[fluentu-toc]<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
1. Translate Your Own Diary\/Journal<\/h2>\n
If you keep a diary or journal<\/a>, why not translate it?<\/p>\n Most people don\u2019t realize that their very own words are some of the best things to study because they contain information that’s highly relevant to their own lives<\/strong>.<\/p>\n It\u2019s difficult to find the vocabulary that you\u2019ll use on a daily basis, but your journal contains vocabulary that you use frequently, so translating that diary or journal will allow you to learn those extra vocabulary words quickly and efficiently.<\/p>\n You also won’t have to worry about imitating someone else’s communication style and voice. Over time, you\u2019ll notice that the act of translating your own personal writing into your target language will actually allow you to express yourself more fluidly and completely<\/strong>.<\/p>\n After you’ve translated a journal entry, you can check your work on Google Translate using the strategies discussed above.<\/p>\n Another great option is to submit your journal entries in your target language to HiNative<\/a> for corrections and suggestions from native speakers<\/strong>. You can get tips on how to sound more natural,\u00a0use better vocabulary or improve your grammar and colloquial language.<\/p>\n Keeping the theme of translating things that have personal relevance, your social media posts offer a quick, fun, relevant language exercise<\/strong> that’ll give you strong vocabulary and a relaxed tone of speech.<\/p>\n You’ve probably noticed that language textbooks and courses tend to take a formal, somewhat academic tone. As your language develops, however, it’s very advantageous to develop a personal tone like native speakers use in their daily lives, both online and offline. This allows you to connect on a more personal level with natives.<\/p>\n Translating your social media posts allows you to gain this relaxed tone<\/strong> while learning new words, structures and even some internet slang.<\/p>\n The great thing is that many social media sites have translation options built in<\/strong>, so you can easily check your work. The best way to do this is to put your Facebook in your target language, by going to Settings, Languages and then choosing your language from the top dropdown menu. Next, remove English from the “What languages do you understand?” field<\/strong> and input your target language.<\/p>\n Now, you can scroll back through your timeline and try translating your old posts (which will still appear in English). When you’re done, click the automatic translation option under the post, and Facebook will provide you with a translation into your target language that you can check against.<\/p>\n The added bonus of this method is that you’ll now be reading in your target language every time you log in to Facebook<\/strong>! Of course, if it gets too confusing, you can always navigate back to the languages tab and put things as they were until you’re ready for another translation exercise.<\/p>\n YouTube<\/a> is a language learner\u2019s paradise and valuable source of varied types of vocabulary, tone and sentence structure.<\/p>\n Translating your personal favorite YouTubers increases your knowledge in the areas that are important to you and allows you to grow a lexicon that’ll help you in the future when you\u2019re talking about things that you enjoy in the target language<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Translating things that are distant from you is a highly valuable and academic exercise, but translating things like subtitles from your favorite YouTubers gives you the skills that you can use every single day\u2014not just in an academic setting.<\/p>\n Plus, it\u2019s a lot of fun, so why not?<\/p>\n This is another exercise where you can check your work against Google Translate. However, if you’re watching very popular videos, there’s a chance that YouTube already provides captions in your target language<\/strong> that you can check against. Just click the gear icon to access the caption settings and choose your target language, if it’s available.<\/p>\n For advanced or upper-intermediate language learners<\/strong> who are interested in moving their language abilities in a more academic<\/strong> direction, TED Talks<\/a> are the perfect place to start.\u00a0TED Talks give you academic-level vocabulary and phraseology while still maintaining a personal tone, so it\u2019s really an all-around, fantastic translation exercise option.<\/p>\n And since the organization is dedicated to spreading knowledge worldwide, there’s an existing platform for you to translate the videos and get your work corrected. TED Talks has a\u00a0well-organized video translation system on their website<\/a>\u00a0that connects you with\u00a0language and translation experts who correct your target-language video transcriptions<\/strong>\u00a0and provide you with constructive feedback on your work.<\/p>\n To be accepted to start translating for TED Talks, you need to answer four questions about your foreign language skills and what motivates you to translate for TED.<\/p>\n Currently, there are over 30,000 translators and TED Talks is continuously looking for new transcribers.<\/p>\n Not interested in joining the translation team or don’t have time<\/strong> to translate full videos?<\/p>\n You can always choose videos that already have professional translations added, try translating a few minutes of speech on your own and then check your work against the translated subtitles. Just choose your target language from the drop-down menu on this page<\/a>\u00a0and you’ll get English-language talks with translated subtitles available.<\/p>\n This tool is very different from the others on this list, but no less useful.<\/p>\n Zanata<\/a> is a community of people who help translate one another’s documents. By translating as part of the community, you\u2019re helping your language abilities while still helping other people out.<\/p>\n Language learning is better in a community, so you can always ask for help, suggestions or guidance. Zanata offers a varied mix of sources and types of documents<\/strong>, so you\u2019ll stretch all corners of your vocabulary and sentence structuring abilities.<\/p>\n And you\u2019ll be helping people out at the same time. It\u2019s a win-win.<\/p>\n Translation practice may seem<\/em> self-explanatory, but many people skip out on a few basic steps that end up hurting their progress. Here’s what you need to make sure to do when you’re using translation as a language exercise.<\/p>\n As you work through your translation exercises, record any new words you encounter in a vocabulary list<\/strong>. It\u2019s also important that this list includes the sentences that the vocabulary words came from (I\u2019ll explain that in a second).<\/p>\n After you\u2019ve successfully completed a translation exercise, you can go back to your vocabulary list and add the words to a spaced repetition system (SRS)<\/a><\/strong>. SRS learning is like the flashcard method, but supercharged.<\/p>\n SRS programs track which words are easier or harder for you, and then use algorithms to space out the repetition of each word at just the right moment so they’ll stick in your brain. The harder words will show up more frequently, so you’re spending your memorization time more efficiently.<\/p>\n Anki<\/a><\/strong> is an\u00a0SRS flashcard app where you create and organize virtual flashcards.<\/p>\n The flashcards can be added in different shapes and colors. You can add images, texts, audio clips or even video to Anki\u00a0to magically connect the word to its meaning deep\u00a0inside your brain.<\/p>\n FluentU<\/a><\/strong> is an immersive language learning program that has flashcards as one of its main features. FluentU<\/strong> takes authentic videos\u2014like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks\u2014and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.<\/p>\r\n <\/p>\r\n You can try FluentU for free for 2 weeks. Check out the website or download the iOS app<\/a> or Android app.<\/a><\/p>\r\n2. Flip Your Social Media Languages<\/h2>\n
3. Translate Subtitles from Your Favorite YouTubers<\/h2>\n
4. Become a TED Talks Translator<\/h2>\n
5. Join the Zanata Translation Community<\/h2>\n
How to Get the Most out of Your Translation Exercises<\/h2>\n
Save Newly Learned Words in a Spaced Repetition System<\/h3>\n
![\"FluentU](\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/try-fluentu-for-free.jpg\")
\r\n