As technology evolves, so does language learning. The internet is a wonderful tool to search for resources, verify information, and connect with native speakers of your target language. Introducing technology to your language learning can be more beneficial than you think. This article is to show you how to learn a language by yourself successfully from the comfort of your home.
Technology opens up more opportunities for language learning. But it’s not all beneficial. While technology will change how people learn languages, users need to be careful, or it can cause problems in developing the ability to speak a foreign language fluently.
What Was Language Learning Like Before Technology?
To understand how technology benefits language learning, it helps to take a step back and remember how it was in the past. Before the internet and computers, there were books. If you wanted to find a word or translate something, you had to do everything by hand. This took time and effort.
You needed thick language dictionaries for translation. And you needed some general understanding of the language to make coherent sentences. This meant having a grammar book on hand to help you put the sentences together properly.
A lack of technology limited the speed and efficiency of translations. And it also limited your resources for learning them. If you wanted to listen and practice a language, classes were your best option with accompanying CDs, tapes, and books. And you needed to carry all these things around with you to practice your target language. It was a pain. And thanks to technology, it has rapidly improved to the point where we expect language learning software at our fingertips. Today, you can learn a language by yourself effortlessly.
What Language Learning Options Are Available Now?
When it comes to learning a foreign language, there are many resources you have to help make achieving fluency fast and effectively. In fact, there are so many resources that they’re overtaking college and night classes. People prefer technology. Learning a language by yourself has never been easier.
- YouTube: With millions of users and tons of content creators, it’s easier now, more than ever to pull up a YouTube video for extra content, exposure, immersion, or simply additional help breaking concepts down.
- Smart Phones: Gone are the days when people needed iPods, now you’re phone gives you instant access to any platform or program to help provide you with language learning on the fly. The only real limitation is your battery.
- Phone Apps: There are plenty of easily accessible language and flashcard apps that can help you build up your active vocabulary through regular drills without the need to carry around physical flashcards. But what’s more, there are currently apps on the market that provide instant translation, some even through your phone’s camera.
- Podcasts: Just like YouTube, there are plenty of channels out there in your target language that you can listen to for increased exposure to the language.
- Google Translate: Google Translate continues to become more and more advanced. Now it can actively translate while people are talking to help make communicating easier.
- VR: As more and more companies branch into virtual reality, a few startups are looking for ways to apply the tech to language learning. These programs offer an alternative to a language immersion experience. They allow users to interact with and speak to fictional characters in the program to practice their listening and speaking.
Does Technology Make Achieving Fluency Easier?
The short answer is yes. Technology does help make language learning more accessible, and it will continue to do so. The ease at which you have access to resources means you can learn a language by yourself anywhere you go. You can simply pull out your phone, iPad, or computer, and work towards fluency.
Companies are also becoming smarter about language learning. Built on practices that work, companies are creating programs that are specifically designed to help users gain certain levels of fluency within a certain time. Applications now go beyond basic drilling to promote memorization by incorporating spaced repetition systems into their platforms. This brain-based method of learning helps users remember previous lessons as they move on to new ones. They’re also gamifying learning to help make it more stimulating for users, driving them to return to the platform over and over again.
The most crucial aspect to language learning is consistent work towards fluency. Technology makes it easier to accomplish this. Having your phone or computer right there with you means that you can easily pull out your device and quickly get to work learning your target language.
However, there is a problem. When it comes to the “getting to work” aspect of learning a foreign language, technology may do more harm than good.
In What Ways Can Technology Interfere with Learning a Language?
As much of a benefit as technology is, it’s not an alternative to learning a foreign language. Many people see these apps and innovations for rapid, real-time translations as a mistaken belief that the need to learn a foreign language is a thing of the past. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
There is a human component to language that technology cannot mimic. Figurative language, for instance, doesn’t translate well through these types of technology devices. There is another element of non-verbal communication and body language that adds to a complete understanding of another language that computers fail to address as well. And various dialects can create problems because the technology will want to adjust the language to the standardized form.
The other issue with technology is the tendency for people to lean on it as a crutch. If you’re trying to become fluent in a foreign language, it’s easy to switch into a passive learning mode instead of an active one. The ease of technology promotes a rush to the answer without going through the process and learning how to arrive the conclusion on your own. Think about the last thing you looked up online, how long did you remember it?
How Can You Achieve Fluency in a Foreign Language?
The truth is that technology is incredibly supportive of learning a foreign language. With something as simple as an iPhone, you can immerse yourself in a different language and take the necessary steps to achieve fluency. With all the resources available to you, it makes it hard not to become fluent.
However, problems arise when we let technology remove the most important component of learning a language, the human component. We use language as a tool used to express cultures and ideas unique to a specific group of people. And learning a foreign language can bridge the gaps between people from different cultures. It brings the world closer together.
While it may be helpful to use technology, it’s always best to remember that it is a tool to help you learn and speak a foreign language, not a replacement. Using various methods for learning languages is the best way to achieve proficiency.
