How hard is it to learn a language while on the road? Probably not that easy, considering you don’t get a lot of opportunities to sit down and focus attention on your lessons.
Despite the obvious difficulty, learning a new language while on the road is actually a very common scenario, especially for individuals visiting a foreign land. After all, it’s not half as fun visiting a country when you can’t understand a single thing anybody say.
Here are some tips for language learners on the road:
Pick up a phrasebook. You’ll be on buses, planes, trains and other means of transportation a lot of the time, so might as well spend that time memorizing new vocabulary. A pocket-sized phrasebook will play the part wonderfully for that.
Practice a lot. Being in a foreign country exposes you to a host of people who speak your native language, so take the opportunity to practice what you have learned so far. If you’re scared, just use basic pleasantries like greetings. Doing so will help you gain confidence to use more complicated constructions you pick up.
Keep a journal. Write daily notes about your language learning — new phrases you learned, interactions you’ve had and other relevant activities. Take this opportunity for introspection to ponder about mistakes you’ve made, especially with pronunciation and usage, so that you don’t end up internalizing the mistake.
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