How to learn a foreign language
We firstly need to dispel some deeply ingrained myths about how to learn a foreign language. Research has shown the following myths to be untrue.
Myth 1: It is impossible to learn a foreign language after a certain age.
Untrue. Whatever your age, if you want to learn, you can learn. The best time to start learning is now…
Myth 2: Children are much better at learning foreign languages than adults
Untrue. Children and adults learn languages differently. Research has shown that given the right language resources and language input, adults can learn just as well as children and, furthermore, in some aspects of language learning, outperform children.
Myth 3: A child can only be taught a foreign language by a teacher or a native speaker.
Untrue. Children can learn from a parent who is not fluent. The important aspect is that the parent is available to learn alongside their child and interact. Fluency is not necessary.
Myth 4: Learning technical grammar is a pre-requisite to mastering a foreign language.
Untrue. Children have learned a language perfectly well without ever knowing the technical grammatical components of it. Some experts believe that excessive focus on grammar can actually impede learning.
Often people are put off learning a second language before they even start. They think that they are too old; don’t have a gift for languages; don’t have a fluent teacher; or that they will get stuck on grammar. Now we know we these are phantom problems, we can set about establishing the best, quickest and easiest ways to learn a language. More coming soon!
The key is to use the right tools – or in the case of language learning, the right MFL resources.
Related articles
- Top Tips for learning a second language (languagepie.wordpress.com)
[…] ← Hello world! Destroying the myths around learning a foreign language → […]
[…] Your next decision is critical…how to learn a language. If you’re anything like me you’ll just want to get stuck in – buy some support materials and learn. That is fine except many language system are actually very poor – in fact some don’t work at all. The result? You find it difficult, you become demotivated and start to believe that you don’t have the skills to learn (which is simply untrue). […]