Languages and language learning are a common topic in the IELTS exam. Are you able to describe a language you would like to learn? Can you speak about your experiences in learning English? Do you know a person who has learned a foreign language well? How have they done this? What strategies are best for becoming fluent in a foreign language? Why are some people better at learning a foreign language than others? Do you like to use modern technology such as apps and social media or are you more traditional preferring books and pens and paper?
Popular languages to learn
So what are some of the most popular languages to learn in 2019. The good news is that as an IELTS student you are learning one of the the most widely spoken languages in the world. English is the native language by 375 million people around the world, and furthermore it is spoken by 1.5 billion people globally. So here is a challenge for you: listen to these snippets of people speaking and identify the language. Which country is this language spoken in and what is the name of the language? Do you like the sound of the language and would you like to learn it?
Which languages would you choose to speak about in your IELTS exam? Or is there another language that you have always wanted to learn? Do you know anyone that speaks any of these languages fluently?
Let’s look at some popular languages to learn and the countries they originate from.
IELTS vocabulary for Languages and Learning
Adjectives
Fluent – this describes a person who can speak a language well. For example my Dad is fluent in Mandarin. It took him over 20 years but eventually he mastered it.
Adverbs
Fluently – a person who speaks a language well. For example: my mum can speak Arabic fluently.
Freely – Synonym of fluently
Verbs
Mastered – (past participle) in the case of a language this means a person has learnt to speak a foreign language fluently. Not an easy task! If you master the English language then you will get a band 9 in your IELTS.
Converse – Synonym of speak. My friend can converse in Arabic
Phrasal Verbs
Pick up – pick up means to learn something in a natural way. For example in you live in a foreign country you can pick up the language in your daily life. For example you can learn the language by going to the shops, to a restaurant or by just having conversation in the street? Is it necessary to live in a country that speaks the language you are learning in order to learn the language well?
Get by – This means someone has not mastered a language but they are able to speak it well enough that they can use the language for simple tasks like ordering in a restaurant, buying a train ticket or buying things in a shop. A person who can get by in Mandarin Chinese, for example, would be able to use the language to help him in his life but not have a deep conversation about science, history, or philosophy.
Figurative Language
An ear for languages – this means that a person can listen to and pick up languages quickly. Maybe they have a gift for learning to speak a foreign language well.
A bright spark – this piece of figurative language describes a person who is naturally very clever. Therefore they will probably be able to master a skill such as a language quicker than other people.
Open a lot of doors – Learning English can open a lot of doors for people. This means that learning English can create a lot of opportunities for the learner.
Idiom
The world is your oyster – This means that you have a lot of opportunities and are able to take advantage of them.
The world at you feet – You can achieve anything you want in life.
Combining this vocabulary
Last week I met a man from China who could speak English so fluently that I wouldn’t have guessed he was from abroad. I really admire people who can come to the UK and learn to speak the language well. It takes a lot of dedication but once you have mastered English the world is your oyster.
I’m going to talk about a person who speaks a foreign language well. My friend Tony is a real bright spark he learns languages really quickly. In fact he mastered Chinese after only three years of study. I really admire him for picking up such a difficult language in such a short space of time.
Although my friend and I started learning French at the same time he can now speak it fluently whereas I can only just about get by. This is because he studies every single day and keeps a diary of new words which he reviews daily. Unfortunately I don’t have a structure to my language learning, I just pick it up as I go along.
Methods for learning a foreign language
What methods do you use to learn English? How have you been preparing for your IELTS exam? Here are a few strategies that people use to help them speak a foreign language well.
Create Flashcards |
Download Apps |
Speak online with a native speaker |
Keep a vocabulary journal |
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Total Immersion |
English Textbooks |
Which of these methods do use to prepare for your IELTS exam? Do you prefer a more traditional approach to language learning such as following a textbook, or do you prefer to get help from technology in the form of apps and videos on YouTube?
IELTS Speaking Part 2 Languages
Describe a person you know who speaks a foreign language fluently
You should say:
How you know this person
What the language is
How they learnt this language
You should also say what they use their language skills for
I am going to talk about someone I know who has learned to speak a foreign language well. My friend Joe decided to start learning Japanese in 2011 because he wanted to be able to read his Anime novels in their original language. Although he knew this promised to be a huge undertaking he was confident he could succeed because he has such a passion for all things Japanese.
The first thing he did was to download several apps on his mobile phone so he could study on the go. This meant he could learn Japanese on the bus to and from work, which added an extra hour and a half of study time each day. He also bough a book on Kanji – which is the writing form of the Japanese language. He reasoned that unless he learnt to read Japanese characters he would never be able to truly master the language.
In 2014 he realised his progress had slowed down somewhat so he decided to take the plunge and enrolled on a course at a Japanese university. This was a turning point in his studies and his progress really accelerated. Indeed by the end of his first year he was completely fluent. At this stage he has near native level Japanese and is able to communicate about any subject under the sun. I really admire his dedication and use his story as an inspiration in my study of IELTS.