subject: Why People Fail To Learn A Foreign Language [print this page] Contrary to expectations, it does not take a particular gift to learn to speak a foreign language well. Nor do you need a very musical ear (although that helps you to gain a good accent), or a high level of formal education (I know many people who speak more than three languages fluently who have not graduated from primary school).
Even if you were the worst student in your school language class, I guarantee that you can learn a foreign language if you avoid these common mistakes.
1. People believe that they can learn without making mistakes. Foreign languages are foreign. They reflect a different culture, and often different values. If you commit to learning a language you can expect to make mistakes and be laughed at - frequently. You need to set yourself to hear a different set of sounds and pronounce them yourself, to think in new patterns, and to try them out. Like a child learning to ride a bike you can expect to fall many times before you get it right, but you will also get the same sense of achievement as your effort ends in success.
2 People expect to become fluent in a month or two. You can achieve a basic conversational level in a couple of months of immersion, but you will not be fluent - except at pubs and parties. This is a great starting point, but if you want to communicate meaningfully with others you will need to spend a lot more time.
3. People give up. Many people just give up before they have a chance to show themselves what they can do. Others give up before they even start. If you don't try, you will certainly fail.
4. People think it will be easy. There is no Royal Road to language learning, it takes hard work even if you are living in a foreign country. Unless you want to brand yourself as a barbarian you need to learn some grammar, do a lot of repetition, practice speaking extensively, and memorize vocabulary.
5. People think that it only takes a few minutes a day. You can't do it this way if you want to see progress. No matter how gifted you are, if you want to see progress you need to invest a decent number of hours on a regular basis, and the more intensively you do it, the easier it is to see your gains
Anyone can learn a foreign language if they give themselves half a chance - even a difficult one like Chinese. However, it takes time, effort, perseverance and humility to become fluent. On the other hand, the rewards are tremendous.
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