OK,  so you have put in the time and can now speak a language at a confident level. But maybe the course that helped to get you there has ended, or your stay abroad is over and it’s time to go home. What do you do to make sure that you don’t forget that language?

The ‘secret’ – no surprise- is simply consistently using the language so it is always fresh in your mind. This “use-it-or-lose-it” phenomenon involves a brain process known as “pruning”. Certain pathways in the brain are maintained, while others are eliminated. If you want the new information you just learned to stay put, keep practising and rehearsing it.

Of course you can come up with lazy excuses why this is not possible, but the truth is that you can always find ways to use those languages. Find natives to meet in person via social networks, be friendlier with tourists, join clubs and actively monitor your social circle and environment for opportunities to use the language.

To maintain other aspects (reading, writing, listening, etc.), listen to podcasts in the target language, read blogs, online news or books in that language, keep in touch with your foreign friends by chatting to them on Facebook or writing them emails; but do this every day.

If you don’t want to ever forget a given language, don’t ever let it go!

 

How do you make sure you don’t forget a language you learned? Let us know in the comments below!