As someone with an obviously foreign last name, it's kind of expected of me that I speak the language that my last name is in. My last name "Deutschmann" literally translates to "German man," and I'm taking that to heart, which is why I've made it one of my many goals in life to learn German. And man, is it hard!
1. It's really hard to actually get started if you don't know what language you even want to take.
Luckily for me, my three options of languages in middle school were German, French, or Spanish. With my name, I chose German, but for some, it isn't that easy. I follow a ton of polyglots on Tumblr, and most lament the fact that it's so hard to pick just one language to start with. Admittedly, when I was an eager middle schooler, I wanted to take all the languages that they offered. Alas, I was only allowed to take one.
My advice? Start with a language that is practical for you. This is most likely Spanish. Or, you could go with Esperanto, a made up auxiliary language, that is ridiculously easy to learn.
2. There isn't one great resource that covers every aspect of your target language.
Early on, I tried solely using Duolingo to learn German. As I progressed, I found that it really didn't cover everything. Thankfully, I began taking German in school, and that helped a lot.
Learn from everything, from books to movies! As you advance, don't be afraid to try and reach out to a native speaker to practice speaking and listening! You may think you're advanced in the language if you're only reading and writing, but speaking and listening is a whole other story.
3. There are apps out there to connect you to native speakers.
In my early years of learning German, before I had the opportunity to participate in an exchange program, I used HelloTalk! This worked really well, because both sides of the conversation were interested in learning another language, and they were willing to help teach their native language. Through normal conversation, I helped a nice German girl out with her English, and she helped me with my German skills!
4. Whatsapp is a godsend.
This past spring, I participated in an exchange program with St. Louis's sister city, Stuttgart. I hosted a German girl my age, and we kept in touch using Whatsapp. Whatsapp uses your data/WiFi to send messages, meaning that you won't be charged expensive rates just to talk to people in other countries. Whatsapp even has some cool features that haven't made it to iOS yet, such as bold and italics!
5. You will never be finished with your language learning!
Because language is always changing, you will never be quite finished with your journey. And that's okay! The important thing is to just keep practicing your skills. Practice every day and keep your skills sharp, and maybe one day you'll be able to pass as fluent!
