Learning a new language can seem overwhelming and daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. One way to make this process easier is to gather language learning resources for all the different aspects of language you are going to be learning.
There’s listening, reading, writing, and speaking skills all to be considered.
Below, I have compiled the resources into different categories, and why it might be valuable or might not be the most helpful depending on your language goals. As a note some resources count for multiple categories.
At the end of the day, you should use these as a starting point to build your language skills. The more you challenge yourself with the part you struggle with, the more you’ll build up all language skills. As I’ve discussed in my post on learning styles, everyone gravitates towards one method but the best learners use all styles to create multiple pathways in their brain to the knowledge.
Resources for Practicing Listening Skills
When learning a new language, the first skills you learn are inputs.
These are listening and reading skills.
Just as the brain processes language first by hearing it, and then reproducing it (see my post elaborating on this here).
Learning a new language first, you have to hear the language and understand at least a little bit of it before trying to reproduce it.
These types of resources support beginner to advanced language learners.
Audio books
Audiobook narrators often speak in a clear voice that’s easy to follow. If you also have the text in front of you, it’s easier to follow along.
Pick a book you are familiar with in English, so you’re only trying to learn the language, not the book too. If you already know the story and characters, you have context for the language.
Music
Music can be a fun way to practice your listening skills. Music focuses more on rhymes or melody but still challenges your listening skills. Music can be hard because context can be limited with only 3 minutes to work with.
Podcasts
Podcasts can cover a myriad of topics from current events, cultural history, and more.
The speakers are often native speakers and likely to use colloquial language! They might not always speak slow enough or clear enough for those learning the language as a warning.
I do like this podcast for new German speakers called Slow German Podcast. He picks various cultural topics and is clear and slow enough for beginner learners to follow.
TV shows
Many streaming providers allow you to change the language of a show. Don’t forget to change the captions too, so you don’t just read in English. This works similar to audio books because the visual of the actors provides context. Watching tv in your target language also allows you to learn more vocabulary.
If you watch an American show in German, you don’t always get the German colloquialisms.
Once you’re more comfortable in your target language, I challenge you to find a show made (not just translated to) your target language.
Resources for Practicing Speaking Skills
Once you learn enough input for a language, your brain is ready to output. Silly way of saying that you need words and grammar to pull from before being able to speak.
These resources are great for practicing your speaking skills and not all require an audience!
Self Narration
Talking to yourself (no audience required!) is a great way to practice speaking. The only pressure to be correct is from you and I recommend easing off the pressure when starting.
Start small and substitute a few words at a time rather than trying to memorize whole sentences. Think Spanglish for your target language!
Self narration can be hard for people who want perfection and have no one to correct them. These people can use self narration to practice after learning the skill from an instructor!
You can also record yourself talking and hear your progress over time or share it with your instructor for feedback.
Video chatting (like iTalki tutors)
Talking to yourself only provides so much feedback. The next step is to talk to someone else. Not only does this provide feedback but challenges your listening skills as you have a conversation too!
A fun tip is to find someone else learning the language too, so neither of you feel the pressure to be perfect as you would for a native speaker. The odds you’ll both make the exact same mistakes are slim.
I had a classmate in my college German class who took French for years before, like me. We made the opposite mistakes in German and could catch each other’s mistakes since they weren’t the same!
Resources for Practicing Reading Skills
Another option for practicing comprehension skills like listening is reading. It’s also an input in that sense.
These resources are designed for various reading levels (remember your reading age doesn’t match your actual age!).
Children’s books
I have a number of posts on using children’s literature to learn a foreign language (like this one).
Children’s books are a great introductory tool for learning a foreign language.
The pictures provide context. The language is simple. And vocabulary is relevant.
Children’s books are not a long-term language learning tool, as you will quickly outgrow them like children outgrow board books.
Short stories and Novels
Using novels or short stories to learn a foreign language is a wonderful tool, once you have reached a certain point in the language.
Many languages have short story collections, where you have German on one page, and on the facing page you have it in English. These double language books can be a great way to practice reading a book in German with English support.
