Whilst no one is going anywhere anytime soon, now may be the best time to start studying another language.

Imagine while travelling being able to communicate with others in their country, or actually understand what is on the menu or even what platform you should be on.

Learning another language is best learnt whilst young but if you do decide to give it a go later on in life, good on you. There are so many benefits of being able to speak an additional language yet be prepared for it to test your patience and create frustration. Well, it was for me at least. Learning French was one of the hardest things I have ever done.

So how do you go about learning another language;

• use apps such as Duolingo or Babbel. I used Duolingo which was fun. It starts slow and introduces you to common nouns you may use. You can practice and practice as much as you would like. You can also connect with friends and learn together online which is a cool feature

• sign up for an online class like French Together. When you signup with your email you get free weekly lessons with audio recorded by native speakers

• attend free community classes that hold language classes

• make friends with people who speak other languages than English and communicate often. I had a boyfriend who spoke French and Arabic so I was able to pick it up easier

• move overseas to immerse yourself in the language if that’s an option. I moved to Morocco where there I very little English so had no choice but to learn the language in order to meet my needs

• watch foreign films without the subtitles and try to make sense of it

• borrow study books and translation guides from the library

• study a TAFE translation or interpreting course. That’s what I did. It was helpful but not the only way I learnt French

• use Google Translate online or other similar app to translate as you are learning

• listen to music of other languages. I learnt what ‘voulez-vous coucher avec moi, ce soir?’ means from Lady Marmalade

How many languages can you speak? How do you find the best way to learn? We would love it if you joined the conversation and left a comment below.