Practicing Language alone

Has anyone got any ideas on how to practice a language with no language partner, I know reading is one example, also I have heard people say they talk to themselves, I was thinking along the lines of the latter idea, but it usually get tired of imagining out conversations? Anyone got better ideas???

I just listen and read. Listen while doing other tasks, and read when I have the time.

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hey steve, thanks for the reply I do a lot of that too but have been getting bored of just reading lately, maybe I need a more interesting book!!

Interest is key. I focus on finding interesting content, even if it is too difficult. then when I feel up to it I talk to a tutor at LingQ.

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I started a project in Italian a few weeks ago where I would listen to a podcast, then write a short summary, then post that summary in the forums and ask for writing corrections. I found it to be helpful because it practices several skills and gets you thinking about how to phrase things (and what verb tenses to use!!). Just talking to yourself without any real aim might not be that useful but if you have an aim and then you work out what you want to say and then write it down (and then have it corrected), this can be very useful.

I guess you could combine reading and speaking. Read a paragraph and then make a verbal comment to the writer. Sort of verbal notes in the margin.

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record your conversations, and then listen…record talking by yourself, as well as with partner…
ps: passive listening, for me is not efective…

listen to music in your target language and try to follow along with the lyrics. Try to translate the lyrics into your native language, or, if you are feeling really brave, try to sing a long! If you run out of stuff to read, go on http://www.wikipedia.org , select your target language and there you go! All of the interesting content you could ever need! Read about aardvarks, physics, read about the culture of your language. Anything :slight_smile:

Like Steve said, just reading and listening will get you a long way. I often talk to myself in my languages, practicing what I have learned in the past. If I come across something that I’m completely stumped on, I ask natives if what I said to myself was correct or not.

Great idea :slight_smile: