Segment 60 – 2018 Resolution: Learn A New Language
Welcome 2018! So here we go, a few weeks into the New Year… do you even remember your resolution for this year?
Every year, we make one, but after a few weeks back from the busy holiday season, we jump into the New Year with vigor to get back to business and life after merry-making.
It's not too late, don’t worry if you’ve made one on December 31st, and seemed to have forgotten it or put it away till the right moment… it is not too late to regroup. You can even have more than one resolution. You can have personal, professional, cultural and social resolutions. You can have a resolution theme with varying ways to incorporate into manageable life tasks.
How about learning a new language or exploring new cultures?
Of course, some basics might help such as a structured class or language program. There are the common ways to move it forward – take a class, buys CD’s, get a teacher/tutor, live in a foreign country, immerse in a foreign exchange study, travel, etc.
Here are 5 tips to help you learn a language as your New Year Resolution:
1. Be a couch potato – That’s right sit around on the couch with a bowl of popcorn and watch TV – binge watch something for hours and regularly – just do it in the target language – and you can call it “learning or studying.” You’d be surprised at how many international students prep for study abroad programs by watching countless hours of foreign films and shows.
2. Travel – It’s time to stop watching those fantastic travel channels and documentaries, and get to booking! That’s right, plan your next vacation in a spot where you can see and hear your target language and culture. You don’t have to go to Spain to learn Spanish, did you know that Spanish is virtually the main spoken language after English in the U.S.? Go to Miami and enjoy the beach and get some Spanish language immersion.
3. Make friends – Make some foreign friends and have some fun. Join a Salsa dance club or Biathlon club, or even a book club…have fun doing new activities with new people; some of these people are from different countries and may speak your target language.
4. Date an international person – Well, they always say the best way to really learn a foreign language is to date a foreigner…but you better really love that language because you will not only hear it from your partner, but also his/her friends, family and other random people who happen to find out that you are in a “bi-lingual relationship” and who also have a fanatical love for that language.
5. Get a new job – Yes, I said it. If you crunch numbers all day at work, why not crunch those numbers in another country? If you sell XYZ in New York, why not ask for the opportunity to sale it in South America or Europe or Asia? Look, with today’s global marketplace, new opportunities are opening at a rapid rate across the globe. Companies are increasingly looking for talent with an eagerness to garner international experience. In many companies, the path to upward mobility often includes an international post.
So there you have it, 5 sure ways to help you meet your 2018 New Year’s Language Resolution!
Let me know how it goes for you… I can tell you first hand that these tips have worked for me.
Have a Happy and Prosperous 2018 ahead!!
Contact HT Localization for help with your language efforts - we can help you go global in 2018!
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This article was written by Rachanee Thevenet, Co-Founder of HT Localization. Rachanee is an Asian-American expat living in Spain with her family. She loves all things international including food, art, literature, culture, languages and people. She has years of professional product marketing expertise and global expansion experience.
HT Localization, LLC. is a worldwide translation & localization agency providing a full range of professional language translation services, including social media localization, marketing translations, website translations, software localization, eLearning materials, documentation translations, etc. With locations in the US, Spain, France, Zambia & Thailand, and coverage across all languages and most industries, HT Localization is well positioned to provide around the globe services for all translation needs.
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