The long summer days bring additional hours to spend hosting backyard BBQs and enjoying long naps. However, you should also consider learning languages online in your spare time this summer. Whether learning English or discovering one of the 7,000+ other recognised languages worldwide, there is no shortage of fun languages to learn!

But how do you learn languages effectively? How do you choose which language to learn? And what makes summer the perfect time to pick up a new language? Read on to see the benefits of using the season of sun and fun to learn something new.

Learning Languages Improves Communications

An obvious benefit of learning languages online is the increased opportunity for communication. This is particularly advantageous if you plan to travel to countries where they speak foreign languages. You could choose a dialect based on a location you’re visiting this summer to help you order food and arrange transport abroad. In fact, immersing yourself in the language and culture is one of the recommended ways of how to learn languages more effectively.

Alternatively, you might want to speak a new language that will help you in your chosen profession. Many businesses are global, and some require employees to be bilingual. If you’re a non-native English speaker, learning the English language can dramatically improve your career prospects. It is the lingua franca of the business world and the most widely spoken language worldwide.

Time to Spare During Summer

Our busy modern lifestyle is jam-packed with obligations throughout most of the year, but summer is a time when people tend to take a break. When asking experts how to practice a new language, they always say it requires consistency! This makes summer the perfect season for learning languages online; with more free time, you can schedule regular learning sessions.

Whether you take a class, seek out a private tutor, or guide yourself through lessons online or via mobile apps, it’s essential to set aside regular time each week for learning. English language learning, for example, not only teaches you new vocabulary and the basics of conjugation, grammar, and our Subject-Verb-Object sentence structure. It also reinforces previous English language lessons.

Enhances Holiday Travel

Are you planning to travel to a foreign country during your summer holiday? Learning languages online is a great way to enhance your stay. Not only will locals appreciate your efforts, but they’ll probably be happy to help you out by speaking slowly, offering corrections, and even teaching you new words. As mentioned, immersion is one of the best ways for how to learn languages!

Rather than relying on a language translation app, you can do the translation yourself. It’s an excellent opportunity to listen to locals and perfect your pronunciation to pick up regional flair. Plus, many people overseas want to improve their English language. If you’re a native English speaker, you can help each other pick up a second language.

Practice with Bilingual Friends

If some of your friends speak a language other than English, talking in their language can be a fun way to get to know them better and grow an appreciation for their culture. Learning languages like this also helps the learning process. While speaking with friends isn’t quite the same as living in another country for several months, it’s always helpful to learn from those with more experience.

This method of learning makes things fun, too. Make a weekly date to chat over cocktails and appetisers, or plan a trip with your friend group to a place where your new language of choice is spoken. You can also try learning languages online between sessions with your friend. This is a good method to learn basic vocabulary, pronunciation, and sentence structure.

How to Choose Which Languages to Learn?

We’ve explained a few best practices and the benefits of learning over the summer. But before you try immersion, speaking with a friend, or learning languages online, you need to decide what language you want to practice. The world is full of unique and beautiful languages, each providing opportunities to expand your horizons and better understand diverse cultures.

Do you love the melodic lilt of Scandinavian languages? Maybe you’re fascinated by the guttural sounds of Germanic dialects. Or perhaps the challenging nature of learning Asian languages when you have a background in Romance or Germanic languages is appealing. Learning languages you like the sound of or languages spoken by cultures you’re interested in is one option.

You can also take a more practical and purposeful approach. While learning languages is fulfilling in its own right, it can also open the door to career opportunities that allow you to turn your passion into a paying gig. Learning English is a good business for non-native speakers. Other languages to learn for career progression include Mandarin, French, and Spanish.

Professional Translation Services from Renaissance Translations

Learning languages online opens your mind to new ways of thinking and expressing yourself, as well as understanding different cultures. It can also improve memory, flexible and creative thinking, and problem-solving skills. Learning English is also extremely practical in a career sense, helping to open up new opportunities to non-native speakers.

You’ll gain even more benefits when mastering a new language during your summer holidays. With extra time to spare and opportunities for immersion, practicing a new language effectively suddenly becomes possible! We have many language facts and other information on our website if you need help deciding which language to pick up and make your summer project.

If you decide that learning languages isn’t for you, we also can help with any translations you need. We have more than 5,000 professional translators delivering round-the-clock translation services in hundreds of language combinations. Contact us today to discuss your translation needs.