This is a question that language enthusiasts often ask themselves – is good pronunciation important when speaking a language, or what matters is being able to understand and be understood by natives? Is grammar important? Is it more important to be able to speak or to write?

Learning a foreign language is not an easy process, especially because languages constantly evolve. The fact that it can take so much time to master a language can be frustrating. Traditional methods of learning a language usually include repetitive conjugation exercises, reading dialogues, focusing on writing instead of speaking. These methods are totally deceiving and can make us easily believe that we’re not able to learn a language.  The reason why the traditional method gives no results is because it is not natural. We don’t learn our native language by conjugating verbs. We simply listen, imitate, practice. Practice is the key to successful language learning. As Italians say: “Vale più la pratica che la grammatica”, or in French “C’est en forgeant qu’on devient forgeron”, which, roughly translated means “Practice makes perfect!”

Here are some useful tips for learning languages effectively:

1. Make language learning fun

The number one method I use for learning foreign languages is listening to music. If you ask me whether my priority is learning to speak or to write, I’d say I prefer learning to sing in the language I’m learning.
I try to listen to different genres of music, so that I can have access to different vocabulary (for example, I listen to rap in order to learn slang).
Thanks to artists like Georges Brassens, Jacques Brel or Charles Aznavour, I learned more French vocabulary than any French teacher could ever teach me.

Bossa nova and samba helped me learn Brazilian authentic words, as well as many cultural references from Brazil. While listening, I always read the comments written by native speakers so that I can be exposed to the authentic language. For Portuguese learners – there is no way you’ll see a comment such as: KKKK mano tu é foda carai in a Portuguese textbook. Of course, everything depends on your goals. Maybe your goal is to learn the formal language. If you’re learning formal Portuguese, please ignore the last phrase. In my case, I always tend to learn the way natives speak. There is no doubt why I learn how to swear first, then.  Again, priorities are subjective, but all of us who study a language have the same goal – being able to speak it one day.

2. Use the language every day

Dedication. Consistency. Practice. And yes, conjugating verbs can be boring. What was that last tv show you watched? Did you know it was dubbed in your favorite language? It may not be as good as the original, but it can help you improve your language skills. Or even better: find tv shows from the country where the language is spoken, that way you can learn a lot about the culture as well. You feel like cooking something interesting today? Find recipes in the language(s) you learn. Books, movies, music, talking to natives, the list goes on… If you love learning languages, you’re blessed for living in the 21^st century. Start benefiting from it!

3. Surround yourself with natives

This is definitely the best and most efficient way to learn a language. Again, no excuses: if you’re not in the country where the language is spoken, you can always find natives online. If you live in a big, diverse city, there are huge chances that you’ll find natives there. You can use apps such as HelloTalk or HiNative where you can ask a native about any doubts you have concerning the language and where you can help someone learn your language too. This will help you get out of the “learner” zone and enter the “native” zone. You can see that the way natives speak can be totally different from what you’re learning from textbooks and you’ll be able to absorb new content in an authentic way.

4. Start thinking in your target language

Once you start thinking in the language you learn, you’re able to communicate without asking yourself whether that last irregular verb you used was correctly conjugated or not. In fact, making mistakes is part of what makes us human. We should liberate ourselves from the fear of mistakes and take them as something precious that makes us advance. Change the language on your phone or the social media you use, make to-do or any other list in the language you’re learning. This way you can immerse yourself in the language and eventually stop seeing it as foreign.

5. Take your time

It’s impossible to learn a language in one day and that’s what makes the whole process of learning languages beautiful. Take your time and cherish the moments of learning. Use mistakes as tools for your improvement. Think of the result, but don’t be obsessed with achieving perfection. Think of it as an adventure that makes you become part of a whole another world where borders don’t exist.