Learning a Language as an Adult (Plus Words of Encouragement)

Adults can learn languages. That’s the simple truth. And though young learners do acquire near native-like skills in their second language, learning a language as an adult has its advantages. 

Adults have a better understanding of their personal strengths, weaknesses and learning styles. Factors like motivation, mindset, learning environment and learning strategies are also all things we can control.

So use the following tips to help you learn a new language as an adult. 

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)

1. Have a Positive Mindset

No one likes doing things that they think they’re bad at.

So before you start learning your new language, tell yourself that you’re going to succeed! It’s okay if you don’t fully believe it yet—just get in the habit of being positive about your language studies.

After all, you have a lot working in your favor:

• You have self-motivation.
• You know how to learn.
• You can choose resources that interest you.
• You can figure out strategies that work for you.
• You already know how one language works.

Even if all your years in school didn’t teach you a second language, you did learn a lot.

You learned how to memorize and study. You learned about a lot of learning methods and resources. You (hopefully) learned how important determination and consistency are.

All of this will make learning a language as an adult even more efficient. You already have the mental tools you need to succeed.

2. Immerse Yourself in the Language

One of the best ways to truly learn a foreign language is in an immersive environment.

It’s often hard to find or create that immersive experience, to say nothing of the challenges of moving to a foreign country to learn a language.

Fortunately, this is where adult language learning has an advantage.

As an adult, you take in a vast amount of information every day. Take advantage of this!

You can use your target language to:

• Watch movies and TV shows. Change the audio, add subtitles or do both!
• Listen to music. Put it on in the background or make it the focus of your next study session.
• Get the news. Watch or read international news, or news from a country that speaks your target language.
• Read. Start with children’s books or language magazines, or try a favorite novel in your new language.
• Listen to podcasts. Choose a podcast made for language learners or pick a native one that interests you.
• Surf the internet. Change your phone or computer to your target language, then use as normal!

Adults have the ability to choose their surroundings. If you recognize the opportunities in your everyday life and take advantage of them, you’ll see that learning a language as an adult isn’t so scary after all.

3. Integrate Active Language Learning into Your Life

Now that you’ve surrounded yourself with your target language, you have to make an active effort to understand it and learn from it.

This is the time to put your favorite learning strategies and study skills to the test. Crack open those textbooks, make flashcards and grammar lists, fire up those language learning apps and get to studying!

You can use some pre-made vocabulary stickers to help you learn. As the adult in control, you can re-decorate your home with bilingual labels.

You can save new words and phrases when you’re reading a magazine or TV subtitles and review them later.

You can even learn directly from authentic content. For example, FluentU uses material like this to immerse you in your target language.

And no matter how busy you are, I promise you have more time than you think that can be used for flipping through flashcards, jotting down useful sentences or learning helpful phrases.

A perk of being an adult language learner is the ability to arrange your own schedule. Fit language learning into it whenever and however you can.

4. Use the Language to Converse with Others

What is language for? Communicating with other people, of course.

Don’t forget that, as an adult, you already know how to communicate in your own language. You know how to handle countless social situations.

And that’s a major advantage for adults learning a second language. Cultural differences notwithstanding, you already know what to say; it’s just a matter of learning how to say it.

So find someone to share your new passion with. It could be a coworker, a friend or a family member. It’s always good to connect with fellow learners. You can often find other students on social media sites and apps. 

The best way to practice communicating, of course, is with a language exchange partner—someone who speaks your target language as a native.

The key is to put yourself in as many situations as possible that give you the opportunity to speak the language. Join or start a language club, attend meetups, connect with others and keep the conversations flowing.

Lastly, don’t be shy about practicing! No one expects perfection, but everyone is appreciative when they know you’re trying to learn to communicate with them.

5. Understand that Learning a Language Takes Time

I guarantee that you will reach a point when it all begins to click in your brain. You’ll find it easier and easier to make word associations and retain information in your target language.

Because, in much the same way that we have to work out our bodies, our brains need workouts too.

Practicing a new language engages your brain and requires you to think and process new information. And, like exercising, those processes will eventually start to become automatic.

However, it won’t happen immediately. Learning a new language is tough. But if you’re consistent with the time that you put in, you will pick up your target language.

Set some long-term goals to plan where you want to be in several months, or in a year. Then, set short-term goals to help you break your big goal into chewable bites and integrate the language into your everyday life.

And when you feel your motivation waning (and it will), be patient and remind yourself of Tip #1: You can do this!

You’re never too old to learn a new language. And the command you have over your own life as an adult is beneficial to that process.

Now that you’re equipped to conquer a second language, there’s nothing that can stop you—not even the monster under the bed!

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)

And One More Thing...

If you dig the idea of learning on your own time from the comfort of your smart device with real-life authentic language content, you'll love using FluentU.

With FluentU, you'll learn real languages—as they're spoken by native speakers. FluentU has a wide variety of videos as you can see here:

FluentU App Browse Screen.

FluentU has interactive captions that let you tap on any word to see an image, definition, audio and useful examples. Now native language content is within reach with interactive transcripts.

Didn't catch something? Go back and listen again. Missed a word? Hover your mouse over the subtitles to instantly view definitions.

Interactive, dual-language subtitles.

You can learn all the vocabulary in any video with FluentU's "learn mode." Swipe left or right to see more examples for the word you’re learning.

FluentU Has Quizzes for Every Video

And FluentU always keeps track of vocabulary that you’re learning. It gives you extra practice with difficult words—and reminds you when it’s time to review what you’ve learned. You get a truly personalized experience.

Start using the FluentU website on your computer or tablet or, better yet, download the FluentU app from the iTunes or Google Play store. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)