The Linguist: A personal guide to language learning, 48. How to Learn a Language. Focus On Input First

As a language learner, you want to learn to express yourself comfortably in a new language. This is certainly achievable. Before you can express yourself, however, you need to absorb a great deal of your new language through listening, reading, and learning words and phrases in a systematic way. Therefore, you should focus first on gaining the right language input.

Except for a small amount of beginner material, all the content on The Linguist is real language and not artificial content designed for language learners. You are able to share in the lives of real native speakers. You can select items where the background is familiar and of interest. The Linguist system even tells you which content items are at your level of vocabulary and language skill. You can build your own language curriculum and will not need any textbooks. Let's look at the different ways you can get the necessary input in your new language.