Knowing more than one language is highly beneficial in today’s world. Learning a language can help with job opportunities, can help when in an unknown area, can help when in need of instruction from someone or something, and much more. However, learning  multiple languages is easier said than done. A new language has to be practiced and constantly used in order to become a fluent skill. Not only that, but almost every language comes with a new and different set of grammar, spelling, and agreement rules. Even with all this said, learning a new language is definitely not impossible, and it can be easier than a person thinks to find a way of studying and learning that fits. This is even easier with the access to technology we have now. Here are some tips that have helped me find a way to learn not one, but two languages at the same time on the language-learning app Duolingo.

      1. Write it down!

The easiest tool for memorizing and learning a new language is to write down what a person knows and is learning. Scientific studies have shown that writing by hand forces the brain to process information in a more detailed way, which helps successfully load that information into memory. Whether a person writes down everything they can remember after the lesson, or they write it down as they go, both ways are push one step closer to mastering a new language.

      2. Exposure to the language is critical.

Exposure to whatever language a person is learning is another way to exercise memory retention. Encountering the language by overhearing a conversation (you should probably ask to sit in on this one), listening to music, reading things published in that language, watching movies in that language, and more are simple ways to exercise what a person does and doesn’t know. It can even help to unknowingly learn and retain more than what a person could without the exposure.

      3. Continuously practice and memorize using the gender system of the language.

Many common languages such as Spanish, French, and Arabic have specific gender rules incorporated into their language. This means the nouns of the language are either feminine or masculine, and their gender determines the forms of any other parts of speech used with it. By continuously practicing using the correctly gendered phrases with a specific noun a person can speed up the process of language learning by a ton.

By utilizing these tips, and even combining them with any methods of a person’s own, language learning can be made easier than it might seem.