It's not home, but it's as close as you'll get to home on campus. While you're away at school, you'll be spending a lot of time in your dorm, so you might as well make it work for you. Language learning works best when you're constantly surrounded by it. Ace your next language test by employing these tips to help you learn another language while you're staying in a dorm.
1. Label Objects That You Interact with Daily
Get used to referring to those objects by their names in whatever language you're learning. You don't even have to buy a label-maker. A strip of tape and a sharpie will do the trick, or you can use your favorite color sticky note. As a bonus, add other words that you would associate with the object. For example, label your door with the phrase "abrir/cerrar la puerta de madera marrón" (to open/close the brown, wooden door).
2. Find Someone in Your Dorm to Practice with
Try talking to your roommate, someone on your floor, or just someone in your building. It may be awkward at first, but having someone to practice with face-to-face, you get more comfortable speaking the language, especially if it's where you live. Also, the practice will help your mouth get accustomed to the language's patterns. Muscle memory is a powerful tool. The more practice you get with other people, the more confident you'll be speaking in general.
3. Have a Language Movie Night
Relax alone or invite some classmates over to watch a movie in the language you're studying. Pick a movie, then head to your dorm room or reserve the dorm's TV room. For bonus points, try to watch the movie with subtitles in that language or without any subtitles. The added challenge will make your brain work harder to recognize words and phrases. It's a great listening exercise, especially if you've seen the movie already.
4. Host a Study Group for the Language You're Learning
Reach out to your classmates or students from other classes studying the same language as you and arrange to meet up to study and talk. You could meet up every week or cram together before major tests. At my university, the introductory language classes covered pretty much the same material, and we all took the same final exam. It made sense for people in different classes to meet up somewhere and help each other out, and your dorm may be the most convenient option. Order some pizza, and give it a try.
5. Hang Vocab Words around Your Room Where You'll See Them Every Day
Is there a set of vocabulary words that you need to have memorized for a quiz on Friday? Hang a vocab list on your door so you can read them before you head out to class. Stick post-it notes on your desk so you see them every time you sit down to work. Then, when you've (hopefully) passed your quiz, switch them out for the new set.
Final Thoughts
You could probably apply these tips to any living situation. Get in the habit of using these studying techniques when you move out of your dorm, in your first apartment, or when you go back home for the Summer. Apply them to all the languages you learn, or even use them for your other classes. Everyone learns differently, so make sure you try things out and commit to what works for you. Good luck!
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