Myths that hinder you to learn a new language

I’ve heard this kind of stuff from people so many times. I used to believe it myself. The problem is that sometimes people don’t check up on the facts, they tend to trust what they’ve read or heard somewhere. Instead of achievements, they rely on their failures.

Here are four main myths that hinder you to learn a new language.

1. “I’m naturally bad at languages”

This fable has been repeated by people for years. Some mysterious talent for languages is, in fact, exaggerated. Even globalization doesn’t help hopeless learners to get rid of the idea that nature deprived them of a language learning talent. The question is – if you are horrible at language learning, how on earth did you learn your own language? You will be partially right if you say that learning a new language and speaking your mother tongue is not the same. Partially. But for your brain there is no difference, because you learn new information at any rate. Only the way of learning makes a difference – whether you have copied your parents and people around as a child or you’ve learnt something on purpose. Unfortunately, the concept of learning imposed on us by the school system is pretty pathetic. After 10 years of English lessons we still can’t have a proper conversation with a native speaker. It made us believe that we are untalented at language learning. Unfortunately, 90% of the school program is focused on grammar, it’s full of low-quality learning materials and old books. The majority of teachers are just part of the same ineffective learning system.

Indeed, the language is just coded information. The language diversity has historical and geographical grounds. Learning is an absolutely natural process for a human being, otherwise you would not even be able to hold a spoon.

Have you ever thought why in multilingual countries children naturally speak 2-3 languages? Bilingual kids have never thought about if they have a talent for it. They just repeat what they hear. If you build your learning program in the right way, you will be able to create a comfortable language environment for you.

From my own experience: I started to learn English when I was 5 years old at a special private school. I remember teachers would always complain to my mom about me being constantly distracted. They said that I would not be able to learn English ever. Then 10 years of useless English lessons at school. Almost all my teachers considered me untalented in language. I was afraid of asking many things about which I didn’t understand. I was literally terrified to make mistakes. I was convinced languages are not my cup of tea. I went through a bunch of language internships and schools. The language barriers and insecurity pursued me even when my English started to improve. Eventually, Youtube blogs, English podcasts, movies and books were the key. Apart from this, you have to have a natural interest in some sources, that are not translated into your mother tongue. I literally absorbed the American accent and the spoken language. I’m not showing off, but a couple of times people took me for an American or at least couldn’t guess where I was from.

Don’t’ listen to anybody. Just follow your own path.

2. There is a method of learning that works for everybody.

Private schools actively promote their unique methods, which will help you to learn a language. Effortlessly. For “X” amount of money. And for one month. Some of them are reasonable. The rest are just rubbish. They might even work, but the thing is that you don’t really need them.

Stop blindly believing in universal methods to learn a language, be a great writer or artist. Each and everyone has a unique personality, which makes it impossible to put everyone in to the same box of perception.

It’s odd if a person with some psychological problems has been attending the same psychologist for 10 years. It called lack of professionalism. Likewise, for some reason attending the same language tutor for years and not being able to maintain a conversation in English is considered normal. Stereotypically, we tend to think that a good teacher has to stick to you like a glue and tell you what to do, when in fact you need him only at the very beginning for basics. A good teacher will help you to choose your own path. For the better and worst, nobody can tell what works better individually for you except of your own self.

I acknowledge that effective methods definitely exist, and might work for the majority. They are mostly based on certain principles such as language acquisition by listening and talking. Nevertheless, don’t follow any theory thoughtlessly. Take the basics and adapt it for yourself individually. The secret is inside of you.

3. Learning a language takes all of your free time

Many people believe that for learning a language you have to leave everything and fully dive into it. In the case where you are a hyperpolyglot or a translator it is true.

In fact, 10 minutes is more than enough for maintaining or learning a new language. It might take a lot of time initially, when the language is absolutely new to you. The frequency is crucial. Even short daily lessons are better than long hours of intensive learning once a week. It will take you double the effort to remember something you’ve learnt a week ago and inevitably forgot.

You have to be in love with the routine itself. You have to be charmed by the language.

It has to become your reality, the habit you can’t live without. But nothing matters if you don’t really enjoy the process.

4. You have to choose a language pragmatically even if you don’t like it

First of all, learning a language you don’t like is some kind of violence. The language is alive, it changes. It has its own energy and history. For instance, if you hate English, you don’t have to struggle learning it just because it’s useful. Language won’t be useless as long as you like it and want to speak it.

Secondly, learning a language you are not interested in is totally ineffective. You will hardly achieve any result.

The learning process has to be exciting and even give you goose bumps. It will become the only unbreakable motivation when you are tired, lazy or have had a bad day.

Sometimes people live in a country for years, but never really learn the local language. The reason is lack of motivation. They might be satisfied with their limited vocabulary enough for simple interaction.

The beauty of the language world. What happens once you dive in there.

1. Whoever you are by your nationality, it doesn't really define you as a person anymore. I mentally feel like a global citizen. I don't even know if there is a place I can settle down for the rest of my life. But the most important thing is that you become more tolerant and open-minded.

2. Language structures and word roots become magically mesmerizing after learning a couple of languages. You want to dive into it deeper and deeper. You don't limit the possible number of languages to be learnt.

3. A versatile world perception. When you were born, you would initially recognize an object in a picture :

only visually. After trying it, you get to know the taste. Then you've learnt that it's an apple. When for most people, they would only call it an apple , you discover that it's also - une pomme, una mela, der Apfel, una manzana and so on. And you would never want to go back to your previous perception.

4. Over time, languages start to connect between each other and help you in learning new ones. Let's say, you read a book and you recognize unknown words by their roots from other languages you've learnt before.

The conclusion: stop falling into a trap of illusion that someody has to teach you. Stop believing, that once you show up in the USA or the United Kingdom you'll improve your English immediately. Stop listening to everybody, but not yourself. Accept the fact that learning a language is completely under your own responsibility. Don't follow other's judgements, create your own path.

#Languagelearning