There is more than one way of expressing our thoughts in any human language. Some people may use a single word to express it. Others may use multiple sentences to describe their thoughts. The goal is to convey our feelings to others. When we start learning a new language, assuming that we already speak at least one language, the initial days of learning are hard: a whole new bunch of words and phrases. Learning becomes very difficult when the new language has a different script than the languages we already know. But can language learning be made easier? Do we have to learn multiple languages? What could be the first sentences to learn? Let’s see!

They say there is more than one way to express our thoughts and feelings. If we don't have the words, we express them with gestures; we try some or other means not to mention the drawings to express ourselves. But what if we're limited to words in a language? What if the only option before us is to speak in a particular language? And what if we have to express ourselves in multiple human languages, especially languages from different language families?

Learning a new language is very difficult. When we see children learning a new language (or even their first language), we are surprised at their rapid progress. And as adults, we're struggling to learn and retain vocabulary from a new language. After a while, we tend to forget about the different rules of grammar. I often feel confused about the right gender for objects and sometimes the right tense in a foreign language. Despite these struggles, I still love learning the language.

Here are some of my approaches to learning a new language. Some of these methods, I think, are also followed by other language learners. The first important question is how close the new language is to the language or languages you already know. This will give you an estimate of the effort required. One interesting way to do this is to take a look at the language tree. The language tree can help you visualize the distance between the new language and the languages that you already know. Do these languages come from a common language? Is this common language very high in the tree? Or is that far from the two languages you're comparing? These are important questions because they will help you decide whether you need to learn a new script, the common characters between the two scripts, their pronunciation, and even the presence of common words.

While learning a new language, most of us approach it by using word-by-word translation, which in many cases may not work for phrases or sentences. It may be useful to learn the translation of certain common nouns, but not very useful for phrases or even verb phrases. This is something I've been observing during language learning. Sometimes a verb phrase in a single language can be translated into multiple verb phrases. A sentence may use different verb phrases depending on the subject or the object of your sentence.

Sometimes a single word to express an emotion or to describe an object or concept may not exist in a new language. Some languages tend to economize words, while others do not. Words can have multiple senses. It may be difficult for language learners to make this shift easy. Language learners may either have to learn new words for every sense or associate every sense (at the beginning) to a single word in a new language.

Another important aspect of language learning is to be clear about the objectives from the very beginning. Are you mastering the language of written or oral communication or both? Written communication often requires more formal approaches, and the ideas expressed in written communication cannot be used in the context of oral communication. It might sound very odd to the listeners of a new language. Also, as concerns are written communication, it is important to remember that punctuation marks are not universal. Languages use several characters to express the end of a sentence. Languages may have more or fewer tenses, genders compared to your first language.

I've identified some of the major components of my language learning. My first step is to learn some new words, particularly some simple words to introduce yourself. At the same time, I'm also trying to watch videos in a new language, but with subtitles in any language, I know. This helps to get to know the words, and sometimes even to recognize the words that have already been learned in a language. This is a very long process since it needs to be repeated. Watching videos with subtitles helps to remember unfamiliar words and to understand the various contexts of use.

Is there a learning word order? Answers rely on the books and learning applications you use. But if I don't have all of these at my side, I'm approaching learning terms relevant to the five senses, a few common words of life, pronouns, frequently used verbs, adjectives, everyday objects, and places of interest. However, this also raises the question of the motives behind your language learning. If you're learning a new language, because you will be living in a city that speaks a specific language or you might have different motives to learn, as contrasted to someone interested in learning because of their interest in a new language, cultures, religion, movies or books.

Language learning is difficult for most of us. A lot of reading and practice may be required. However, two methods will benefit a lot in the learning of a new language. One is to listen and watch a few videos, and the other is to try to write and express your feelings. While there are many other learning apps and memory resources available for staggered learning, day-to-day practice plays a key role in language learning.