How I Became Fluent in a New Language as an Adult

Immersive language learning feels like being the only 4-year-old in a room full of adoring but distant adults.

The illustration was created by the Author

Growing up, dad sent my sisters and me to international schools attended by other foreigners’ children in Saudi Arabia. So, I had quite a few opportunities to learn new languages.

Still, the once-a-week French classes I attended for one year proved to be useless, and the little Urdu I managed to pick up in the years I attended a Pakistani-led school mostly escaped my mind.

The few words I distinctly remember are Urdu insults — most of the ‘bad words’ I learned sound apt and satisfyingly visceral.

The only thing that forced me to learn a new language despite being busy with everything else was going to a place where most people spoke my target language and having little to no other communication options, i.e. immersive language learning.

Here are 3 things I did when I first moved to Ethiopia, where Amharic is the official national language:

1. Borrow a Children’s Book

When you’re an absolute beginner, there’s one thing you may have to accept: you’ll use books that were designed for little children.