Where to start with language learning?

Do you remember your first foreign language lesson? What words did you learn? Most courses start with introducing a few polite phrases and sentences like “My name is XYZ. I am British. I live in London.” But is that the right approach? In my opinion, there are two ways to approach the topic and start by learning the words and grammatical structures that: 

– appear most frequently in the language

– will be useful in situations we expect to encounter along the way. 

Let’s say you’re learning Spanish because you want to use the language while traveling. How often will you introduce yourself and talk about where you come from during your trips abroad? 

Also, imagine using those sentences in a classroom with your friends, where all of you are from the same city and already know each other’s names. Starting to learn Spanish with such sentences would simply be boring. Nobody will be interested in your friends’ answers because they will already know them much earlier. 

This approach might work in a language school where people from different countries or cities come together. Then, the ability to briefly talk about yourself makes sense.

What, then, should you learn at the beginning?

Regardless of the situations you encounter along the way, start by learning the basics of the language, which include a core vocabulary of 100-200 words that will appear in almost every sentence. Additionally, familiarize yourself with basic grammatical structures.

Here are the most important ones:

Key words:

• I, sir/madam, he, she => At the beginning, skip plural pronouns; also start with the form “sir/madam” if it exists in the foreign language (e.g., “usted” in Spanish, “Sie” in German, “vous” in French), as you will use it in most cases.
• My, your (formal), his, her
• “Cheat” words that replace any word: this (e.g., “I see this”), there, here, so, someone, something, nothing, everything, never, always, everyone, no one
• Basic interrogative pronouns: who?, what?, when?, where?, how much/many?, why?
• Time-related words: now, today, later, yesterday
• Other words like: yes, no
• Basic sentence connectors: because, but, and, so
• Numbers from 1 to 5

Verbs:

Verbs are crucial in a language. If you use them in combination with key words, you practically won’t need nouns. Start by learning the following forms:

Focus on singular forms in the following order: 

• 1) I
• 2) sir/madam
• 3) he/she

Learn to use the following tenses and forms (examples in parentheses):

• Present tense expressing something happening generally (I do, yo hago).
• Past tense referring to what happened yesterday (I did, yo hice).
• Future tense (if there are two forms, start with the simpler one): (I will do, yo voy a hacer).
• Present continuous tense for ongoing actions (I am doing, yo estoy haciendo).

Master all forms of key verbs (often highly irregular):

• To be
• To have
• To do/make
• To go

Modal verbs:

• Can/may
• Must/have to
• Want

Learn to use specific verbs in questions and negations, as well as in combination with key words such as “this,” “me,” “you,” etc.

Nouns:

Here, the choice primarily depends on where and for what purpose you will be using the language. If you anticipate needing it during travel, master:

• Names of family members you will be traveling with
• Names of beverages and meals you will be ordering
• Names of basic items needed for travel, such as passport, keys, ticket, money
• Names of places like restaurant, airport, shop, etc.
• Names of modes of transportation like bus, taxi.

Additionally, add frequently used words related to time:

• Time, moment, second, minute, hour, day, week, month
• Morning, afternoon, evening, night

If you’re unsure of which words you need, imagine a conversation in the English language. What words would you use? Those are the ones you will need.

Adjectives:

These will actually be needed only when you want to express an opinion or your own viewpoint. Focus on them once you already have a few nouns in your handy arsenal. Start with the most common ones:

• General: good, bad, new, old, big, small
• Expressing states of your body: tired, sick, hungry, thirsty
• Expressing emotions: happy, sad, satisfied
• If you plan to buy clothes, you can learn basic colors.

However, remember the most important rule:

Do not learn words out of context. As you may recall from my statement on the show “The Brain – Brilliant Mind,” the best way to learn vocabulary is by learning whole sentences.

You already have the instructions ready…

Surely, you already know which language you will apply them to.

So, let’s get to work!

I’m rooting for you.

Article originally published at sekretypoliglotow.pl in Polish. You can find it here.