Language Goals and Frustrations
I had lunch earlier this week with a college professor who is head of the Asian language department in a large university here in Vancouver. He told me that a majority of…
I had lunch earlier this week with a college professor who is head of the Asian language department in a large university here in Vancouver. He told me that a majority of…
There are many reasons we might decide to try to learn another language. We might need the language for study or work purposes, to communicate with family or friends or to connect with the culture of the country where the language is spoken.
I must admit, I am motivated initially just by the possibility of accessing a new culture, with all that that can bring me in terms of learning about another country, its people and its history.
Listening comprehension is the base skill, in my view. We have to understand in order to be able to have conversations with people. If we have good listening skills, speaking skills are…
We live in the golden age of language learning. The Internet brings us an unprecedented cornucopia of language learning resources, tools, communities, exchange websites and more. We can buy audiobooks, ebooks, access…
A few weeks ago I started learning Greek. Greek will be my seventeenth language, and the eighth one I have started since the age of 60. Greek has relatively few words, far…
“I just don’t have time.” This is one of the most common reasons people give for not being able to learn languages. I am now retired, but I am still quite busy. I…
When we speak in a foreign language, there is a very high probability that we will make mistakes. We make more mistakes when we first start using the language, and gradually the…
People often say to me, “Steve, you’ve obviously got a talent for languages, that’s why you’ve learned so many. Good for you, but I could never do it.”
To which I say, to myself at least, why don’t you try doing it the way I do it? Maybe, rather than a question of talent, it’s a matter of the method that I use. What is my method? It’s really quite simple. It’s the relentless pursuit of words – words that I glean through content that is of interest to me. That’s basically what it boils down to.
Many of you have heard me say before that the three keys to language learning are motivation, the time you spend with the language and your ability to notice what’s happening in the language.
Some language learners aren’t motivated, so they don’t spend the time or develop the ability to notice and they don’t learn. That’s to be expected. But there are many people who are motivated, who do spend the time but don’t succeed. They abandon their goals in frustration. Why is that?
Learning French and Spanish were quite instrumental to me getting involved with language learning. You’ve got to do what you like and I always emphasize that in language learning. You’ve got to like the language. You’ve got to like what you’re doing. You’ve got to put in the time. Reading is still the most effective way of building up your vocabulary, and then when you are confronted with the need to speak, slowly the words start to come out.
I've been learning languages for over 50 years and I've tried all kinds of approaches.
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