language is not that hard.Just try writing it down.Then try reading loud.Internet has many options we can learn how to pronounce a word .So only the passion to learn is to be there to learn a language.
@p3ks626 (6538)
• Philippines
10 May 10
Just continue doing those things that you have mentioned. I think that's a good way to improve on your skills. I am an online english teacher and I have been teaching for almost a year now and I always tell my students to take things easily. I always think that things should be taken easily and step by step. Dont be too hard on yourself.
@yumanal (143)
• China
10 May 10
Improving your English in a short time is not possible,to learn a language is a long process of a accumulation.Howvever,if you just want to use the English language proficiency in a particular field,short-term efforts were effective.The other point is that grammar and words is equally important,can't be neglected.
• Malaysia
10 May 10
to learn a language fast, you must always speak in that language, write in that language and read in that language. Always apply their language in your daily activities.
• China
10 May 10
Reading or listening something you really interested in will be a great help,I think.:)
• Indonesia
10 May 10
just implement it in your dailies.Better u watch movie that using Finnish or u practice it with patner
@Porcospino (31367)
• Denmark
9 May 10
Try to find someone who speaks Finnish and talk to that person as much as possible. If you can't find a person from your local area, you could try to find someone online. Try to find someone who would like to chat with you or exchange emails with you, or someone who would like to talk on Skype. Sign up at Finnish forums and read and participate in the discussions. Look up the words that you don't know. Try to read some Finnish books as well. You ask if you should focus on grammer or on memorizing new words. If I were you I would focus more on my vocabulary than the grammar. I wouldn't say that grammer isn't important at all, but I think it is even more important to be able to understand what people are saying. When I have lived and worked abroad it has been more useful for me to focus on learning new words, because that way I was able to understand people and communicate with them. My co-workers were generally very helpful if I asked them for help and they also helped me correct my grammar little by little.
@annierose (18926)
• Philippines
9 May 10
hi blueflyingsnow, I cannot say a definite time in which you can master Finnish language. However, I can say that you can improve your Finnish language as long as you are practicing it. Reading a lot of Finnish writings will surely improve your knowledge on it. Expand your vocabulary. Keep a note with you and write there new Finnish language that you encounter everyday. Be able to use it in your daily life. Watching Finnish movies, listening to Finnish news and talking to people whose native language is Finnish will do great help.If you want, you can also try livemocha site. You can meet there language partners whom you can speak with the language. Sharedtalk.com is also like livemocha. I am just not sure if sharedtalk gives also some reading, writing and speaking practices with foreign languages like livemoha, but you can try both of them.Study the language everyday. I was studying Spanish before but because I am busy now preparing for my exam, I cannot practice my Spanish language at all. I will try to practice it again after my exam. I hope the best for you and may you succeed in your goals.
@o0jopak0o (6394)
• Philippines
9 May 10
ask a person who knows the language to practice with you, a conversation is the best way to learn a language. i first start with the alphabet then their some simple words then basic sentence construction
@phyrre (2317)
• United States
9 May 10
Being immersed in the culture is the best way to learn. Listening to songs, reading books and papers, watching movies/television in the language. That's how I learned French so well and how I remember it even now that I'm not taking it anymore. ^_^ Also, it's helpful to find someone else that speaks Finnish to talk with them so that you can sharpen your conversation skills. I know someone who's becoming a Spanish teacher and was worried about taking her Spanish exam for it, so she started talking daily with some of the Hispanic workers at work and she got a lot of good practice and did great on her exam! Good luck learning Finnish!
9 May 10
Immerse yourself in Finnish, and connect to the language in as many ways as possible. - Read Finnish newspapers - Listen to News - Listen to recordings throught the day - Learn important key words and phrases - Talk to people in Finnish(even people who don't understand Finnish) - Use Finnish chatrooms and tell them you're trying to learn Finnish - Listen to recordings while you're asleep it is said subconscious absorbs a lot of information - If you take notes or make a list shopping etc, make it in Finnish - If you hear or read things try converting them into Finnish, what would it be like in Finnish - Visualize yourself speaking Finnish - Most important keep your self immersed throughout the day, every day, every waking moment. So your mind completely absorbs Finnish. This is the Key.
@evepin (721)
• Philippines
10 May 10
use the language more, talk to people. i think that is the best way to learn a language. there's a company ehre called berlitz that teaches different language by talking most of the time with the students.