5 Unusual Everyday Tips for Improving (Not Only) Your Czech  

During isolation in this coronavirus world, there is time to reinvent passion for learning not only the Czech language.  Determination and a few useful little tricks can help add the new language to the daily routine without much effort. 

From the very morning, there are thousands of opportunities on how to upgrade language skills. Language teachers and coaches got together unusual language learning tips to quit the usual learner’s excuses.

THINGS YOU LOVE WILL MAKE YOU WISER

In her e-book How to Learn (not only) Czech Language Through Social Media, Lenka from CzechTime invites people to use social media for something else than just procrastination and coronavirus-news-scrolling. 

She found a better use for them. “Join and Like your favorite groups, ideas, sports, people etc. on Facebook and Instagram BUT in the language, you are learning”. 

Example: If one is Italian and misses their home or just loves Italy and is learning Czech, the advice is to find an Italy fan blog in Czech e.g.Itálie v Brne on Facebook and Like and Follow it. The FB wall will be full of both, Czech language and Italy after such Likes and learning happens without even knowing.

 

LEARN TO LISTEN 

It is not possible and wise to talk to one’s Czech friends, to practice the language with strangers, or to go on a Czech date nowadays. But there is an activity that can help in these situations and relationships later – listening. 

The buzzword of this year is a podcast. Podcasts are everywhere in any language and for any level. “Just listen to them”, Lenka, the language coach from Cesta k jazykům advises in her Desatoro (Ten Commandments).

Listening can get everyone ahead not only in language learning. New ideas and perspectives from podcasts will open room for discussion once people get to meet again.

Example: Interesting podcasts for learning Czech are SlowCzech or Czech with Iva

 

FIND SOMETHING SPECIAL TO HANG TO

As everything that is worth doing, even learning languages is sometimes frustrating. In those moments, something fun and easy, still referring to learning the language, can lighten the mood and get motivation high again. 

PragueMorning presents weekly special Czech words that are either difficult to translate or otherwise interesting.

Vocabulary tip: If you are interested in wooing your Czech friends and colleagues, learn these special words with a unique Wordlist “The untranslatable Czech words” in Vocabulary Miner.

 

TIME TO PLAY

Playing computer games can also help with learning a language. Ever heard gamers say that Word of Warcraft taught them more English than their teachers?  This method is approved not only by gamers but also by students of CzechIn, the Czech language school in Prague. Learning the Czech language by this method requires only to google PC games in Czech or online PC games in Czech and start playing.

Vocabulary tip: Effectivity of such learning can be supported by writing the frequently-used words from a game to a Flashcard app and studying them later. Different Flashcard apps have different advantages – a comparison of some of these apps could be found HERE.

 

IF YOU CANNOT SPEAK WITH PEOPLE, TALK TO YOURSELF

We, people, talk even when we don’t use our vocal cords. In our thoughts. We talk even when there is no one to talk to but us. Therefore, never underestimate the power of self-talk. 

Talking to ourselves can be in the form of famous mantras getting self-confidence and peace up. “Talking to yourself in a language you are learning is like seeing your thoughts from a totally different perspective”, Zuzana the coordinator of Vocabulary Miner says.

Vocabulary tip: If while talking to yourself in a new language there are unfamiliar words known only in the native language, Google Translate will help. Marking these words with a star is a first step to create a Word list from Google translated words that can be imported to a Flashcard app.