Language Learning

Overview: Imagine a language as a living thing where vocabulary is the body parts, grammar is the brain, language resources are the muscles, and motivation is the energy which makes that living thing work hard or not. To be able to use a language, you need a body, a brain, some muscles, and energy.

Vocabulary is what most of the language is made of, you will need lots of that (around 3000 words is fair). To be able to use the vocabulary, you need grammar, which is the brain that allows you to use and manipulate your vocabulary. You need some muscles: language resources such as audio lessons, exercises, and practice can speed up your learning process. Finally you need motivation, without it, any language could seem difficult to learn.

Below are 4 of the most important elements in learning a language, with an explanation to why that is. If you think other factors should be included too, please comment at the bottom.

1) Vocabulary: Did you know that a native speaker of most languages of the world only uses about 3000 to 5000 words? What's more, a native speaker uses only about 300 to 500 words on a daily basis, which are repeated over and over again. That means, if you memorize around 3000 words, you will be able to say write and understand more than 75% of the general conversations. If you memorize 33 words per day, in 3 months you would have memorized 3000 word.

2) Grammar: This powerful tool allows you to manipulate the vocabulary you already memorized. With it, you can structure the vocabulary to make proper sentences, but it can also help you multiply the number of words you already know. With a couple hundreds of words and a dozen grammar rules you can form thousands of sentences simply by changing the order or adding prefixes and suffixes.

3) Language resources: The more adequate tools you have available to you, the faster and better you learn. For example, if you listen to audio lessons, practice your speaking and writing by chatting with native speakers every day is better than simply learning from a book. You need to diversify your methods of learning. Reading, listening, writing, all can help you practice and remember more.

4) Motivation: It is the energy that drives the whole process, without it, you will feel like swimming against the current, and you will give up eventually. Motivation can help you set goals and achieve them. If you say I should memorize 10 words a day for the next 3 months, then, all you need is motivation, because it's not an impossible goal, it's only a matter of passion for learning.

In short, you needs lots of vocabulary, a good number of grammar rules, adequate language resources and motivation. You can improvise with the rest depending on the language you're learning.