The Linguist On Language

We are not dependent on finding native speakers to talk to. Even if we have native speakers around us, they may or may not be interested in talking to us and therefore we are dependent on them. If we can talk to native speakers and enjoy it, fine, but it is not necessary. It is not always available to us. Not so with our books and MP3 players. We can choose what to read and listen to, when to read and listen, and even re-read and re-listen. This immersion in the words, phrases, and sounds of the language are always available to us. It makes us free.

Good language learners

Who is good at languages?

 People who are motivated to learn languages.

 People who put enough time into learning languages.

 People who are not afraid to make mistakes.

 People who are good at simplifying tasks.

 People who are wil ing to imitate the behaviour of another culture.

 People who do not resist the new language and just accept it.

Make sure you have fun

I often see people who feel they have to learn a language, for work or for a test. Somehow these people often have trouble. They run into a wal . They stagnate. They just seem unable to achieve the kind of fluency they want or need.

People who enjoy the language do better. They do not even have to be surrounded by the language. These are people who enjoy listening and reading, who enjoy exploring the language, the history, the culture and the romance of the language. These people do wel , no matter where they live.

No learning without motivation

I remember one French company we approached about using our language system. They wil only pay for English language instruction for those employees who have demonstrated an ability and wil ingness to study English on their own, using some self-study method. Should we not expect the same of any language student, whether corporate, immigrant or university student, in other words whenever the cost of study is being covered by someone else?

Someone once said that to ensure that a person shows up to study, you either have to pay them or make them pay. That is not always true. The intrinsic motivation of a personal interest is the strongest of al , but sometimes we need to see the proof!

Find the time

There is a lot of money spent on English training in large and smal corporations. From what I can gather it can consist of a limited amount of contact with an English language instructor, often a native English speaker. This contact can be as seldom as once a week and often in a group. In the period between these English learning sessions the employee-students often do very little, because they are either too busy or not very interested. I suspect that people who are interested manage to find the time.

Uncertainty

To be a successful language learner you have to deal with uncertainty. You have to accept that there wil always be words that you do not understand, and words that you pronounce wrong. There wil always be times when you do not real y get your meaning across as clearly or elegantly as you would like. You may meet someone or phone someone and the communication is more difficult than you would like. There can even be rejection.

Once you accept this as part of the adventure of language learning you are on your way. If you can actual y enjoy the experience, the chal enge of overcoming these difficulties and seeing them gradual y become smal er, then you wil enjoy learning. If you enjoy learning you wil improve.

Language improvement is so gradual and so uneven that it is easy to get discouraged.

Therefore, especial y for adult learners, it is important to just enjoy the process. The more you can learn from interesting and meaningful content, the more enjoyable the experience can be.

The less you are forced to be accurate or correct, the better.

So I always say. Do not expect perfection from yourself, but constantly work to improve.

And learn to accept uncertainty—it is one of the charms of language learning.

Speak when you feel like it

So when is the best time to start speaking? Some say we should start speaking from the beginning. I prefer to build up some knowledge and familiarity with the language first by listening and reading. Who is right? The answer, to me, is obvious.

You do what you want to do. The overwhelming principle for the self -directed language learner is that it should be fun. If it is fun you wil keep doing it. If you feel like speaking right away, speak. If you do not want to, don't. If you speak, do not worry about your mistakes—you wil eventual y make fewer mistakes.

Passive learning