Very few skills are learned forever--riding a bicycle is one of those. But most other skills deteriorate if they are not used or practiced. If you're like me, you don't remember much of the algebra you learned in high school--or perhaps you're not as great a diver or swimmer as you were back then.
What are some ways you can extend the shelf-life of your hard-earned language skills? Well, naturally, maintaining your contact with it. What are some concrete ways you can do this?
- Join a conversation club. Or start one. Get together a group of friends and a native speaker or two and meet regularly for conversation. Make sure each meeting has an agreed-upon topic, so that the conversation gets off to a good start and stays (more or less) on topic.
- Find websites in the language. Go on google and look for music, art, or your favorite hobby, in the language you're studying. If you're interested in photography, google "fotografía" and see what you find.
- Listen to music in your language. Find radio stations on the Internet and listen to discussions and music. If Spanish is your target language, Walmart and Target have large selections of Latino music in their music sections.
- Find magazines and graphic novels in your language.
- Watch television, cable or satellite stations in your language. Mexican soap operas are especially good for this because they over-act--the gestures and facial expressions help a lot to figure out from context what the characters are saying. Sports stations are also ideal--but the announcers are going to speak really fast.
- Look for children's books in your language and read them to the toddlers you know. They'll love it! Don't do this with kids over 6--they'll think you're nuts.
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