I spent 2 months learning French as fast as possible while working full-time. Here are my 9 best tips (which help for any language and level)

Earlier this year, I did two months of immersive French and went from the least-qualified student in my class to skipping a level and being at the top — while working a full-time job in a different continent.

I wrote a post that explains every single tactic I took to learn the language as fast as I could (and even used these tips to learn Chinese years ago). If you don't want to click, no worries: I posted a summary of my 9 tips below and how they can help regardless of your language level. :-)

(If you do want to see the full article with screenshots, more examples, and links to resources, here’s the link.)

1. Use the “Bruce Lee Hack” to speak better RIGHT NOW

Language experts always want you to have conversations with people.

But what if you can’t speak well? What if you only know a few words and can’t speak at all?

Then treat your words like Bruce Lee treats his kicks.

I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times. -Bruce Lee

Let’s say you’re interested in French but know absolutely NOTHING except for “bonjour.”

Own it! Master it! Make it the best damn “bonjour” you can possibly say. Make the accent sound AMAZING. Make it sound smooth when you say it.

If you know a couple of sentences and phrases, do the same thing. Take ownership of those words. Practice them. You can always switch back to English when you run out.

As you do this, you’ll be able to relax, let your words come out naturally, and sound so much better. (And you won’t speak… like… this… because… you’re… thinking… so… much.)

It takes no additional knowledge. It’s just maximizing what you ALREADY have. Using the Bruce Lee hack, you’ll talk more skillfully without learning anything different.

You’ll be able to trust yourself and that’s how you sound amazing.

2. Talk to your FUTURE self (no time machine needed)

When you study a foreign language, you’ll regularly learn something new.

So, in a sense, you’ll regularly feel… like an idiot.

The problem is, if you continually feel like you’re falling short, you can hurt your confidence, motivation, and persistence, especially when things get hard.

But the trick to confidence isn’t to look forward toward your goals; the trick is to periodically look backwards at the starting point.

Once every two weeks, write letter to yourself in a foreign language about what you did that week and try to use everything that you know. It doesn’t have to be long, but try to flex your muscles. Then read it again in two weeks.

• You can use FutureMe to email a letter to yourself at a specific time in the future.
• If you only know a couple of words, feel free to write 95% in English and sub in the few words you do know. Or if that’s too hard, just write down all the vocabulary you know in a list even if it’s as basic as “hello, dog, cat, thanks, etc.” (It’s even more striking to see your achievements!)
• If you feel comfortable, you can also record a video of yourself speaking for two or three minutes using the same concept.
• Then, every two weeks, review the previous video, letter, etc. and see how far you’ve come. Prove to yourself how much you have learned and accomplished.

This gives you REAL confidence. That way, even if you’re having tough moments with the language, you’ll see that you are achieving and are growing.

3. Immerse yourself in the culture — without leaving your home!

You don’t have to sell everything and move to a foreign country.

Instead, find ways to change up the environment you have right in front of you to dive headfirst — here are some ideas:

1) Buy a stack of sticky notes and put them all around your home, labeling household items in your target language so you’re constantly thinking about it.

2) Go to an international supermarket and buy foods, candies, snacks, sauces, etc. from that country.

Not only do you get to learn about the culture and the language from the food itself, but you’re also behaving in new ways, which will change your identity through what’s called “self signaling.”

3) If you like to cook, try cooking a tasty dish from that nation. Try a bomb Spanish paella, Korean tofu soup (love!), Russian stroganoff, Swedish meatballs… use your imagination. Try peeking at the recipe in the native language and learn as you go.

4) For intermediate and advanced: Switch your phone settings to your target language. I’ve seen people do this and I was impressed with how much they picked up by necessity. (If it’s too hard, switch one app and try it out.)

Whatever you choose, have fun with it! Within a few days, you’ll be surprised with how much you remember.

4. Hack your MINDSET about the language

Ever had a moment when you thought, “Argh! Why is this language so hard?!”

We all have.

But these seemingly innocuous thoughts can actually be extremely dangerous for language learning.

You’re basically traumatizing yourself and getting stuck. Psychologically, you’re actually making it harder to learn and you’re reinforcing and empowering the challenges and difficulties you’re facing.

Don’t fight the language. Instead, shift your mentality about the language by taking a deep breath, exhaling, and saying out loud:

If other people have learned [this language], so can I.

Remind yourself that you’re not alone. There are plenty of other people out there trying to learn the language too and, if millions of people out there can speak it, you can do it too.

Here’s another tip: Focus on the part about the language that’s the easiest.

For example, French can be complex and difficult. But as an English speaker, there are a lot of similarities. Many verbs, nouns, and adjectives are the same, just with a French accent, and I had times where I just guessed the word and was right.

Remind yourself about the things with your foreign language that make it EASY — the more you think about why the language is easier, the easier it gets to you.

5. Stop reading the news (and what to do instead)

People often say to “read the news” in a foreign language to get more practice, but I actually don’t think it’s a great way to improve reading comprehension:

• You have to learn new words and vocabulary that aren’t really applicable to daily life.
• Unless you really like the news, you won’t be motivated to read it all the time
• If you do talk to locals, you don’t really want to talk like a news reporter

Truth be told, I don’t even like watching the news in English, let alone another language. But I love sports. (Fortunately, so does the rest of France.)

Here’s the thing: It’s the exact same grammar. It’s the exact same language. But it’s way more fun!

Think about it: You’ve learned a ton of vocabulary IN ENGLISH just from your own hobbies — all the vocabulary, terms, phrases, brands, acronyms, etc. It’s like it’s own language! You can channel that power to learn ANY foreign language.

