subject: The Top 7 Mistakes People Make When Learning A Language [print this page] Author: Martina Srblin Author: Martina Srblin
Learning a language can take forever, if you don't have a system in place to make you advance at a satisfying pace. Not to mention that mistakes, stealing you precious resources, such as time and money, lurk everywhere! Here are the top 7 mistakes people make when learning a language if you need to know them to avoid them: 1. Buying learning materials, and then forgetting all about it Under the effect of enthusiasm, many of us tend to buy language learning materials, such as home study kits, dictionaries, and special editions of quick grammar handbooks, and then, due to lack of time, will, or a new burst of excitement, we leave those items lying on the shelf and get dusty. Actually, we usually fill so many shelves with these teach yourself manuals, that we could open a bookstore, or a library, right away. 2. Investing in courses of poor quality Who hasn't done that at least once? Poor quality courses are not as rare as one would hope for. Before paying any money for a language course, do some serious reseach, and try to find positive testimonials. Remember that it's a much wiser decision to pay a little more, and ensure yourself a fantastic experience, than to be cheap and disregard any criteria except the financial one. 3. Underestimating difficulties of a specific language You're naturally more inclined to learn certain languages than others, so it would be wrong to assume that you'll need the same amount of time for every language you choose to master. Be realistic in your estimates, and you'll avoid stressing out for not being able to stick to your learning schedule. You see you need to do your homework properly, even before you start learning a language! 4. Not learning the language in its country of origin One of the biggest mistakes to skip by all means, is never gifting yourself with the opportunity to learn it in its country of origins. Being surrounded by native speakers will make you talk, think, and even dream in this foreign language, and you'll discover that by spending a month attending a course abroad, you save a couple of years of learning at home. 5. Overestimating your self-discipline Many people, even language learning enthusiasts, not just those who have to learn a certain foreign language, struggle with self-discipline. Life happens, and believing you can follow a strict, inflexible learning schedule on the long run, is overly optimistic, to say the least. As strange as it may seem, you need to foresee the unforseeable, in order to preserve you learning plan intact. 6. Overestimating the time on your hands Time flies, and thinking there's enough of it every day for everything you envisioned to do, is another fairytale that has little to do with reality. You only have so much time on your hands, and, just as mentioned before, unexpected things can pop up, and down-the-drain goes your linguistic session of the day. Again, try to come up with a realistic time frame to reach you linguistic goals knowing you're able to achieve them is very empowering thought! 7. Overestimating your learning speed This is a mistake closely linked to underestimating the difficulties of that specific language you're learning... but it's not quite the same! Learning speed is about your skills, not the technical difficulties of the language itself. It might have something to do with talent, but is also very much related to the language learning techniques you use, and the effort you actually put in this process. Observe how quickly you're able to grasp specific linguistic concepts, and/or remember new words or grammar patterns, and then adapt your planning to your own personal speed. There's no too quick or too slow tag, but there certainly is one that says unfit for you.About the Author:
Martina Srblin is the Language Learning Magician who will help you discover the language learning system that best fits your needs, skills and schedule, so you can stop wasting time, money and energy on language learning methods that for you personally are inefficient. For free resources and to sign up for a FREE report on "7 Key Steps to Smart Language Learning" and a FREE subscription to the Language Learning Magic Ezine, please visit Martinas website www.martinasrblin.com.
