things about learning languages

If I had a time machine...

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I started learning languages as a serious hobby just over ten years ago. It started out as a slow and frustrating process, and I never truly believed that I would ever really be able to speak and understand any language as well as my native Spanish.

here are a few things I’d tell myself a few years ago:

Fluency is a myth

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There is no magic fluency activated moment while learning a foreign language. It just gradually gets easier to express your thoughts and feelings and understand others, but you will always have those same wobbles and moments of insecurity.

Plus, it’s not helpful to compare your new languages to the one you grew up speaking. Your native language will always be better, unless you literally go and live in another country for decades and never speak it again.

And even then, there are certain words, certain expressions and certain cultural references that you will certainly have missed.

Nobody is judging your accent

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I used to really obsess over getting my pronunciation perfect. What nobody told me, though, is that it never really would be perfect, and – unless I was going to work as a spy – it never needed to be.

Most people will be so happy to hear a native English speaker trying to speak their language that they will shower you with praise, even if they spotted your accent a mile off.

Besides, would you rather be able to say a few words very well or literally know thousands upon thousands of words, expressions and idioms that make you sound like a genius? I know which I would prefer.

Life is long, why rush learning?

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To me, learning languages is a joy. It’s an exciting journey which takes time and gives me the chance to learn more about myself and the world around me. The only way to really learn a language is to love doing it, and if you love something then why would you want it to be over as quickly as possible?

I’ve been studying english and french for fourteen years now and am still learning new things all the time.

Make mistakes

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Sometimes just the thought of saying the wrong word would give me so much anxiety that I would just walk away, rather than risk looking stupid. Then I realised that running away was not helping the problem.

Mistakes are the best way to learn. Most of the time people will either just ignore you and say nothing about it, or politely tell you the correct form.

Those occasions when you’re corrected in the moment are then really memorable, which makes it unlikely that you’ll ever make that same mistake again.

Nobody is perfect

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People always exaggerate their true abilities in a foreign language, and annoyingly are often encouraged by native speakers.

Any time you hear that someone speaks “perfectly” or “flawlessly” or “just like a native”, reach for the salt.

Listen carefully enough and you’ll hear that everybody makes mistakes, everybody gets rusty sometimes, and everybody has moments of self-doubt. Just like you do.

Language learning never stops

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I always imagined there’d be a moment where I’d learned enough to never have to learn again. How wrong I was.

Language learning never stops No matter how much you learn there will always be more to tackle, and plenty to review.

One of my teachers once told me that learning a foreign language is like rowing against the current. The moment you stop rowing, you start drifting backwards again.

So bear in mind that to really make a success of it, learning a new language is something that will always be a part of your life.

Read, and keep reading

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I’ve always had a complicated relationship with reading. I loved books as a kid and could never put them down. Ironically, studying biology at university really put me off.

As an adult, I’ve come back to books and started reading things because I enjoy them again, not just because I feel I should as they are of some profound intellectual value.

Reading books that you enjoy in a foreign language is one of the best ways to learn new words. Books can take you to places that you’ll never visit in real life, and teach you words in a beautifully constructed context that you’d never otherwise experience.

Plus, the first time you finish reading a book in a foreign language from cover to cover is one of those immensely satisfying achievements that you will treasure for ever.