An Introvert’s Guide to Navigating a Foreign Language

Photo by Sonnie Hiles on Unsplash

Learning another language can be hard.

Seeing as you have to speak a lot to master a language, being an introvert can make language learning even harder.

Since introverts choose listening over talking, proceed cautiously and spend more time alone, jumping in and just speaking a language is not how we prefer to do things.

When you look at these traits of an introvert from the outside, they don’t seem to mesh well with a skill that requires a lot of talking.

But just like extroverts, we bring our own unique strengths and learning styles to the mix, which we can use to our advantage.

As an introvert learning French, I’ll admit that my introversion can present some challenges — but only if I let it. With practice, patience and time you can overcome any hurdle you might face as an introvert learning a foreign language.

Here are some strategies that have helped me:

Let Go of Pride

The most important lesson any language learner can gain is that you can’t let your ego get in the way. Meaning you can’t be too proud to start at the elementary level. Yes, you might have to watch kid’s cartoons for a while just to understand the basics but wouldn’t you rather build on a solid…