Language Learning Tools You Need to Learn a Language: Language Learning Basics Pt. 2

Imagine: You’re five years old and standing in the candy aisle at the grocery store. You can pick two candies, and that’s it. You look around at all of the colorful packages and just can’t decide! That’s what it feels like when you’re learning a new language and realize just how many language learning tools are out there.

For the longest time, I dealt with the overwhelm by ignoring all the different resources.

I stuck to Duolingo and watching tv in my target language. I took a year of university Norwegian but ditched all the resources outside of that class. In the class, I did well, but I struggled to make progress overall.

After years of off and on studying like that, my frustration with my lack of progress peaked, and I realized I needed to change up my resources.

Since buckling down, picking resources, and sticking with them, I’ve made progress that I’m really proud of. I’m no longer lost, and I feel confident in my strategy.

I put this list together to help you feel the same empowerment that comes from having a plan and knowing what you need to carry it through that I’ve found.

This is a continuation of my language learning basics series, which covers everything a beginner language learner would need to know. This second part dives into the three key resources language learners need.

You can add on more supplemental tools, but if I could only recommend three, these are the three I’d choose.

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This post includes affiliate links, which means if you make a purchase using them I’ll make a small commission at no extra cost to you. But don’t worry, I love what I recommend and I hope you will too!

Language Learning Tools 1 – A Good Textbook

The first major tool I’d recommend to language learners is kind of old school: a textbook.

I know, I know, “websites are modern and gamified and wayy more fun!” But hear me out.

Textbooks are a classic for a reason: They follow a structure and are typically well-rounded. And they don’t have to be dry if you find the right one.

What Do I Mean By Well-Rounded?

A good textbook will include short passages for you to read, grammar explanations, vocab words, and pointed exercises for you to practice what you learned.

For speaking, there are usually questions at the end of each passage or chapter for you to answer. Answer them out loud to practice your speaking. Answer them in writing to practice your writing skills.

More modern textbooks even include audio of a native speaker reading the passages so you can hear it all in speech, which strengthens your listening skills.

So just one textbook can cover all the basis of language learning.

The only potential downside to using a textbook is if the one you use doesn’t include the answers. If you’re learning a language by yourself, I strongly recommend finding a textbook that includes the answers in the back (or at least has them online).

I find most of mine on Amazon, so they shouldn’t be too hard to find.

Do you see why I said a textbook and not a website or app?

An app might be great at providing vocab words and memorization exercises. A website might be awesome at providing articles to read or narrated conversations. But rarely do I see an online program that has it all.

I recommend using sites and apps for supplemental study, but if I could only pick three things to learn a language with, a textbook (with the answers provided) would be my first pick.

Language Learning Tools 2 – A Flashcard App

When it comes to language learning tools, language flashcards are a must, especially for vocabulary acquisition! Before I started using flashcards, all the new words I learned would go in one ear and out the other. 

Flashcards allow you to keep track of the new words you learn and recall words you already put in your deck.

Instead of looking up a word and then forgetting it in a week, you add it to your flashcard deck so you don’t forget.

I strongly recommend digital flashcards. For example, I use Anki.

With digital language flashcards, you won’t have to keep track of paper notecards.

If you use Anki specifically, you benefit from their spaced repetition method which optimizes your study time. This basically means it shows you certain words right before you would forget them, ensuring that you recall words no more and no less than necessary.

Pairing flashcards with your other resources will be the net that catches any words you’d forget otherwise.

Language Learning Tools 3 – Input

The last resource I recommend is some type of input. You can choose to listen to music, watch movies or tv shows, listen to podcasts, or read short articles online.

I recommend mixing comprehensible and incomprehensible input.

Ok, great, now what are those?

Comprehensible input is input you can understand the bulk of. If you’re a beginner, content made for young children would be a great start. 

Incomprehensible input is what is more common among language learners. It’s the movies made for native speakers, podcasts, and audiobooks. It’s input that’s above your language level and therefore can’t be understood right now. 

While you may wonder why the heck you’d go out of your way to listen to input you can’t understand, it has a place, I swear!

Incomprehensible input helps you immerse yourself in the language. So find some movies or podcasts you like in your native language and use the english subtitles to start.

The Benefit of input?

Input’s a great way to hear your target language in the wild (innotation, the rhythm of the language, pronunciation, etc), broaden your vocabulary, and gain exposure to the language as a way to mock immersion.

You’re hearing everything you study, in use by someone who ideally is doing everything correctly.

It’s like how listening to your parents speak when you were a baby greatly impacted how you spoke as a kid. You picked up their accent, slang, and vocab!

Bonus Resource: italki!

Italki is my favorite resource to practice with native speakers.

I have one tutor who corrects my textbook exercises (when I’m using a book that doesn’t include the answers), and I can use the vocab words I review with flashcards in conversation with her. I love getting the immediate feedback and corrections.

Technically this is language learning tool #4, but I just had to mention it!

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All in all…

Combining a solid textbook, language flashcards, and input is a great foundation for learning a new language by yourself. These are the three major language learning resources I’d recommend any beginner pick up.

Of course, you can add on more resources like apps or websites (like italki!), but these three are the core tools I’d recommend to a beginner if they wanted to stick with the basics.

This was part two of a four-part series all about how to learn a language by yourself. Part one covered building a language learning strategy, and part three will dive into mistakes you should avoid when learning a new language. Check out part three, which dives into the mistakes you should avoid if you want to learn a language effectively!