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These days, there is a great demand for quickly learning a foreign language. Whether you are a businessman moving to France, or a student studying abroad in America, or even if you have a crush on a Japanese girl, learning a new language is more about your approach and repetition than it is about the time you spend studying. In other words, quality over quantity is always most important! Overall, you should teach your brain a language through variation of input. The below approaches might greatly help you focus:

1. Overview of structure, grammar, history - This is a great way to start out, by reading written summaries of a language's history, etymology, and grammatical structure (in your native language, if available). While it doesn't always seem relevant, it truly helps to know how a language evolved over time. More importantly, reading on paper how sentences and words are constructed will teach your brain the necessary linguistic patterns.

2. Rehearsing of audio examples - This is one of the great benefits of modern technology. You could be 5,000 miles away from a language's native population and still listen to audio clips of proper pronunciation by using CDs and mp3s, etc. Don't make the mistake of thinking that audio clips are merely teaching you new words - instead, focus carefully on how native speakers pronounce words, use inflexion in their speech, and so on.

3. Reciting of vocabulary - When it comes down to it, you really start to comprehend a new language by increasing your vocabulary knowledge base. Even with huge holes in your fluency, you can start to grasp the main ideas of a conversation by growing your raw vocabulary retention. Even without the correct pronunciation or fluid understanding of your secondary language, your vocabulary base is always your memory's biggest milestone.

4. Practicing phrases, common speech, and natural exchange - While vocabulary helps you to pick up ideas that you hear or read, it still does not offer you much in the way of communicating your own thoughts to others. The best way to improve your ability in common phrases and expressions is to find foreign friends or penpals or language exchange partners who are native to the language. While classes or tutors are helpful in achieving the above-mentioned points, the best way to naturally develop your speaking ability is to practice in a realistic, organic environment with a friendly acquaintance. This will help you to learn slang, pop culture references, and such.

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