Maintaining languages

Maintaining language skills might feel troublesome if you don’t use the learned language actively in your daily life. First you start forgetting words and grammar rules. Then it gets more and more difficult to produce speech. At some point, even understanding the language becomes surprisingly challenging.

Maintaining English (if that’s a foreign language to you) is a lot easier because you see and hear English everywhere all the time. You probably listen to American music and watch tons of English-speaking series and movies every day, or at least every week.

Take part in international events

Larger towns usually organize lots of international events. By participating in a guided tour, concert or a pub quiz in English, you will get lots of listening comprehension practice, and might even make new international friends with whom you can practice your speaking skills.

But how to maintain your language skills in other languages?

Get a language partner

For instance, I use German while texting and chatting with my German friends. If you don’t have any foreign friends yet, you can easily find language partners online.

Watch foreign language TV shows

Foreign language TV shows are another great resource for maintaining your language skills. Germans, for instance, produce very good crime dramas and murder mysteries that you can watch online, on TV or through streaming services. Turn on German subtitles to boost your learning!

Do daily activities in a foreign language

The point is to try to incorporate foreign languages into your daily life. Watch the news in English, browse recipes in French, write your shopping list in Spanish and relax at night with a German detective show. And if possible, reward yourself with regular holidays abroad!

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