Read Children’s books

Another way to learn a language such as: French; German; Portuguese; Spanish; Japanese; or Chinese; is to read a children’s book. You can read books that have both the foreign language and the English translations. Or, you can simply read the books that are written in the language you’re trying to learn.

I sometimes prefer the books that don’t have the translations in them. That way I have to do a little more work to translate the book myself. That way, I’m more apt to remember the words I don’t know.

If you have children, you can read the books to them and translate what you’ve learned as you read. I do this with my 3 ½ year old Son when I read to him at night. He already knows a number of words in Spanish such as: numbers, animals, greetings, colors, tableware and a few others. There are also Children’s dictionaries with pictures. Some have as little as 100 words and phrases or less. I set a goal of learning all the words/phrases in a children’s dictionary within a month. The words can be put on laminated cards you can create (see the article “Pocket Learning Cards” on this site.).

One thing that’s great about using the children’s books is that they have pictures with bright colors; that aids in the learning process by helping you to visualize the picture when you hear the words.

Do you have any other suggestions for things that were particularly helpful to you learning another language? Just click on the “Contact Us” link below and let us know. We may do an article on the suggestions you provide! (with full credit and disclosure given of course!)

Learn Spanish.