Hello, it’s optomstudies here with a multi-part masterpost with study tips to make you fluent in any language! These will work at any level, whether you’re just starting out or are an advanced learner!
There’s also a lot of colloquialisms that are a part of everyday spoken language which is rarely ever encapsulated in a standard textbook. I would suggest finding books which actually collate idioms, proverbs or slang, e.g. “Chinese Idioms and Proverbs”.
When you’re just starting out, work on listening to vlogs or podcasts first because these often have a simpler entry level of speech. Listen to music as well, but be aware that music is not always a good representation of the way the spoken language is, as there is a loss of emphasis and pauses.
Listen to talk shows once proficient. Both radio podcasts and news interviews are important because they show how people from a range of educational topics speak. You can watch interviews on financial experts or medical doctors as well as just fun ones by celebrities and everyday witnesses.
Join a debate club in your target language. If you are looking to study spoken word (because some languages have written vs spoken differences) the level of language used is at a higher level than what would usually be used in everyday language because of the need for technical, logical, and persuasive explanations.
Like your study journal, you can make a study audio recording by speaking aloud a diary entry which uses those new words. It helps with fluency if you use it on an everyday basis, and you can re-listen to the recordings later on if you’re working on perfecting your accent!
There’s also the important matter of emphasis! Emphasis within a word can change the meanings of homonyms, words that have the same spelling but different meaning. I know this is common in Japanese. Emphasis within a sentence can change the meaning, like in this sentence here. Try saying different variations aloud, so you know when you come to use an emphasis, it comes out naturally and means what you intend it to mean.
Reading novels in your language is also good for picking up on slang in the dialogue scenes! Especially witticisms since dialogue is often written to be succinct and intended to be impactful.
Think in your target language! Once you are able to, this vastly improves the quality of your fluency so that getting words out of your mouth is as natural as your native language, and is critical for mastery, much more so than for reading, writing or listening. Those who are stuck translating in their head will never advance to that zenith. This also enables you to experience dreams more frequently in your target language, a sign of mastery.
Enhancing Your Vocabulary: Part 1 (Link)
Reading and Writing Skills: Part 2 (Link)
MY STUDY TIPS AND LANGBLR POSTS
How to Format Language Study Notes
BTS: 봄날 (Spring Day), Outro: Wings, Blood, Sweat and Tears, Not Today, Run
SM Entertainment: Rookie - Red Velvet, I Got Love - Taeyeon
Requests: 예뻤어 (You Were Beautiful) - Day6, A Lie - B1A4, Don’t Recall - K.A.R.D
Other Artists: Rain - Soyou x Baekhyun, TT - Twice
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