Nowadays many people want to speak one or even more foreign languages. But some of them give up on it half of the way. You should understand that learning a new language is a difficult process but the result is definitely worth it. If you are too slow in your progress try to think about the mistakes that you probably make:
- Some people who are willing to speak a foreign language look for easy ways to do it. For example, buying self-teachers that promise to make you speak a foreign language in 2 weeks, one month, and so on. Every person who knows how difficult it can be to get knowledge in any field should understand that such self-trainers are usually just a waste of money. It is quite possible to learn a language and get pleasure from it, but you should not look for ease and speed, because you are rebuilding your brain for a different language system. In other words, you start to think differently, develop your personality, and it’s not always easy.
- You are afraid to make mistakes but in fact, that’s how we learn. From the very beginning, you have to practice speaking in your target language. Try to feel yourself Italian, English or American, Spanish, or Chinese – a representative of the nation whose language you are learning, even if you are having a dialogue with yourself. Adopt the characteristic gestures, manner of conversation, pronunciation, and so on.
- You are avoiding difficulties. When you can’t understand something, you may think that it is just too difficult, and you will hardly need it. But the situations when you can’t cope without underused words happen quite often. This is one example. Second, what happens when you constantly avoid problems and difficulties? They will accumulate like an avalanche that knocks you off your feet and pulls you along, and then you will definitely decide that nothing will come of it. If you have a difficult or incomprehensible moment, study it, remember it, repeat it again and again, use it in practice. You do not need to ignore it – you still have to understand it if you really want to know the language. Everything should be learned in time.
- You are not using your favorite books, movies, and TV series to study. It’s always difficult to start watching movies and shows in the original when you absolutely don’t understand what the actors are talking about. Of course, at first, you will not be able to understand almost anything, but certain words or phrases that are often repeated will still be stored in your memory. If not immediately, you will remember them when you see them in the text or dictionary, and it will be easier for you to imagine the context in which they should be used. To make this process a bit easier – turn on the subtitles and watch the movies of which you already know the plot.
- You are not repeating the material. When learning any language you should be guided by the rule of “less but better”. If you think that the phrase you learned yesterday, you will definitely remember in a month, most likely, it is a mistake. Our brain just throws out the same information that we rarely use. Set aside a separate day to simply repeat everything you’ve learned in the previous week or month. This will allow you to consolidate important knowledge in long-term memory and “get” it from there when necessary. You can also use a language learning app like Encore!!! from gurmentor.com to memorize new words and phrases as it uses a special approach to language learning allowing you to study at your own pace and adding custom content for learning. Some people think that they don’t have enough mental skills to learn a foreign language. The others have other excuses, such as lack of time, finances, and so on. But the reasons differ. Though the real truth is that if the person says that he wants to speak a few languages but can’t, it’s only the lack of motivation. There are so many benefits of speaking a few languages. And so many ways to learn them. And if you still think that you don’t need to speak a second language we will try to convince you in the opposite.
Talking about educations:
- If you want to become a student in one of the most prestigious universities, you need to know English, French, or German. Just imagine what perspectives in the career you will get if you finish Cambridge or Harvard, or another well-known and prestigious university. The employers will definitely fight for you.
- You can get access to the most relevant content. If you are fluent in more than one language, this means that more academic materials are available to you in different languages. Use this opportunity to enrich your knowledge. Not all books are translated into all languages.
Talking about the career:
- You have an opportunity to get a bigger salary as in many professions, knowledge of a few languages guarantees tangible financial benefits. In most cases, English remains the most popular. It has the status of a language used for business communication, and over time this trend has only intensified.
- Of course, managers of large corporations would like to invite people, who speak one or even more languages, to their team.
Talking about self-improvement:
- Everybody knows that the knowledge of foreign languages increases intelligence. People who speak two or more languages are more receptive and determined. Also when you’re making an effort to learn a new language – it’s a great way to improve your memory.
- It’s an amazing feeling when you can watch your favorite movie, cartoon, YouTube bloggers, and other stuff without subtitles and understand everything.
- You can travel to a country where people speak the language that you’re learning. It will give you such freedom and the opportunity to make friends among native speakers. If you can speak with locals in their mother tongue, you can explore the places which common tourists won’t even hear about.
- Learning a foreign language helps to prevent mental diseases like Alzheimer’s and dementia. Many people don’t know this fact but it’s a serious reason to at least start studying some language.
To summarise all of the above we should say that if you really want to learn a foreign language there is nothing impossible. Nowadays there are so many ways and opportunities to make this little dream true: from mobile software to personal teacher. Just start and you’ll see that everything is in your hands.
How you can overcome making mistakes?
The best way to have a clear insight into the mistakes you are making is to have someone who will point them each time you make them and show you how you can correct them. As much as we trying, sometimes is hard to do things properly by ourselves. Also, we often become unmotivated and upset when we are making mistakes. For that reason, it would be the best option to have some supervisor that will work with us and make things easier in the learning process. If you are interested, you can consult with the team of experts on the Language Trainers website and find the one that will work for you. Also, if you are more of a person who wants to interact with others, you can choose a group class and make new friends along the way.
