Bambolingua
Learning languages

No One to Practice With? Start Talking to Yourself.

A learner alone at home plugs a charging cable into his phone on a wooden entryway table.
An ordinary task can give a familiar word a reason to be used.

You don't know the word for "charging". So your whole sentence stays in English.

Meanwhile, the phone is right there. You know what you mean. You may even know most of the words you need.

One missing word has stopped you from using all the others.

Try making the thought smaller. A short phrase, or even one useful word, gives you a way to begin. And when the thought is for yourself, you already have someone to practice with.

Give an ordinary moment one small thought

Choose something you are doing anyway: picking up your phone, getting a drink, or putting on a coat.

Ask yourself what you can already express about it in the language you are learning. Start at the level you have. A beginner might name the object. Someone with a few familiar patterns might say where it is, what they want, or what they are about to do.

For a small Spanish example, teléfono means phone.

A forest-green phone with its screen off rests on a wooden side table.
Teléfono means phone.

The next time you reach for yours, try bringing that word to mind. It belongs to a thing you are actually using.

You can try a quiet phrase aloud or form a thought silently. María de Guerrero's review of language-learning research describes learners using both spoken private speech and silent inner speech to rehearse, prepare language, and work through tasks. Language practice can include these small private moments, too.

Keep the idea. Change the sentence.

Suppose the sentence you want is longer than the language you currently have.

You can look for another way to express the useful part. Here are two English examples of that strategy. Imagine choosing between them according to which words you already know in your new language.

You want to say

I need to recharge my phone.

See a simpler idea

My phone needs power.

You want to say

I'm thirsty.

See a simpler idea

I want water.

The shorter or more familiar version may leave out a detail. It still gives you something useful to express.

If you know most of a sentence but miss one word, try replacing that word with a description. If the whole sentence is too much, choose a smaller thought. If that is still difficult, begin with the object or action you recognize.

You can also leave a gap, check the missing word later, and return to your sentence. Let the language you already have take a turn.

The learner puts on a tan jacket beside his front door before going outside.
The thought can be as small as the words you have.

Try remembering before you check

Looking at a familiar object gives you a chance to find its name without a prompt containing the answer.

In two vocabulary experiments, learners saw pictures of objects while learning their Hebrew names. Trying to say a name before hearing the correct recording led to better later production than hearing it and immediately repeating it. That advantage also appeared on a test two days after training.

The correct recording followed the attempt. Trying and checking were both part of the practice.

Try applying that sequence to a word you have already met: notice the thing, pause to recall its name, then check. Here is a small return to the word from earlier.

Bring back the word for your phone

What was the Spanish word meaning phone?

Show the answer

Teléfono means phone.

Check one useful piece afterwards

A missing word can help you choose what to learn next. You wanted to express something specific, so you have a reason to look for it.

Check a reliable dictionary, a lesson example, or a teacher's version. For pronunciation, listen to a recording and compare your attempt with it. For a phrase, check the whole expression rather than assuming that familiar English word order will carry across.

Choose one useful correction or addition. Try the checked version, then give it another opportunity when the situation returns.

The learner looks at his phone beside an open notebook and pencil at a kitchen table.
A small gap gives you something specific to check.

Let your day supply the next opportunity

Pick one ordinary moment after a lesson. When it happens, try using something familiar for a few seconds.

You could name the phone you are picking up, use a known phrase for something you want, or describe the weather with words you already understand. Keep the thought manageable enough to try.

  1. NoticeChoose an ordinary moment.
  2. TryUse a word or phrase you know.
  3. CheckFind help with the part you need.

Keep listening to other people and making room for exchanges with them. A reply brings something you cannot supply by rehearsing both sides yourself: another person's choice of words and meaning. Our article about making a conversation work explores that shared part of practice.

The everyday vocabulary and familiar patterns in Bambolingua's beginner Spanish course give you material for these first attempts. You can take a word from a lesson into the next ordinary moment that gives it a use.

When the phone needs charging again, try the language you have. You can say a little now and learn a clearer way to say more.

Sources and further reading