6 years ago, my English sucked.

As a French native, I grew up in a place where cool kids decided being good at languages was lame, and uncool.

So I was lame, and uncool, and I got pretty OK grades.

Which means I could remember vocabulary, and apply some grammar rules properly.

Yet, I had no skill to actually communicate in English.
You know, with real people.

Until I decided to travel the World on a bicycle, and to write in English every single day. Everywhere I could.

On my blog, on Medium, on my diary, on social media, to my family (then they stopped replying).

It was 6 years ago.

Since then, I published hundreds of articles in English, and even got some stories republished in media, and gathered 100,000 views on a single piece of content.

That piece was full of grammar mistakes and typos.

But it didn’t really matter.

Speaking to people’s heart in a given language is far more important than mastering every single rule.

You don’t want to be great at grammar, or use a complex vocabulary.

  • You just want to be good enough to express yourself, and connect with people.
  • Then you need to focus on learning how to tell stories in this language, and apply it to your message

A lot of people stay stuck forever at the grammar and vocabulary stage.

They think they are not good enough yet to express themselves.

You don’t need be great to express yourself.
You need to express yourself to become great.

This is how I started to learn Bahasa Indonesia, as my 4th language.

I arrived in Bali 3,5 years ago.

I knew nothing, nobody and had no family and friends around.

After I lost everything and had to start my life again from scratch there, I was hosted for a month by a Balinese family, in exchange of my marketing skills.

I learned the language by speaking it.

No books, no classes, no teacher.

When I only knew 3 words (aku mau makan, meaning “I want to eat”), I would just say those each time it applied, until I knew more words, and then I would use those knew words as well.

I took any chance I could to speak with locals, whether in real life, or online (through Whatsapp, Tinder or Instagram).

There are 2 main benefits from learning this way:

  • I learned to express myself in the same way as locals do
  • It led me to learn the most useful vocabulary first

By being fully immersed, and pushing myself to talk with locals primarily in their native language, I learned Bahasa 3 times quicker than most other expats.

Today, the first language I use in my day-to-day life is Bahasa Indonesia.

I develop Reconnect, a sustainable eco-resort on a tiny island in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia.

I use Indonesian to talk with the staff, suppliers, and even with officials from the government.

The first thing I often hear after I start speaking in Bahasa is: “Wow gila, lancar sekali bahasanya pak, sudah kaya orang lokal ya!” (meaning something like: wow crazy, you are so fluent, you sound like a local!)

In some cases, people actually won’t believe I am not half Indonesian.

Which is flattering, considering it’s my 4th language.

And trust me, it’s not because I am a genius, or because I have incredible language skills.

If I could give you in a nutshell what I did to learn a new language in less than 3 years, here’s what I would focus on:

Start with speaking

Speak the language, even when you only know a bunch of words. Use those words all the time you can. Then learn new words, and apply the same process

Spend time with locals

Find a way to spend time or communicate with natives speakers from the language you learn. You want to learn from them, not from a school or a teacher who will focus on rules and words you won’t use in the real life

Use Google Translate, wisely

Download the Google Translate app, and keep it on the your main screen. Use it as a default app to find vocabulary, but be careful with how it translates full sentences. When translating a new word, use this word as often as possible with locals, to understand how they use it.

Love the language

You need to love the language. I can’t tell you how to do this. But you can’t learn a language you hate. I happen to love Indonesia, and I love the language. I like the way it sounds, and I like how I can understand people’s culture and mindset through how they speak. But I could never, ever learn how to speak German, because I hate how it sounds and I have zero use for it.

Increase your exposure to the language

Watch local movies with local subtitles. Read local content. It doesn’t matter if you understand everything. You need to be exposed to the language in its different forms, to passively integrate how it’s written and spoken.

I spent countless hours as the only foreigner in groups of Indonesian people speaking Bahasa only. This is how I got the accent before I even understood what I was saying.

I also follow Jokowi, the Indonesian President (who I admire) on his social media, to learn the “polite way” of speaking Bahasa Indonesia.

I know some people feel more comfortable learning from a teacher, sitting on a chair and listening to grammar rules and practising pronunciation.

I believe this is the most inefficient way to learn a language.

If you want to connect with people, touch their heart with stories, understand their culture, integrate in the country, or make your wife’s family accept you, don’t waste your time in a classroom.

Just get out there, and speak.

In most of the countries in the World (except France, because most of us are ungrateful snobs), people will appreciate that you are making the effort to say just even 3 words, and will be happy to help you learning more.

Also don’t forget to have fun while learning 🙂