It’s worth considering the self-teaching methods of Heinrich Schliemann (1822-1890), a world-famous businessman turned archeologist, who discovered the site of ancient Troy.
As reported by Arnold Toynbee in A Study of History (Oxford University Press 1963), Schliemann was able to express his thoughts orally and in writing after about six weeks of self-study, in Modern Greek, Ancient Greek, Persian, Arabic, and Turkish.
His method consisted of “reading a great deal aloud without making a translation, taking a lesson every day, constantly writing essays upon subjects of interest, correcting these under the supervision of a teacher, learning them by heart, and repeating in the next lesson what was corrected on the previous day.”
The motivated learner who is prepared to work every day can achieve great things.
Fortunately language learning is much easier today than it was in the 19th century.
When you receive a corrected version of something you have written, take the time to look at it. Read it aloud several times. Focus on the corrected phrases. Make them a part of your way of speaking in the new language.
Especially if you don’t have easy access to native speakers for conversation, this can be an inexpensive and yet intense learning activity.
You can improve your vocabulary, sentence structure, pronunciation and general speaking skills. This way you can prepare yourself for what most people find the most enjoyable part of language learning: conversation with the native speaker.
