How do we keep our language skills sharp, whenever we want and wherever we are?

Let us count the ways.

Of course, Duolingo can play a huge part in your language learning journey. But we’ve got some additional tips to help you make the most of your learning—and of course, build up your skills as you go!

  1. Create pairs or groups and set up language meetups with friends—even over video calls! Compete for the most time spent speaking or number of meetups with other friend teams.
  2. Cook a meal from another country by looking up the recipe in your target language to brush up on new food vocabulary. Share photos of your delicious results with friends on a blog or social media, and write a caption using words and phrases from your learning language.
  3. Create a “Summer Reading List” of translations of favorite books in your learning language.
  4. Make learning a language easy and accessible from anywhere with podcasts or apps that can be accessed on-the-go from any device (hint: Duolingo!)
  5. Create a list of local restaurants where you might have the chance to speak in your learning language.
  6. Teach a family member a new phrase with the goal of being able to go to a restaurant together and order in that language.
  7. Get a pen pal (yes, writing letters is still cool!) from another country. Check out these suggestions for finding an online pen pal.
  8. Create a competition to see who can complete a set of summer goals first. Email completed goals to the group, or post updates on a blog or social media throughout the learning process.
  9. Learn more about a famous person who speaks your target language, and the impact that this person has had on the history, culture, or politics of their country.
  10. Create a list of your favorite radio shows, podcasts, movies, and television shows in your learning language and listen or watch—with subtitles in that language. Check out Duolingo’s podcasts for learners of Spanish, French, and English here!

If these ten tips have you yearning for more, you’re in luck! Download Duolingo’s latest tip sheet “20 Ways to Sharpen Your Language Skills, and to Have Fun Doing It” for our full list of fun language tips to switch up your practice and sharpen your skills.