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“The limits of my language are the limits of my universe.” -Goethe

I like languages. And words. A lot. I like how they sound, how they look, how they feel, and how they are able to impart information from one person to another. Not surprisingly, my educational background is linguistics, or the ‘scientific study of language and its structure’. That might sound very blah, blah, blah to you, but words are actually very cool! I mean, honestly–what would we do without them?

The downside to studying bits and pieces of lots of languages is that they don’t always listen to Me, Myself, and I, when they are politely asked to retire to their separate quarters. The languages in my brain like to mingle and socialize, but this is highly counterproductive… because you can’t start a sentence in German, say the middle in Japanese, and the end in Portuguese, and expect people to understand you. (They won’t.)

If you are studying more than one language, then, compartmentalization is an important skill to develop. You need to train your brain to turn ‘on and off’ languages when they are not in use, so that Russian does not interrupt your French conversation, or Spanish your German conversation. Many hyperpolyglots describe this as ‘activating’ or ‘de-activating’ language(s). Imagine in your brain turning on the lightbulb for Finnish and turning off the lightbulb for Latvian (when you are visiting Finland), and vice-versa when you are visiting Latvia. You want to separate languages in which you are not yet fluent. Otherwise, they will start overlapping and cause all sorts of mischief.

That said, I encourage you NOT to compartmentalize your language study from your native tongue; instead, integrate it into your thoughts and conversations. If you are a beginner, this is actually easier, because you have less to focus on and ‘scan for’. For example, if you only know that verde is green in Spanish, every time you see any shade of green today–while you are driving, at the grocery store, on the soccer field–say the word verde to yourself. Make the language come alive. Actively search for the words you know out in real life.

Maybe you are drinking coffee at a café and people-watching, and you learned the expression, “excuse me” (disculpe or con permiso in Spanish). You might not be able to hear them, but does anyone look like they are trying to say, “excuse me” around you? If you have a strong imagination, perhaps your favorite superhero just crashed through the ceiling and said, “Excuse me, do you know where that Learn How to Fly course is taking place?” Ha!

Seriously though, it’s helpful to think of it like a memory game, where you try to match the words you are learning in the digital realm with your physical reality (when you are out and about), or when you are in conversation with others or yourself (your thoughts).

If you are more advanced in your language study, translate a little in your head the next time you hear something. It could be a single word, a phrase, or even an entire sentence. It could be a conversation with a real person, or some bit of language from a podcast, radio station, tv show, YouTube channel, or movie. Conversely, it could be something you saw, like words on a billboard that you just drove by. Or a book you are reading.

We are literally surrounded by words all day long–either externally (ads, conversations, entertainment) or internally (thoughts)–both spoken and written. So let’s get to work and apply what we have learned. The words we learn can’t only be in the form of the number of XP on an app: we have to make them come alive, jump off the page, and become a meaningful part of our lives.