Make it fun!
I learned something important about language learning last week, you have to find that thing in the language you are learning that makes you say “Ok just one more!” or “…5 more minutes!” something that you feel you should feel bad about because you should get back to “real” studying, or something that you end up doing for hours without even realizing it. It was something that I already sort of knew (and an idea that is promoted on language learning websites such as Spanish Only and All Japanese All The Time) but I found two solid examples that applied to myself last week.
I lived in Madrid with my boyfriend last year while he was working as a “Linguistics Tester” at EA. He tested the German versions of video games to check for errors. (Pretty cool job, huh? 
) One of the games he worked on was Mass Effect 2. He even ended up doing some actual translating and changing of the written parts (and prides himself on being the mostly likely reason that the “Schimpfwörter” (swear words) warning appears on the box! He bought a copy for his brother for his birthday and I was playing it the other day (in German of course) and before I knew it, three hours had passed! I had spent three hours immersed in German input (Mass Effect is a very dialogue heavy game!) without even noticing it, because it was fun.
Example number two:
I was on podcast.de the other day looking for new German podcasts. I was checking out some of the top voted podcasts and found that I really enjoyed the highhest rated one, Wissen vor 8. It is a series of short videos, each one answering a cool science-y question like “Why does a whip crack?”, “Why is glass see-through?”, “Why does hair turn grey?” and so on. I went through nearly ten videos the first time, always having that “Ok, one more!” feeling, because it was interesting!
What are your favourite fun things to do when you are practicing a language? If you haven’t found something fun then think of things you like to do in your native language, and find out how to do them in the language you are learning!
I really like listening to music myself… either translating English songs into my target language or my target language into English. It’s fun, and it’s a whole new technique of learning because there are usually idioms involved… which you’d translate differently than regular text if you want them to make sense.
I also LOVE watching little kids cartoons.
I totally agree – I don’t think the learning even starts until you can have fun in your target language.
My partner and I developed a conversational game for language learning that is laugh-out-loud fun, we call “Where Are Your Keys?” (whereareyourkeys.org). It’s essentially a conversation in your target language, about everyday objects, that gets more and more complicated…and more, and more, and…until things just get out of hand and you get “full” on the language.
You can also follow the game on twitter, @fluencygame and #wayk.
Thanks for the comments!
Fiona – Cartoons are awesome! I just recently discovered robot chicken in Spanish (Pollo robot!) Not exactly a kid’s cartoon though… hehe
Willem – I will go check out “Where are your keys?” now! It sounds really interesting.
Watching The Simpsons and South Park in Spanish (and now French). It’s the ultimate fun thing to do. In fact, it’s the only thing I do.
I became fluent in Spanish by just watching a ridiculous amount of comedies and getting speaking practice by going out with natives. There’s no need to study, just to have fun!