One of the problems with learning languages on your own is that there are a million possible places to start. This makes it especially daunting for first-timers to begin, as they could very well be wasting their time focusing on vocabulary terms that would end up unused in their inventory.
It’s especially difficult since not all languages are the same. The equivalent of a very helpful common word in English, for instance, may be a rarely used element in another language, so a direct comparison isn’t the best route to take.
Fortunately, there are other ways to figure that out:
- Survival phrases. Go online and look for a language’s recommended survival phrases. Those words and phrases are recommended as “survival” tools for a reason — they’re an absolute necessity for anyone visiting the country.
- Phrasebook. Go to the “basics” chapter of a phrasebook and you’ll find the phrases that are likely to be of greatest importance there.
- Check your language software. As with phrasebooks, many language software include a “basics” or “essentials” section, which lists the barebones words and phrases all beginners should know.
- Going by parts of speech. This is actually my favorite, especially if you have some time to learn. The idea is to study words by the most common parts of speech. I suggest studying pronouns first, then prepositions, then basic verbs (as in, super simple action words), then adverbs of time, then adjectives. Nouns and more advanced verbs are things you can probably pass up, as you’ll eventually come across them during your language courses, readings and practice interactions.
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