Learning a foreign language – why don’t we succeed more often?
Most of us have at some time or another thought about learning a foreign language – we have heard that it broadens your horizons (true), increases your intelligence (I like to think so), allows you to communicate with people from other cultures and nations (bien sur!). Some of us have even heard it helps your chances with the opposite sex when abroad (I can neither confirm nor deny this).
But in reality, aside from those fortunates who were born into a bilingual environment (ahem, like yours truly), very few people really achieve their language-learning aims. Why is that, and how can can we do better?
Why we fail at language learning?
There are a number of common reasons why people fail to learn a foreign language, even if they set out with good intentions. Here are a few to think about, though there are many more of course:
1. a lack of real motivation – this is true for so many things besides language learning, like losing weight, learning to play a new instrument or keeping our New Year’s resolutions. Deep down we haven’t really taken a firm decision that we want to succeed in learning this new language, and when the going gets even a little tough we start making excuses and eventually tail off and give up. You know I am right.
2. not knowing where to start – sometimes we have good intentions, but we just don’t have the right information. What is the best way to learn a language – sign up for a class? Buy a book? Sign up for an online language course? Marry a French/Spanish/Russian person!? Hold tight, although the amount of choice out there is confusing, I will try to help you narrow it down later on in this lens.
3. lack of continuity/practice – learning a language is an ongoing process, it requires regular practice. You can’t just pick it up once a month, and you can’t just do a 6 hour study stint one week and then have a 3-week gap before picking it up again. This is a very good way to lose motivation quickly (see point 1).
4. a seeming lack of progress – aaaaa! Now this is what gets a great many people. Learning a language CAN be an uphill struggle, and if you are not an uphill struggler you can find yourself giving up all to soon. Let me give you some comfort of sorts – learning a foreign language is a process with a very steep learning curve. It can seem like you are making NO progress because there is ALWAYS something new to learn. But I can assure you that you ARE making progress, and after a while (OK, let’s be real, it’s going to be months and years) the curve will start to level off a little. So it IS a long process, but you need to be able to take stock of your own progress or you will get discouraged quickly like a great many people do.
So how do we learn a foreign language?
Now that we have discussed some of the typical reasons why people fail at learning a foreign language, perhaps you have a better overview of what you need to do to really make a success of it. Learning a language “in two weeks” and similar promises sometimes encountered are little more than snake-oil. The truth is that learning a foreign language is a long, gradual process, like learning any skill – can you learn to play piano, or to paint, overnight? Of course not.
But here is a list of the most common ways to learn a language and a brief look at some of the advantages and disadvantages of each approach:
Living in the country – this is the single most effective way of learning a language, short of actually being born in the environment. Living in the country FORCES you to use the language, and that is absolutely the no. 1 motivation to learn a language, when you HAVE to! However, this option is hardly practical for most people.
Going to classes – there is a lot to be said for the traditional classroom approach, especially when it’s a small group and modern methods are used. You have direct feedback from a teacher, a structured approach, and other students to interact with. You are also tied in to a regular schedule of lessons. The latter can by itself be seen as a disadvantage – not everyone wants to be tied down to a specific day and time for lessons. And in a classroom the progress of the class is usually tied either to the best student, with everyone else desperately trying to keep up, or to the slowest student, who holds everyone else up.
Getting a self-teach course – I think we have all had a go at one of these! I have to say that it IS possible to learn a language from one of these (like the well-known ‘Teach Yourself range in the UK), but only if you have prior experience in language-learning and you are VERY motivated. If you are new to foreign languages then it is highly unlikely you will succeed with a teach yourself-type book. It just takes too much application, and some existing language-learning skills so that you know you are on the right track.
Signing up for an online language course – there are a number of these around now, some of them commercially very successful, and there is a lot to be said for them – they are more engrossing than a book or CD, less commitment than a class and very flexible. But they still take quite a bit of motivation and self-application.
I hope that has given you a somewhat clearer picture of your options for learning a foreign language – and some of the pitfalls too – and you will soon be well on your way to learning your chosen language by whatever method you opt for, provided you really commit to it and keep regularly looking back for a positive perspective on your progress.
This article was adapted from original materials published here and used with the permission of the author. You can also have a look at a video about learning a foreign language here if you prefer.
Whatever you have been told, your language learning goal isn’t easy, but you WILL do it and if you persevere you could be commuicating in French (or whatever your language of choice) in less time than you might think!
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