If you like fashion, try to find fashion bloggers in your target language. If you like video games, find gaming blogs in that language.

Because it’s something you’re passionate and interested about, it’ll be so much easier for you to learn new vocabulary, persist when it’s difficult, and immerse yourself — which speeds up your learning.

If you’re ready, you can also watch YouTube videos from native speakers about your hobbies and interests. (Read the comments too because you’ll see how people talk with each other informally and pick up things you’ll never get on a language app.)

6. Go to warp speed (this tip only works if you’re willing to be wrong)

This tip will help train your ability to think faster, but it only works if you give yourself permission to be wrong.

The key to learn a language is to constantly break out of your comfort zone and use language for its true goal: Communication. So it helps to practice that urgency so you can communicate in real speeds.

Once a week, try to take a quiz, exam, etc. as fast as you can (while still trying to be correct). It should feel like you’re going “warp speed;” like you don’t have enough time to think.

• If you’re doing a progress check in a language app, occasionally do it as fast as possible.
• If there’s a quiz in your study book, do half of it in a normal speed, and do the other half in “warp speed.”
• If you’re doing a language exchange or talking to a teacher, try to talk as fast as you can.
• If you’re writing or texting, try to do it in 50% less time than normal

It’s going to feel weird at first, but the more you do it, the better you’ll get and you’ll start sounding better and more natural!

This tip is about taking what you already have and putting it under higher and higher stress. That’s how you force yourself to give 110% and make big leaps.

Take your time to learn a skill — vocabulary, sentences, grammar, etc. — but once you tried it a few times, do it faster and faster.

For this tip, it’s OK to be wrong; just make sure you’re doing it fast.

7. Level up and reap the rewards

All languages have some sort of standard progression on “moving up.”

For example, in French, there are levels of A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2. Each level has a certain amount of “estimated hours” it takes to move from one to another.

Traditionally, you slowly make incremental gains by following the prescribed path. But the problem with this approach is you’re only going to learn language slowly. You’re following everyone else’s speed, not the speed that’s designed to give you lightning fast improvements.

Instead, level up before you’re ready.

Rather than waiting until you’re “ready,” put yourself in a higher level and adapt to it. Repeat the process and you’ll progress WAY faster than if you waited until you “felt” ready.

Take an online exam that’s at a level a little higher. Skip ahead in your study book. In a language app, occasionally try to jump levels. Try to “skip grades.”

(Oh, and you can always come back down if it really is “too hard.”)

You might worry, if you’re not ready and you jump a level, you won’t know a lot of things. That’s true. But now, you’ll go and learn them immediately rather than following the traditional path and waiting for the prescribed time to learn it.

Force your own hand.

8. Once you’re able to, start speaking to the RIGHT people

It’s always ideal to speak with natives.

By doing this, you can improve MUCH FASTER because you have to use all your skills to hang with a native-speaker AND you’ll learn things you can’t get anywhere else.

Here are some language sites where you can speak with natives:

• Italki (I used this site and enjoyed it)
• Preply
• Verbling
• My Language Exchange (I used this site over 10 years ago to learn Chinese… and it still looks the exact same)
• Conversation Exchange
• Meetup (you can join a language meetup in your city)

As soon as you have a few sentences and words down, I highly recommend you chat with a native speaker as soon as possible, even if it’s just a brief online class.

If you don’t still feel comfortable speaking, no problem! You can also try HelloTalk, an app where you can chat with regular people by texting (which is often less stressful) and have them help you in real-time so you can get feedback in a more relaxing and comfortable setting. That way you can remove the fear and focus on interacting with native speakers.

9. Learn the foundations with the right resources

Have you heard about the 80/20 Rule?

With languages, this refers to how 20% of words are used 80% of the time (or more), 20% of verbs are used 80% of the time, etc.

To learn a foreign language faster, focus your efforts on the 20% — the most common verbs, most common adjectives, etc. — to get the most from the effort and time you put in.

For example, with French, I spent a disproportional amount of time learning the present tense because it affects other tenses. (If I didn’t learn it, everything else would be hard.)

To learn that 20%, however, I needed to take the time to memorize it. I also had to memorize ALL the (many) conjugations of verbs.

Fortunately, there’s a lot of resources to help you learn foundational elements. I took a page from Scott Young, author of Ultralearning, who’s knows his stuff — and knows how to learn well — so I’m going to share what he advises:

1. Pimsleur. ...This is exactly the training you need to give yourself that beginner foundation.
   
2. Teach Yourself. These offer a decent overview of the language. ...they do provide enough information to start having basic conversations where the real work can begin.
   
3. Flashcards. A final strategy is to just use flashcards, from an app such as Memrise or Anki... the main advantage they have over DuoLingo is that you must produce the whole answer in your head, rather than select them as multiple-choice or from a word bank.
   

Wrap Up

In just seven weeks, I was able to go from barely being able to string together some sentences to having conversations with locals that lasted hours.

(I even used a lot of these tips to rapidly learn Chinese 10 years ago too! I went from entering a class 3 months behind everyone else to setting the curve on all the exams.)

I hope these tactics inspire and encourage you on your journey, and I hope they help you master the foreign language you want.

If you have any hacks, I’d love to hear it too! :-) Would you mind sharing them below? Also, I'll be more-than-happy to answer any questions and give more details in the comments as well.

P.S. If you want to read the article and see the images, extra examples, links, etc., here’s the link.

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