Immersion and practice are the keys to learning Kannada, whether in Karnataka or at home. Yes, it will be more difficult if you do not live in Kannada culture, but there are still numerous ways to incorporate Kannada into your daily routine.
Here are a few things you can do at home to improve your Kannada. Use one of these tips every day, and you’ll be surprised at how good your Kannada will be!
Make colour-coded flashcards with vocabulary and gender information. We recommend using coloured flashcards to help you remember words and, you’ll begin to associate the word and its context.
Keep a Kannada journal. In this diary, you can write whatever you want: Make a weather report. Make a shopping list. Focus on writing in a specific tense until you’re comfortable changing tenses. Try writing only in it until you’re ready to switch to another tense.
Read in Kannada at least once a day. Read about something that interests you. If you enjoy cooking, check out a Kannada food blog. If you enjoy reading women’s magazines, why not check out the online Kannada versions of good magazines?
Modify your technological settings. Why not make Kannada the language on your phone, tablet, or computer?
Organize and label items in your home or office. On a post-it note, write down the Kannada names of objects in your home or office, then stick the note to the object. Say the Kannada name aloud every time you look at the item.
Set up a weekly “Kannada movie night.” If done correctly, watching movies or Kannada programmes can be a great way to help absorb spoken Kannada.
Listen to the radio in Kannada. Listening to Kannada radio will be a significant value-add.
Use Kannada, and speak to yourself, your pet, or even a plant. Admit it: you mutter to yourself from time to time. Consider the phrases you use the most – at least five of them – and translate them into Kannada. Say them in Kannada whenever possible, aloud in front of a mirror so you can see how your mouth moves as you speak.
Play some Kannada music. Nothing can take you deeper into a language than a song. Find your favourite Kannada song on YouTube and memorise it. Pay close attention to how words are pronounced.
Find a Kannada chatting partner. In order to truly learn Kannada, you must speak it. A language exchange with a native Kannada speaker is possible thanks to communication programmes such as Skype and Google Talk. Visit websites such as Conversation Exchange and How Do You Do.
