In this globalization
era, communication becomes a very important thing. We’re not only talk to
people near us, but sometimes we need to talk to people far away even from
different countries for different purposes. For that reasons, being able to
talk fluently in English and other languages for communication purposes is
really important. It’s because not only we can expand our connection, but also
broaden our knowledge.
These days,
there are tons of place that offer services to help people get fluency in
foreign languages. Each of them have their own specialties to attract people.
But, basically, what’s the best way to be fluent in languages? What can
language learners do to get fluency in their target languages?
According to
British Council Indonesia Foundation, there are two kinds of languages skills, which
are fluency and accuracy. Actually, those two skills are very important in
learning languages, but the importance of those two in learning languages
depends on our situation as a learner and what our goals are. Accuracy is
actually demonstrate the ability to use the necessary vocabulary, grammar, and
punctuation correctly. This skill actually really important in writing assignments
at university, like essays and lab reports. It’s also really important for
writing email as grammar and punctuation mistakes can be viewed as
unprofessional. Meanwhile, fluency is the flow and efficiency with which you
express your ideas, particularly when speaking. In here, grammar mistakes isn’t
that important because what really matters are how comfortable we are using the
languages orally so that people we talk to can understand us well.
There are
four golden keys that we can use to get fluent in foreign languages.
1.
Open
your ears
Listening is one of the building block skills in learning languages. To
be able to understand the languages fully, you need to be ready to encounter
possible variety nuances including accents, idioms, and even word choice. In
helping you with all these, you can start with listening music or watching
movies, it’ll make you familiar with languages. Once you already familiar with
it, you can step up to listen to news broadcast and speeches.
2.
Read
and expand
After listening, you must be want to make sure your reading ability is
good. You can start with light readings like news article or blogs about topics
you’re interested in. That way, you can expand your vocabularies and getting appropriate
contexts in which to use the word.
3.
Write
away
After you got a solid vocabulary foundation, it’s time to put it into writing
practice. You can start by writing what you’ve been through in that day. It’s not
also broaden your vocabularies by searching words you need to write in that
diary, but also making you use to write with correct grammars.
4.
Talk:
putting it all together
With strong foundation of listening, reading, and writing, you can now start
practicing your speaking skill. The words you learn from reading, the grammars
you’ve acquired through writing, and conversational flow and word pronunciation
you’ve gained from listening all blend together in one skill that is very
useful, which is speaking. Speaking is a really fun thing to do that are really
important in language learning. It will be helpful if you have families or
friends that are native in the language you learn, but if you don’t have any,
there’s internet! You can find friends who wants to help each other with exchanging
languages or you can use application that can connect you with native speakers
around the world.
To maintain
our language ability, we have to practice the four important skills in language
which are listening, reading, writing and speaking regularly so that we don’t
lose our ability in that language. As the famed linguist Noam Chomsky once said,
“Language etches the grooves through which your thoughts must flow.” Allocate
ample time to all relevant language skills, and your grooves will carry you to
fluency in no time!
Sources:
https://www.britishcouncilfoundation.id/en/english/articles/fluency-vs-accuracy
https://flashacademy.com/learners/language-hacks/the-4-golden-keys-to-language-fluency/
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