Learning A Foreign Language? Go Out Drinking (In A Foreign Country)
Going out drinking (bar, pub, club) isn’t normally a high-ROI activity.
But, lots of people like to go out drinking, or at least go out to chat about nothing for a few hours. And, it’s true “all work and no play” makes you somewhat boring.
I don’t believe that drinking at random bars is “high-value-networking” and I like to use my time well, so how can you make ‘going out drinking’ a worthwhile activity?
Two Simple Rules:
-
Go out drinking in a foreign country. (Sorry, non-location independent people)
-
Begin conversations with strangers with ‘Hola’ or ‘Hallo’ or ‘Bonsoir’ or ‘Ni Hao’. (Not ‘Hello’!)
It takes courage, but if you can avoid returning to the English-only only bars and groups, you’re going to get a massive amount of real-world ‘true immersion’ speaking experience.
-
Basic or Complex Conversations – Re-practice “Hi, my name is…” over and over, or discuss more complicated topics.
-
No Pressure To Speak ‘Well’ – Nobody is critiquing your grammar. In fact, they’re probably drunk and you are too! You won’t feel self-conscious about your mistakes. You can just talk and talk and talk.
-
Simple Chatting Builds Confidence! – ‘Chatting about nothing’ for a few hours is the experience you need. (Not learning more past-participle irregular verbs)
If I go out to a bar or club and I find myself speaking English… I feel like I’m wasting my time. So much so, that I actually avoid English-speaking people at bars.
I want to have a good time and make progress learning foreign languages. By refusing to speak English at bars, I can. (You can too!)