Becoming Bilingual +Advice

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It has been 4 years since I have started learning French, and I would like to think that I am very much bilingual. Within one year, I was able to take classes that were entirely in French, but my rush to do so came at a cost.

At first, I was not at all motivated to put in extra work outside of French class to learn French, and on top of that my French teacher barely showed up to any of our French classes for 6 months before quitting. Though, I can’t entirely put the blame on my barely there French teacher. I think you are what you put in. If you do not put in the extra work you are not guaranteed to excel or even do well. And since, I did not put a lot of effort into learning French outside of the classroom, I began to fall behind. Today, I can easily speak, write, and read French but, I continually make mistakes over and over again, because for me French became a necessity to the point where I needed to learn French quickly to speak, read, and write, but not learn it well. If anything,. I rushed learning a language and I certainly do not recommend it unless you are entirely committed to putting in all the time and effort into it. So, as someone who has made many mistakes when learning languages and is currently working on my 4th language here are some things I learned.

1. Take your time: Rushing a language can risk learning conjugation, orthography, or pronunciation incorrectly 
2. Use apps to help: There are many websites and apps that will help you learn a new language! I personally use Duolingo, and what it is great about it is that it sends me notifications to remind me to learn!
3. Take notes: Writing down what you are learning can help you keep track of the progress you made, learn how to write in a new language, and help with memorization.
4. Practice and repeat: Practicing is the best way to memorize and keep what you want to learn in your long term memory. A simple ad quick way to do this is by making flashcards, and practicing them everyday.
5. Have reminders: Not only should you create reminders to take 30 mins out of your day to learn a language, but I also recommend to have little post-its around the house. Create little post-its or flashcards and leave them where you always go: put a flashcard in a plastic baggy and tape it to your shower, next to your bed, by your keys, etc. 
6. Set goals: Have goals for yourself to help you make progress like learning 10 new words each day 
7. Learn songs: Songs are a quick and easy way to learn a language. As long as you understand what you are learning, singing a song in a foreign language can help you with pronunciation, memorization, and fluency.
8. Learn sentences: This seems pretty obvious, but one of the big mistakes I made when starting to learn a new language was spending too much time on vocabulary and not enough on actually making sentences. Sure, vocabulary is great, but if you can't communicate with full sentences, you're still far from being fluent.
9. Communicate with others: If you know others who are already fluent in the language you are learning, great! Ask to speak with them and to correct your speaking. However, if you don't know anyone I recommend checking the app Tandem out, where you are able to connect with strangers who want to help you with your writing in a foreign language.
10. Travel: If you have the opportunity to travel to a country where they speak the language you are learning, that is a wonderful way to learn! You will be fully immersed in the country, culture, and language which will help you quickly progress in the language you are learning and have a more in depth understanding.