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June 23, 2010

Committing To Your Language Learning Success

I’ve met many people who have tried to learn languages in the past.  Almost every one of them has had to face and overcome struggles along the way.  The difference in those who actually succeeded and those that didn’t often came down to one thing: commitment.

Being committed to your language learning goals isn’t as simple as telling yourself how hard you’re willing to work at it.  It represents very real dedication to the work you’re faced with.  When you’re committed, you:

  1. Put heavy importance on your language learning sessions.  Surely, a movie on TV or a drink with your officemates isn’t about to take precedence to your scheduled sessions with a language practice software if you’re committed.   While you’re not about to make it more important than family or work, it should rank right up there among your primary focus.
  2. Take failure at face value.   Failure is part of learning.  Being committed means accepting that and forging on despite the challenges.  Giving up isn’t in the committed learner’s vocabulary.
  3. Perform all needed tasks, regardless of difficulty.  I’ve known many language learners who do things that they find daunting half-heartedly, whether that be seeking out interaction opportunities or long-drawn exercises that can take considerable time.  Committed learners do all tasks to the best of their abilities – they know that giving half an effort doesn’t help their cause.
July 31, 2009

Taking Responsibility For Your Language Learning Success

When you’re studying a language, it’s not unusual to lose sight of who’s responsible for your success.  This is especially true when you’re attending a language learning class, where the instructor is easy fodder for blaming when things don’t go your way.

I’ve known people who have taken language lessons for years, yet continue to have little to show for it.  When asked about why their advancement seems slow, they pass off the blame elsewhere, pointing at their incompetent teacher, the poor quality of their language learning software or the lack of opportunities to practice speaking.

Why It’s Wrong

Allowing someone or something else to be responsible to your success is a bad idea.  Why?  Because it’s irrelevant.

Say you were training ten new employees in the office and two of them just don’t get it.  When asked what was the problem, they put the blame at you, saying you didn’t have enough teaching skills to be able to properly impart the skill to them.  Is it really your fault?

Truth is, they had more to lose not understanding the lessons compared to you.  As such, the pressure was on them to adapt and figure out what you were teaching.  If they didn’t take the initiative to ask you or put in extra study time, it’s their loss.

Taking Responsibility

At the end of the day, you are the only one responsible for your success.  Everyone and everything else are there to help you succeed (and a good teacher may be such a blessing), but actually making it happen all hinges on you.

July 29, 2009

Speaking A Language Poorly: The Next Step To Success

For intermediate language learners, the next step to success is usually not as obvious.  You’ll need to learn to speak the language poorly.  Yes, poorly.  Let me explain.

While you may have focused much of your early studies on grammar and structure, advancing beyond the first phase of language learning means developing your full abilities as a speaker.  That means moving from the focus on grammatical correctness to developing the confidence to use the language on a regular basis.

And that’s where a lot of language learners slip up.

To effectively master a language as quickly as possible, you need to do three things, in addition to following the lessons in your language learning software: immerse yourself into as much input as possible, apply it in real-world conversations and get a deeper sense of the background of its native speakers.  Both the first and third items can be done by the same diligent study that you apply to working on your language software; the second, however, can only be done by stepping out into the world and applying everything you’ve learned so far.

The only way to achieve flawless speech is by continually engaging in interactions, regardless of how poorly you may be able to communicate.  This real-world application is the only thing that can really offer you direct feedback as to your current level of ability, showing you errors and letting you correct them in real time.
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