I would caution that the end goal should be to be able to read a full novel in German rather than mixing languages like this.
I often even myself read the English only and skip the German side because it’s so easily accessible.
Workbooks
I hesitate to recommend a workbook for self-study language routines.
While workbooks are great for practicing math or various writing skills, when it comes to language learning, they only provide so much support.
Workbooks cannot really provide listening or speaking support, but they can provide reading and writing.
Many workbooks will have sentences or paragraphs followed by various activities to improve your reading comprehension of the language.
A number of workbooks do have answers in the back and so if you are teaching yourself, you do have access to the answer. Occasionally I have encountered answers that don’t make sense, which is where a good teacher comes into play.
Pen pals
Writing to penpals is another great method to practice reading and writing skills.
A big limiting factor in this resource is finding a penpal. You can connect to one through a local school program, Reddit language threads, or other various connections.
This is a perfect opportunity to learn about the culture directly from a local though.
Resources for Practicing Writing Skills
Workbooks
As I mentioned under resources for practicing reading skills, workbooks can also be used for practicing your writing skills.
They are more of an introductory level for writing because it’s teaching you basic sentences, structure and grammar and writing short text. Still, it is a valuable resource.
I still caution using it as a self study tool without teacher guidance.
If you are like me and you have a history of the language (for me, French or German) then a workbook can be perfect for refreshing those skills and practicing. It is not always the best resources for self teaching new skills.
Pen pals
Writing to your penpal can challenge you to think about how to form longer sentences and not just the simple sentences.
This method is perfect for teaching you to push your boundaries a little bit. You don’t want to just write about basic concepts, but also about the things you are interested in.
Pen pals make learning the language follow your interest and not just somebody else’s structure.
Journaling
Along the same lines as writing to your penpal, journaling provides an outlet to practice interesting vocabulary in your target language.
And because this journal is for you and you alone, it’s the perfect place to not worry about judgment or correcting grammar.
In fact, as you practice and get comfortable with the language, you’ll see your skills improve from the first entry to the end of the book.
Resources for Practicing All Your Second Language Skills
These resources are meant for cultivating all aspects of learning another language (reading, writing, speaking, and listening).
Choosing which one to use depends on your budget, time availability, capacity for learning currently and more.
Tutors
Tutors can help you learn a language from the very first word up into mastery, depending on their own skill levels.
They are great because they will work on your schedule and work with you one on one or even in a small group.
They can be more expensive than a college class sometimes because of the smaller group nature of their work.
You can also work with a tutor virtually if a local one is not available.
In person classes
Your local community college, or four year school, provides many of these classes.
College classes can be great because they provide instructors, easier access to various materials, and a community for practice and bonding.
Cost can be a prohibitive factor as well as limited on languages provided.
Traveling
The end goal for learning a new language, for many people, is to be able to travel to that country and speak with locals.
This method/goal could be very cost prohibitive between the cost of plane tickets, planning the entire trip, and time off for taking the trip. But the memories made, the skills learned, and so many other valuable aspects of traveling that cannot be listed in this post.
Traveling is the perfect opportunity to practice the language you have learned.
You will need to speak to waiters in a restaurant; shopkeepers when you’re buying souvenirs; or even reading signs for directions.
Traveling is not required to develop fluency, nor is fluency required for travel so don’t let that hold you back.
Local communities
Another opportunity many people don’t necessarily think about is finding the local community here in the states.
We have a local Swiss group which hosts cultural events and gives my husband a chance to keep his Swiss German up.
There is a local Facebook page for the German community as well.
Both of these groups interact in German, and give us a chance to practice the language at various skill levels and mediums.
While all these wonderful resources provide opportunities to practice and develop your skills and learn another language, at the end of the day you need to take the opportunity.
You can sign up for all the classes and all the books, but if you never show up or you don’t open those books you’re not taking the opportunity to use it to learn the language.
Remember, a little bit of practice can go a long way.
You don’t need to devote hours and hours each day to become fluent, but even five minutes or 10 minutes in the car can help you on your way to your fluency goals.
Which method stands out the most to you?
