10 GREAT WAYS TO USE SOCIAL MEDIA FOR LANGUAGE LEARNING (PART 1)

Taking the most out of social media

It happens many a times that we blame social media to be the bane of all our procrastination. Many people see it as a menace, and there is some truth to it, especially when we spend time on Facebook when sitting at a family dinner or with your partner at a restaurant. When people demand constant stimulation and cannot refrain from going on to Facebook/twitter during a 20 second commercial break.

 

But it doesn’t have to be that way. These daily distractions can be turned into interesting tools of study for our quest of mastering languages. Social media was, after all invented to help people socialize across cultures. For people to form networks above and beyond their local ones, to be connected by interests, not by location. And, when people of truly similar mindsets meet, beautiful things happen! Before we start, I must say that you need to shed all your inhibitions. You must not be scared of ridicule or failure. Because making mistakes and not repeating them is a definite sign of making progress! For the purpose of ease of explanation, let’s say that we want to learn ‘Spanish’ from scratch.

1. Facebook:

Let’s start with the most common social media of all. Our Facebook newsfeed shows us posts from all the pages we follow and the people we befriend. The right choice of pages can thus, change your newsfeed from cat videos and jokes to language learning material. Type in ‘Spanish’ in the search box. ‘Like’ all the pages that show up, and join all the groups you can. This small act changes the look of your Facebook drastically. There is an influx of language related posts on your feed. You meet like-minded people who are learning Spanish with you. You feel a part of something amazing. A language learning community that helps each other. Many users keep posting things such as ‘Common Spanish slangs’ or ‘Spanish food you need to know’, many of which you may never come across in your regular learning. The more advanced learners help us solve our petty doubts. Many of our doubts are already solved on some groups. Also, many of the messages may be in Spanish, which forces you to beef up your vocabulary to understand them.

2. Whatsapp:

Being the most popular instant messaging app, Whatsapp enjoys the distinction of having a lot of users worldwide. Some of the Facebook groups opt to have Whatsapp groups as well, for convenient access. I know, it sounds scary. Sharing your number with hundreds of strangers? That is outrageous! However, many of these groups have strict rules regarding conduct. No insulting messages, no member can contact another without permission on the group or no stupid forwards. Guilty members are expelled. What this shows is that language learning groups are usually no-nonsense groups with serious learners. Your group might also have a ‘Spanish only’ rule. This forces you to use Google Translator and type in your thoughts. If what you say is wrong, there are many people willing to correct you. Note your mistakes. Whatsapp gives you the opportunity to have a handy tutor. Have a doubt? Ask it on the group or privately message a native speaker if they don’t mind. It get solved very quickly.

Related: 10 great ways to use social media for language learning (Part II)

3. Group study:

What being part of such Facebook and Whatsapp groups does is much more than help you learn. It motivates you psychologically. When you go to a movie with your friends, the entire group seems to form a similar impression of the movie. You will either hate or love a movie depending on whom you watch it with. This groupism extends to various walks of life. When you surround yourself with like-minded people, all determined to study Spanish, you feel driven to learn more. They help you keep on track with your progress. This group study also does one important thing. Equalization of knowledge. If your friend knows something you don’t, he’ll help you out with it. If you understood a grammar concept he didn’t, you can help out. The entire group benefits from such a mutual learning!

4. Language exchange:

This is a widespread concept in language learning where in a person learning a language X will help you with his native language Spanish, in exchange for your native language X. Both of you benefit from this. There are lots of sites and apps specifically for language exchange. But you can use your usual social networks just as well. You can find language exchange partners among your new Facebooks friends or those Whatsapp groups. Apart from the obvious benefits of learning basic conversations, getting corrections and practicing your skills, this serves an important task: Motivation. Suppose you met ‘Martina’, a native Spanish speaker. She wants to learn English for higher studies. You both start speaking about general inquiries such as place of living, work, age etc. What next? She seems to be a nice person you would want to befriend her. But you don’t know how to talk about the amazing Spanish music you happened to see on a Facebook group! There is a kind of positive peer pressure to learn more, in order to keep the conversation going. Next time, when you meet ‘Carla’, you will already be knowing how to ask her about her favorite music!

5. Material exchange:

One of the biggest advantages of having so many people who are learning Spanish within reach is that you have access to a treasure of Spanish resources that so many have found useful. You may discover a really good site a friend on Whatsapp recommended, you may benefit from various notes others make and share, or get your hands on rare books and presentations posted on groups.

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