3 Hobbies That Made Me Bilingual Faster
My hobbies may have had the greatest impact on my language skills.
As a native French speaker in Canada, becoming fluent in English was not a maybe, but a eventually. Being bilingual is still seen as a great asset in the professional world — even a necessity in some industries. Nowadays, children in Quebec start learning English as early as the first grade (even earlier in private institutions), and keep studying the language throughout their secondary and postsecondary education. Not all native French speakers in Quebec would consider themselves to be perfectly bilingual, but most of them know enough English to hold at least a basic conversation.
I do consider myself bilingual. Because I am a translator, and because I have worked in the tourism industry, I can attest to the importance of knowing multiple languages.
I was always interested in languages and it seems I have a gift for learning them. In English classes, in primary and secondary school, it felt like I was one step ahead of my friends and classmates. But I don’t believe it really had to do with a clear interest in languages or a gift. I did not spend hours going through textbooks. To no one’s surprise, it had everything to do with exposure — being exposed to English while doing other activities.
I have reflected on what I was doing possibly differently from my friends back when I was a kid or teenager that helped me improve my English faster. I have found that it had a lot to do with the hobbies I had. Here are the three hobbies that helped me become bilingual. Of course, those worked for me in English, but I’m sure they can be used to learn any other language to some extent.
1. Playing video games
As a child, this was one of the first environments outside of school where I got to interact in English.
Fifteen to twenty years ago, computer and video games were not as big of a deal and were rarely translated into French. I still remember getting my GameBoy Advance on Christmas when I was eight years old, and then having to decipher how the games I got worked because they were all in English. The same goes for the PC CD-ROMs we would get in cereal boxes or the multiplayer games that would get popular at school. I have fond memories of playing Roller Coaster Tycoon or Club Penguin and slowly realizing that I understood more and more what was going on because my English was getting better without me even noticing it that much.
It might not seem that serious to learn a language through video games, but it is actually a great way of being exposed to a new language while winding down and having fun. Nowadays, though, with apps such as Duolingo that uses gamification to encourage language learning, the idea might not seem as crazy after all.
Tip for language learners: If possible, and if you enjoy playing video games, switch your games to your target language. You don’t need to be a huge gamer to reap those benefits (I sure am not!). Try out simulation or management-style games — they tend to include a lot of useful everyday vocabulary. The Sims would be a great example of such a game.
2. Getting into fandoms
So, this may be a little cringy, but I think this is actually what helped me the most to become fluent in English.
When I was a teenager, I was obsessed with the sci-fi animated show Futurama. This was the first fandom I ever got into. I first got to know the show by watching episodes dubbed in French on TV, but then later got to watch it in English. I loved that show so much (and still do!) that I even started to write fanfictions before I even knew this was a thing on the Internet! I believe the first one I wrote was in French, but I quickly got to write some in English to share on fan forums. Obviously, I was reading a lot of fanfiction as well (nothing too smutty, thankfully!). I was very invested in that fandom, but I got away from it when the show ended for good. In the meantime, I also got obsessed with police procedurals such as Bones or Castle. Since I was such a big fan, I did not wait for the French-dubbed episodes to air. I watched them in English. I have consumed once again an awful lot of fanfiction. I have also written and published a few fanfictions related to those shows online. I reread them recently, and they are not that bad! I mean, for a 16-year-old writing in her second language…
I was not realizing it back then, but this exposure to content in English really helped me not only to grasp the language but also to actually become a better writer in that language. And once again, since I was so invested in these shows and I had so much fun thinking about their characters and their storylines, it did not feel like work to me and I got used to thinking directly in English. I don’t have to tell you how useful that is now when I am working or travelling.
Obviously, watching movies and TV shows in your target language is a very good way to expose yourself. But getting into a fandom is all about taking that passive learning and making it into active learning. It’s about taking something as enjoyable and relaxing as watching a TV series and turning it into an opportunity to practice reading and writing in your target language.
That being said, this worked well for me because I was learning English, and English-language media is everywhere. I can understand how getting into fandoms may not be possible or as fulfilling for content in a different language, but it is still worth a try in my opinion to find a community online. The social aspect is a nice bonus, but it is still possible to reap the benefits of being invested in a TV series.
Tips for language learners: Reading fanfiction may be a great way to start reading in your target language: you already know some of the vocabulary from the show and you can choose to read shorter stories. The only downside is that quality is not always a guarantee. Also, practice your grammar and vocabulary using examples inspired from the show; you’ll be sure to remember those! Practice writing short stories using the show’s universe. Embrace that nerdy/geeky side of yours!
3. Following current events
Even when I was a child, I liked to know what was going on in the world. I liked to read the newspaper in the morning and listen to the news at night while having dinner with my parents.
Arguably, following current events may not be best qualified as a hobby, but to me, it is quite enjoyable. In my late teens and early twenties, I started to get more interested in US politics. I bet you can see how this helped improve my English.
At this point, of course, I was a little older and my English was already quite close to an advanced level. However, being interested in more serious and specialized topics got me to a point where I could hold a conversation about pretty much any subject. Ultimately, being interested in current events meant that I also had to learn about history, economics, cultural and social issues…This proved to be quite useful when I worked in the tourism industry, as a museum guide. I could hold meaningful conversations with travellers from all over the world.
Tips for language learners: Your target language is spoken in at least one country, right? Try to follow what is going on in that country: politics, economics, culture, sports, the weather… Find credible sources online to read regularly (though, as someone who’s learning Russian, I can tell you that’s not always easy), listen to podcasts, watch videos. Then, practice having conversations or debates in your head (or better, have them with a real person!). Do not underestimate the power of being able to make small talk in a foreign language!
In the end, what I think you should get from this article is that language classes, while great to get introduced to a new language, do not make you bilingual. I’ve had English classes for at least 13 years of my life, but I don’t consider those made me bilingual on their own. In fact, it is what I did for fun, my hobbies, that may have had the greatest impact on my language skills. To language learners everywhere, the lesson I have to share is by all means not one that is new: integrate your target language to your daily life and have fun!