You can endlessly do three things: watch the fire burn, observe the water flow, and unsuccessfully try to learn a foreign language for years. So, you’ve once again taken up French, German, or Korean? There has never been a better time to take this decisive step!
But let’s go all the way this time and not give up halfway? What will help us do this? We at AdmiGram.com know all the reasons why people quit learning foreign languages. And it’s not our intellectual abilities, age, and other seemingly obvious reasons. It’s all about the following!
10 most obvious mistakes when learning a foreign language
We have unclear goals. Why are we learning a foreign language? To read and speak fluently? That’s not an answer, just some impersonal aspirations. The answer always implies the word “why”. For a career, for emigration, for work, for studying — these are examples of correct answers.
We don’t understand how to learn. The learning process is a whole system of knowledge, skills, and abilities that work differently for each individual. You need to experiment, search, and build your learning process, not torture yourself with the same thing.
We lack discipline. Discipline is the key to everything. You can’t approach learning anything superficially or as some kind of entertainment. Learning a foreign language should be like a labor of love, regular and clear at the allotted time.
We feel awkward speaking the language we’re learning. We’re all afraid of making mistakes or looking foolish. But learning a language is not one of those cases. Take it as a unique opportunity to feel like children again and learn the language with a native speaker. It should be fun, not scary or embarrassing.
We drown in formalism. Learning a language is not about cramming a textbook or memorizing tables. It’s something more, encompassing the psychology of perceiving the world, culture, mentality, traditions, habits, and so on. Learning a language is like painting the world with all sorts of colors.
We give up easily. We give up when it gets tough or there’s no result. When you feel like giving up, it’s better to take a break. And think, ask, peek at what others are doing that will definitely yield results and inspire you to continue.
We don’t immerse ourselves enough. Not everyone has the opportunity to directly communicate with a native speaker. But there are a million ways around to immerse yourself in the environment of a foreign language. Don’t ignore TV series, podcasts, computer games, books, TV, and other content in the language you’re learning.
We focus too much. Overzealousness doesn’t always bear fruit; it often has the opposite effect. Learning a language should be more like a pleasant romantic dinner procedure than an attempt to mess up cooking Fugu fish.
We don’t ask for help. The point of learning a language is to communicate with people. At some point, we’ll need the help of others to keep learning. It could be a tutor, a native speaker, or a member of an online community. Don’t be shy about it.
We don’t switch into the language we’re learning. When we want to say something, we think about it in our native language and then translate it into the language we’re learning. It’s a trap. It’s very important to get rid of this habit, even if we feel like we’re thinking too slowly in the foreign language.
