A great way to speed up your language learning is to apply some smart hacks, not so much shortcuts but rather tricks which will just engage your brain a little better and allow you to indulge in the learning of a language, with a little more ease.
Something which I have found as I have tried to pick up a number of languages on my travels is the importance of sticking to a topic which you enjoy, and using that to improve your ability to pick up the lingo at a quicker pace. There are so many benefits to doing this and although you will be focused on an individual area or topic, it will actually help you on a broader basis.
Desire
I enjoy nature as much as the next person but if I had to sit for an hour learning the names of different flier varieties in Spanish I am not entirely sure that I could stay the course. The reason for this is because I have no desire to know that sort of stuff until the time comes, and I am far better focusing on something which I may be likely to speak about. If you are a big fan of fashion then it is going to make far more sense that you learn words which are related to it because you are far more likely to discuss a topic like that with someone.
Interest
Speaking from experience there is also the case to say that it is far, far more interesting to learn words and phrases based on the things that you love, than it is the things that you don’t. Even though you are only learning words, there is still something about their subject matter which makes a difference.
Speed
To give the flower example again, if I learn the names of 10 flowers in Spanish, and then I learn the names of 10 types of food, I am going to be much, much more likely to remember the foods rather than the flowers, and the same would apply if I learned those words in English. There is a certain speed about learning a language when you are engaged in something that you love.
Usage
It is not just the conversations that matter here, as we mentioned above, it is also about using the language in your daily life. Again this is why it makes sense to learn how to ask for a beer or a packet of Lays Jamon crisps or whatever it is that you like, because you are going to have far more chances to practice it and that will help to reinforce the knowledge that you have picked up.
No matter what the language is that you are looking to learn at the moment, work on the things that you love and go hard on the vocabulary which surrounds that theme in particular, in doing so you can most certainly accelerate your language learning and feel more comfortable speaking about the things which you enjoy.
