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To profit from learning foreign languages…
… myself
- The golden rule: What you study in the language class is only a guideline; the progress and success are 100 per cent up to you.
- Reflect your motivation for studying a certain language. Foreign languages are crucial in terms of employability and they also open new horizons.
- Study regularly (i.e. never postpone to the summer holidays or inefficient crash courses) and gradually (i.e. not from exam to exam).
- Find out which learning techniques suit your demands.
- Consult with your language teacher(s). From experience, we know that learning vocabulary, grammar, syntax, etc. should always be done in context and through associations and images.
- Start thinking and acting in your foreign language(s) – everyday situations, counting, naming parts of your body or objects in the room, writing shopping lists, mobile phone settings, recipes for cooking, etc.
- Read interesting stories and articles, listen to music or radio features, watch TV broadcasts, sports or films in your foreign language(s) – do it for free on the Internet.
- Profit from numerous e-learning sources on the worldwide web.
- As advanced student, concentrate on your fields of interest, their terminology and phraseology (e.g. business language, legal terms, etc.).
- Remember that general knowledge can never harm.
… on campus
- Enjoy the unique diversity of the LBS campus.
- Make friends across cultural and linguistic borders and you will automatically improve your language skills.
- Fix foreign-language sessions with your colleagues and use only foreign languages during meals or spare-time activities.
- Explore cultural differences in conversation.
- Study teams are fine, support by native-speakers is welcome but copying homework is absolutely counterproductive.
- Dare to speak despite mistakes and insecurities – nobody is perfect!
- Develop conversation strategies (e.g. circumscribing difficult words, understanding from the context, etc.).
… in Vienna and beyond
- Take advantage of everyday situations (shopping, travelling, bank, post office, going out, helping tourists, etc.) to speak German or possibly another foreign language.
- Read signs or imagine conversations in German or another foreign language while walking through the city.
- Actively look for dialogue partners (e.g. language tandems) and leisure activities in German or another foreign language (the Wiener Volkshochschulen offer a rich choice of programmes).
- Take a guided tour or an audio-guide in German or another foreign language at tourist sites.
- Visit cultural organisations in Vienna such as Instituto Cervantes,Lateinamerikainstitut, Institut français, Russisches Kulturinstitut,British Council, Austro-American Institute of Education, etc.)
- Watch out for films, theatre plays and lectures in your foreign language(s).
- Go abroad and invest in language courses.
- Plan you sojourns well in advance and search for scholarships and/or mobility grants.
- When abroad, completely immerse yourself in the linguistic and cultural environment and experience the language first-hand.
- Avoid speakers of your native language(s).
- Make use of the newest communication tools.
- Find speakers of your foreign language(s) on the Internet and through social networks.
- Mail, chat and skype with them and train you language skills.