4. Play house with the language. The more you invite a foreign language into your daily life, the more your brain will consider it something useful and worth caring about. “Use every opportunity to get exposed to the new language,” says Russian translator Olga Dmitrochenkova. Label every object in your house in this language, read kids’ books written in it, watch subtitled TED and TEDx talks, or live-narrate parts of your day to an imaginary foreign friend.

4. 用科技协助学习。迪米特罗肯科娃有一个很好的方法，她说：“重新设置手机言语就能让你马上学到新单词。”你也可能改阅读器的言语，或许在网上找一些更系统的学习资源。荷兰语翻译埃尔斯·德凯瑟建议用“多邻国”像玩游戏一样学习语法，用Anki的智能卡片背单词。（多邻国：英文为Duolingo，是一个无偿言语学习网站；Anki：一款协助记单词等的软件，经过记忆卡片呈现。）

Nervous about holding a conversation with a peer? Try testing your language skills with someone a little younger. “I was stoked when I was chatting with an Italian toddler and realized we had the same level of Italian,” recalls German translator Judith Matz.

6. 把外语学习看作通往新世界的大门。西班牙语翻译巴斯蒂安·贝蒂以为，外语学习就是着眼于外语带来的新的体验，包括“旅游主题公园、观看现场表演、观赏牛仔诗歌和民谣摇滚音乐节、学习摄影技术”。换句话说，他找出他想做的、好玩的事，然后把这些事故成学习外语的时机。咱们很多翻译都提到了这点。意大利语和法语翻译安娜·米诺里经过看她青睐的英文原版电影来学英文，而克罗地亚语翻译伊凡·斯达门科威克小时分看过很多年没有字幕的卡通频道，之后在6年级的时分，他突然发现本人会说英文了。所以你下次需求一份素萝卜蛋糕的食谱的时分，找一份用你想学的言语写的吧。

2. Get real. Decide on a simple, attainable goal to start with so that you don’t feel overwhelmed. German translator Judith Matz suggests: “Pick up 60 words of a language and start using them on people — and then slowly start picking up grammar.”

And be patient. The more you speak, the closer you’ll get to the elusive ideal of “native-like fluency.”

2. Make language-learning a lifestyle change. Elisabeth Buffard, who in her 28 years of teaching English has always seen consistency as what separates the most successful students from the rest. Find a language habit that you can follow even when you’re tired, sick or madly in love.

8. 不要惧怕说错。外语对话最大的阻碍就是惧怕说错。然而母语人士就像溺爱孩子的父母一样，他们会感觉你每一次尝试说他们的言语都是你天资聪颖的主观证实。他们很观赏你的致力，甚至还会协助你。

4. Let technology help you out. Dmitrochenkova has a great idea: “A funny thing like resetting the language on your phone can help you learn new words right away,” she says. Ditto for changing the language on your browser. Or you can seek out more structured learning opportunities online. Dutch translator Els De Keyser recommends Duolingo for its gamified approach to grammar, and Anki for memorizing vocabulary with its “intelligent” flashcards.

8. Do not worry about making mistakes. One of the most common barriers to conversing in a new language is the fear of making mistakes. But native speakers are like doting parents: any attempt from you to communicate in their language is objective proof that you are a gifted genius. They’ll appreciate your effort and even help you.

6. Think about language-learning as a gateway to new experiences. To Spanish translator Sebastián Betti, learning a language has always been about focusing on the experiences that the new language would open up, from “visiting theme parks, attending air shows, enjoying cowboy poetry and folk-rock festivals, to learning about photo-essay techniques.” In other words, he thinks of fun things that he wanted to do anyway, and makes them into a language-learning opportunity. Many of our translators shared this advice. Italian and French translator Anna Minoli learned English by watching undubbed versions of her favorite movies, while Croatian translator Ivan Stamenkovi suddenly realized he could speak English in fifth grade, after years of watching the Cartoon Network without subtitles. So the next time you need a vegan carrot cake recipe, find one in the language you’re trying to learn.

And to talking to people your own age.

They say that children learn languages the best. But that doesn’t mean that adults should give up. We asked some of the polyglots in TED’s Open Translation Project to share their secrets to mastering a foreign language. Their best strategies distill into seven basic principles:

跟同辈交换很缓和？那就和比你年轻一点的人练习外语。“当我跟一个说意大利语的小孩聊地利，我发现他的意大利语程度跟我一样，我登时十来到心，”德语翻译朱迪斯·马茨回想到。