4. Play house with the language. The more you invite a foreign language into your daily life, the more your brain will consider it something useful and worth caring about. “Use every opportunity to get exposed to the new language,” says Russian translator Olga Dmitrochenkova. Label every object in your house in this language, read kids’ books written in it, watch subtitled TED and TEDx talks, or live-narrate parts of your day to an imaginary foreign friend.

4. 用科技協(xié)助學(xué)習(xí)。迪米特羅肯科娃有一個(gè)很好的方法，她說：“重新設(shè)置手機(jī)言語就能讓你馬上學(xué)到新單詞。”你也可能改閱讀器的言語，或許在網(wǎng)上找一些更系統(tǒng)的學(xué)習(xí)資源。荷蘭語翻譯埃爾斯·德凱瑟建議用“多鄰國(guó)”像玩游戲一樣學(xué)習(xí)語法，用Anki的智能卡片背單詞。（多鄰國(guó)：英文為Duolingo，是一個(gè)無償言語學(xué)習(xí)網(wǎng)站；Anki：一款協(xié)助記單詞等的軟件，經(jīng)過記憶卡片呈現(xiàn)。）

Nervous about holding a conversation with a peer? Try testing your language skills with someone a little younger. “I was stoked when I was chatting with an Italian toddler and realized we had the same level of Italian,” recalls German translator Judith Matz.

6. 把外語學(xué)習(xí)看作通往新世界的大門。西班牙語翻譯巴斯蒂安·貝蒂以為，外語學(xué)習(xí)就是著眼于外語帶來的新的體驗(yàn)，包括“旅游主題公園、觀看現(xiàn)場(chǎng)表演、觀賞牛仔詩(shī)歌和民謠搖滾音樂節(jié)、學(xué)習(xí)攝影技術(shù)”。換句話說，他找出他想做的、好玩的事，然后把這些事故成學(xué)習(xí)外語的時(shí)機(jī)。咱們很多翻譯都提到了這點(diǎn)。意大利語和法語翻譯安娜·米諾里經(jīng)過看她青睞的英文原版電影來學(xué)英文，而克羅地亞語翻譯伊凡·斯達(dá)門科威克小時(shí)分看過很多年沒有字幕的卡通頻道，之后在6年級(jí)的時(shí)分，他突然發(fā)現(xiàn)本人會(huì)說英文了。所以你下次需求一份素蘿卜蛋糕的食譜的時(shí)分，找一份用你想學(xué)的言語寫的吧。

2. Get real. Decide on a simple, attainable goal to start with so that you don’t feel overwhelmed. German translator Judith Matz suggests: “Pick up 60 words of a language and start using them on people — and then slowly start picking up grammar.”

And be patient. The more you speak, the closer you’ll get to the elusive ideal of “native-like fluency.”

2. Make language-learning a lifestyle change. Elisabeth Buffard, who in her 28 years of teaching English has always seen consistency as what separates the most successful students from the rest. Find a language habit that you can follow even when you’re tired, sick or madly in love.

8. 不要懼怕說錯(cuò)。外語對(duì)話最大的阻礙就是懼怕說錯(cuò)。然而母語人士就像溺愛孩子的父母一樣，他們會(huì)感覺你每一次嘗試說他們的言語都是你天資聰穎的主觀證實(shí)。他們很觀賞你的致力，甚至還會(huì)協(xié)助你。

4. Let technology help you out. Dmitrochenkova has a great idea: “A funny thing like resetting the language on your phone can help you learn new words right away,” she says. Ditto for changing the language on your browser. Or you can seek out more structured learning opportunities online. Dutch translator Els De Keyser recommends Duolingo for its gamified approach to grammar, and Anki for memorizing vocabulary with its “intelligent” flashcards.

8. Do not worry about making mistakes. One of the most common barriers to conversing in a new language is the fear of making mistakes. But native speakers are like doting parents: any attempt from you to communicate in their language is objective proof that you are a gifted genius. They’ll appreciate your effort and even help you.

6. Think about language-learning as a gateway to new experiences. To Spanish translator Sebastián Betti, learning a language has always been about focusing on the experiences that the new language would open up, from “visiting theme parks, attending air shows, enjoying cowboy poetry and folk-rock festivals, to learning about photo-essay techniques.” In other words, he thinks of fun things that he wanted to do anyway, and makes them into a language-learning opportunity. Many of our translators shared this advice. Italian and French translator Anna Minoli learned English by watching undubbed versions of her favorite movies, while Croatian translator Ivan Stamenkovi suddenly realized he could speak English in fifth grade, after years of watching the Cartoon Network without subtitles. So the next time you need a vegan carrot cake recipe, find one in the language you’re trying to learn.

And to talking to people your own age.

They say that children learn languages the best. But that doesn’t mean that adults should give up. We asked some of the polyglots in TED’s Open Translation Project to share their secrets to mastering a foreign language. Their best strategies distill into seven basic principles:

跟同輩交換很緩和？那就和比你年輕一點(diǎn)的人練習(xí)外語。“當(dāng)我跟一個(gè)說意大利語的小孩聊地利，我發(fā)現(xiàn)他的意大利語程度跟我一樣，我登時(shí)十來到心，”德語翻譯朱迪斯·馬茨回想到。