Learning a new language is one of the best ways to give your brain a workout and increase its mental capacity. Neuroscientists often describe the human brain in terms of plasticity and crystallization. Plasticity refers to the brain’s ability to rewire neural connections, which is necessary for learning new skills, whereas crystallization is the loss of this ability, often through old age and mental stagnation. By attempting to learn a new language, you can force many areas of your brain to change its neural wiring. Doing this promotes plasticity and can help keep your mind strong and sharp.

So why aren’t we all trying to boost our cognitive abilities by learning a new language? As anyone who has spent time trying to learn a new language knows – it’s damn hard! But if you’re up for the challenge, then you should at least be aware that some methods of learning are much better than others.

The Wrong Way to Learn a Language

Having tried to study a few languages during my high school and college years, I can attest to the ineffective method of ROTE learning. This learning method, used by most institutions to teach basically anything, depends heavily on blunt repetition. As you can imagine, learning a language by repeating new vocabulary over and over again will quickly become tiresome. When the passion to learn a new language is diminished, it’s almost impossible to continue on. Most people who try to learn a language this way never master more than a few words.

The Easy Way to Learn a Language

To determine the best method for learning a new language, one only needs to examine how they learned their first language – through mental associations. How does this work? Let me give you an example:

If I show you three different colored shoes, and say aloud, “blue shoes, red shoes, yellow shoes,” while pointing at each pair respectively, you will naturally learn the noun “shoes” because it is the only word that doesn’t change for each item. Similarly, I could teach the adjective “yellow” by showing you three different objects that are all painted yellow. Again, through logical reasoning you would determine that the word “yellow” must associate with the one variable that’s consistent with each object – its color.

This is how to naturally learn a language and requires no direct translation between the language you already know and the one you are trying to learn. Even if the new language possesses a different alphabet and a strange grammar structure, these elements can also be acquired through associations.

Although natural learning would seem to hold many benefits over traditional methods, this style of learning is harder to implement in a learning environment. Learning through associations requires testing for each association observed, because this process relies on trial-and-error feedback. As you can imagine, this method would be difficult to employ through a passive medium (such as studying from a textbook) or in a group setting where individual testing is not possible. Fortunately, a company has solved this problem by taking the high-tech route of replacing both the teacher and course work with interactive software!

Using Rosetta Stone to Learn a New Language

I can confidently state that using Rosetta Stone software is the best language learning method I have ever used. As you might of guessed, Rosetta Stone teaches languages by leveraging the brain’s innate ability to form associations. Nowhere in their learning program will you find direct translations or explanations of what is being taught. Instead, the program immerses you in whatever language you are learning and uses various media props, such as photos and voice recordings, to nudge your brain into forming new associations. The results produce faster learning with better retention.

Rosetta Stone’s interface is simple, yet effective. Each screen is typically divided into several photo frames. The student then matches each photo to its corresponding phrase to move onto the next screen. With this friendly setup, Rosetta Stone has effectively turned learning into a matching game that even children can enjoy. Furthermore, Rosetta Stone also teaches correct pronunciation through speech recognition software. With Rosetta Stone, you can cover all the major domains for learning a language: reading, writing, speaking and listening.

Typically, Rosetta Stone offers languages packs that are separated by level of difficulty. Within each of these packs are lessons that are sorted into various categories. A lesson can last anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes and usually focuses on a single topic. Going through the course work, the software continually scores your performance and tracks your progress. After all the lessons have been completed, Rosetta Stone will recommend which lessons you should review, based on previous scores and the duration of time since you last took the lesson. When using Rosetta Stone, I felt as if the software was pulling me along, challenging me even when my motivation was low.

Although pricey, I believe Rosetta Stone is fully worth its cost – there is nothing quite like it on the market, and it is by far the best quality product in its class. Rosetta Stone can be bought from the company’s website, or accessed online through a subscription service.