Part 2 - What does it Really Take to Learn a Foreign Language?

Use Additional Foreign Language Learning Resources

Yes, most certainmly you can still use additional resources to fine-tune a linguistic point, clear up a bit of confusion, add on an expression or two and push your vocabulary a bit higher if you’d like. I recommend supplementing your immersion experiences with a bilingual dictionary, a phrase book, a foreign language only dictionary, a CD, DVD or audio-cassette-based foreign language course of the tongue or dialect you’re actively immersed in and working on. For that matter, you can even contract a tutor in your foreign language to help get and keep you on track. Use any or all the added language learning resources you like. Just bear in mind, language learning methods number one, two and three are:

Get out there, do things, immerse yourself in the language and talk, talk, talk.

“But I’ll sound like an idiot.”

Well maybe a bit at first, but even when you botch something – and you probably will at times – the little old ladies, the vendor or the mechanic, among throngs of other native speakers of the foreign language you’ll engage, will answer your question, give you the information you want, and then likely correct your speech (after a chuckle or two, naturally). This is opposed to your sounding like an idiot while “practicing” with a classmate, who doesn’t know either, and their answering back – sounding like an idiot too. Neither of you knowing what you’re doing “wrong”. It happens so often it’s almost passe. Get off the foreign language learning merry-go-round and go for total immersion as soon as you can.

Foreign Language Learning Errors are Not Fatal

Hey, wanna hear a good one? Once, years ago on a brutally hot afternoon, I confused “Tengo calor” (I’m hot - from the weather) with “Estoy caliente” (I’m horny) while talking with a female co-worker. While this could also possibly mean I'm hot from a fever or illness, the look on her face was priceless. It also immediately told me I’d committed a serious faux pas. She immediately corrected me and explained the difference in the two sentences (which both can be translated to mean I’m hot, but are culturally different)– before a good laugh by both of us. Quite possibly, in a foreign language class, this “mistake” could have gone unnoticed and uncorrected. Foreign language learning errors are not fatal, at least the overwhelmingly vast majority of the time they’re not. By far and large they’re more humorous and occassionally a bit embarrassing, but you’ll live, to screw up yet another day.

Again, “The more you immerse yourself in it, the faster and more easily you will become fluent in any foreign language.” That’s my down-to-earth, hard and fast rule. Anything else you might say, do or be is just added icing on the cake.

Now suck up your courage, start packing your bags and get ready to make some dramatic foreign language learning progress.


Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an EFL Teacher Trainer, Intellectual Development Specialist, author and speaker. He has written ESP, foreign language learning, English language teaching texts and hundreds of articles used in more than 135 countries. Get your FREE E-book, “If you Want to Teach English Abroad, Here's What You Need to Know" by requesting the title at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com Need a blogger or copywriter to promote your school, institution, service or business or an experienced writer and vibrant SEO content for your website, blog or newsletter? Then E-mail me for further information.

The Rosetta Stone experiment

The Rosetta Stone experiment

By Braden Cundiff | IDS (Indiana Daily Student)

http://www.idsnews.com/news/story.aspx?id=68393


As a future educator and student, I decided that it is my duty to solve one of life’s biggest mysteries: Rosetta Stone. Any person who has seen a Rosetta Stone advertisement has debated the idea of learning a new language.

The motivations for learning a second language vary from Italian pickup lines at Kilroy’s Sports Bar to being able to decipher a primary source in a history class.

The commercials are convincing – they say they even have the support of NASA and the U.S. military. The Wall Street Journal endorses it as well, and with a starting price of $260, it better be a legitimate program.

The issue is whether Rosetta Stone works effectively enough to warrant the investment of so much time and money.

Well, I have taken it upon myself to try it on my own.

Yep, I fell hook, line and sinker for the made-for-TV product. I want to have a basis of Mandarin before I travel to China next spring, so I purchased Rosetta Stone and have been trying it for about two weeks.

I work 15 to 30 minutes a day and have been impressed so far.

The software works in such a way that you associate pictures and sounds with words. You start with basic words and phrases and it builds up your knowledge base slowly. It also requires you to speak into a microphone and repeat the words or phrases. The system records your voice and even plays it back to you.

It is a far cry from the dreary days of IU’s Proyecto Ancla, and it avoids the usual monotony that comes with language learning. However, I have already started to notice some issues, the first being that talking into a headset trying to speak Chinese brings a flurry of comments from the roommates. Either be prepared for the jokes they will make, or start locking yourself in a room. By the way, I have found the second choice to be the most effective.

The second obstacle is that it is not a quick process. The Rosetta Stone system is developed in such a way that it requires a person to stay active in the program for several months. This could pose a big problem when it comes to staying motivated, especially when you are trying to do additional learning outside of classes.

It’s important to remember why you are learning the language to combat motivation problems. For example, if I don’t continue to study, I might be ordering fish eyes instead of french fries.

So you can imagine my desire for learning Mandarin before next spring. That desire and the effectiveness of Rosetta Stone so far give me hope that a TV commercial’s product may just work.

At the two-week mark of the experiment, I would have to give Rosetta Stone a B+. Check in again in a month for a new report.






Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an EFL Teacher Trainer, Intellectual Development Specialist, author and speaker. He has written ESP, foreign language learning, English language teaching texts and hundreds of articles used in more than 135 countries. Get your FREE E-book, “If you Want to Teach English Abroad, Here's What You Need to Know" by requesting the title at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com Need a blogger or copywriter to promote your school, institution, service or business or an experienced writer and vibrant SEO content for your website, blog or newsletter? Then E-mail me for further information.