How to prevent yourself from forgetting a language

Аннотация

Foreign languages will often be forgotten if they are not used frequently Each of us can face the problem of forgetting foreign language and it is the most stupid situation when you try but cannot start speaking because you forget the word. And this can happen because of different circumstances. Learning a language takes months and years, but retaining a language is a lifelong endeavor. In this article I will try to share ideas which can improve such situations. Keywords: the strategy of paraphrasing, language opportunities, maintain a schedule, tutor. Have you ever had such a situation when you open your mouth to say something in English, you start the sentence and then suddenly you FORGET a specific word…? It seems you are going mad trying to remember it and as a result, you can’t say a thing! I’m absolutely sure you’ve had the following stupid situation happen to you many times. And it is the worst experiences that any foreign English speaker, can possibly have because it makes feel stupid and worthless, and the funny thing is that the more we try to make sure it doesn’t happen, the worst it gets! Of course, we can use the strategy of paraphrasing (trying to say it in different words) or using short sentences when you can’t remember the word you’re looking for. Instead of trying to remember something that you can’t remember you simply put it in other words to continue your conversation. But you must understand Why you forget English words and How not to have such incidents in future. Most people forget languages entirely after enough time. Many years ago, I became fluent in English and had enough experience of speaking it every day with my students and colleagues. After moving to another country, I haven't used it in over a number of years. My family members and friends don't speak it 330 fluently. With all the time and effort, I've spent learning English, and surely, I would really hate to lose it. How can you change the situation in such a case? You can read books in English and watch television, but your lack of communication makes you a lot slower at speaking, and you sometimes could not recall the word you need. And so, I asked myself a question: What can I do to keep my fluency, even when I don't have many people to speak it with? And I understood that I should actively maintain the language I have learned. Because if you’ve put a lot of time into learning a language, you don’t want your study time to be wasted. Not only did you choose which language to learn and figure out the best way to learn for you, but you put in countless hours of studying that you could have set aside for other interests. If you don’t work to maintain your language skills, all this time and effort could be wasted. Like with any skill, if you don’t practice your target language regularly, you’ll forget a lot. Case in point: How well do you remember how to do long division? You can spend almost as long trying remember a language you forgot as you spent learning the language in the first place. Simply staying in practice can save you valuable time. You might not even notice how much language you’ve lost until you need your trusty language skills and they aren’t there. No one wants to travel abroad thinking they’re fluent only to find out they don’t actually remember their target language at all. In my practice I used a number of good ideas on a daily basis that helped me and maybe will be useful for you too. Here they are: 1. Change your mind set to consider learning a language a lifelong process. Most people forget the target language because of some circumstances: maybe they’re no longer using or studying it. The simplest ways to prevent this is by considering learning a language a lifelong process rather than a limited-term course of study. Having in mind, don’t give up on your learning routine. Whether you’re building new vocabulary or working on tricky grammar rules, keep studying. Even fluent speakers and even highly qualified specialists don’t know all the vocabulary, so there’s always something new to learn. You don’t have to commit as much time to studying as you did when you were just starting out, but remembering to put in some time will help keep you in practice. 2. There are some useful websites and apps like FluentU that can help you. Here it is: FluentU New iOS App Icon Language learning websites and mobile apps like FluentU are full of fun, flexible way to prevent yourself from forgetting the language. In reality, you might actually find your skills continue to grow in just a few minutes a day. FluentU, in particular, uses authentic, real content to help you to learn a language in a more natural way, just like a native speaker would. Here you can find too many fresh videos created from content native speakers, like news clips, films, and movie trailers. This website presents them in a way that makes it easy to keep track of your current level and to look up the meaning of words without getting pulled out of you