Ask The Almost Indian Wife: How Can I Learn My Partner's Language
Ask The Almost Indian Wife
This new series is here to help all of us discuss things we all deal with in our multicultural families. This week's question is important whether you are looking to learn your partner's language or if you want to raise your children in a bilingual household.
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Dear Almost Indian Wife,
"How do I, an English speaker, begin to learn my partner's language? Similar to Hindi, but it's actually Gujarati. In search of all resources, tips, and ideas to learn and to be able to communicate with only Gujarati speaking family members."
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How Can I Learn A New Language?
Learning a new language can be intimidating. Not to mention, feel impossible if it's not a common language in the US. I've wanted to learn Telugu since my husband and I got together, but it's been hard. I could never find resources to learn the language and ended up just learning words here and there.My determination was renewed when I had kids. I knew I wanted them to be fluent in both languages. My husband travels for a living and is gone a lot. I knew that meant I would be the one home with them the majority of the time so the responsibility would fall on my shoulders.I started researching every resource I could find. Here are the most effective ones I discovered.
Audio CD's
Go to your local library or look online for audio cd's. They tend to have more language options and work for any lifestyle. You can listen to them at home when the kids are napping, on the way to work or the gym, or at night after a long day.
Books
I wouldn't recommend a book as your sole method of learning, but it's a great supplemental resource. Once you learn the correct way to say the word, the book will remind you. Then you can read the book and it will teach you the correct way to put sentences together. If you're like me, your book will end up covered in highlighter!
Private Tutor
There are a ton of tutoring companies that offer different languages. Having a tutor come into your home or skyping with you is one of my top choices. They can hear you say different words or phrases and correct you. As you get to know the language better, you can even have conversations together.
Full Immersion
This is one of the most popular ways to learn a language. Whether you're trying to teach a child or learn later as an adult, this method work. Full immersion means you move to the country where the language is spoken or you move close to or into the same house as relatives that speak the language.This is what we aimed for with our children. We moved in with my father in law and he sits with our kids every morning and reads books to the in Telugu and teaches them different words. He also talks to them in Telugu. At first they had no idea what he was saying. Now, I've noticed them responding in English!
Tips For Learning A New Language
Learning a new language requires a lot of hard work and determination. If you're not careful, you will give up. It can start looking like more work than it's worth. Here are a few tips to help you.
Make It Fun
We are more willing to learn something new if we have fun doing it. Find different ways that you can enjoy learning it every day. One way to have fun is to learn with someone you love. If you're learning to be able with your spouse, practice with them. It's more fun to learn with someone.
Talk In The Language At Home
As you learn the language, start using it at home. Whether you use it for different words or complete phrases. You need to practice as much as you can. Even if that means you're home, talking to yourself. Practice, practice, practice.
Entertainment
Another way to make it fun is to bring your entertainment into it. Netflix has an entire foreign section! You can scroll through and look for a movie in the language you're learning. Then put subtitles on and enjoy! You will even start noticing how they put sentences together and pick up on what they're saying.
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The most important thing to remember when learning a new language is that it takes time. In a perfect world, we could learn overnight and start talking to family members in the language right away. In reality, it's going to take time and hard work.The great thing is that it's going to mean so much to your new family when they see you learning their language. They know you're learning so you can talk with them. As you learn, start using what you do know in conversations together. They can take part in helping you learn and it can become a bonding moment between you.