Learn Foreign Language

Articles on Learning | Topics: learning, learn, study, studying

by Omar Alvarez

I have never quite understood how to learn a foreign language. It is a shame too. Learning a foreign language is pretty necessary in this day and age. If you learn foreign language, it makes you more employable in a variety of areas, as well as enhancing your cultural experience. Say what you want about modern translations, but until you learn foreign languages you never get to experience the beauty of foreign writers. Nevertheless, I have only managed to learn a foreign language once, and it was so difficult for me that I doubt I will ever try it again. It was just too much work!

I managed to get all the way through college without ever successfully completing a learn foreign language program. I took a little bit of French in high school, but I dropped it after a couple of semesters. In general, I was a good student. Most subjects came easy to me, but I couldn't manage to learn foreign language no matter how hard I tried. I loved French culture and French literature, and I desperately wanted to learn how to speak French, but it just wouldn't come. I ended up taking an American sign language class to get rid of my learn foreign language requirement. Even that was difficult!

Quote of the Day

He had never learned to live without delight. And he would have to learn to, just as, in a Prohibition country, he supposed he would have to learn to live without sherry. Theoretically he knew that life is possible, may be even pleasant, without joy, without passionate griefs. But it had never occurred to him that he might have to live like that.

—Willa Cather (1873–1947)

I struggled with learning a foreign language all through college. I went to a liberal arts university that demanded it, and I knew that I could not graduate with the degree that I wanted unless I managed to learn foreign language. I tried using how to speak French software, hiring a private tutor, and working with conversation partners, but nothing worked. I only successfully managed to learn foreign language when I finally went abroad. I spent a year in France, and it was one of the most difficult years of my life. Ultimately, however, it was also one of the most rewarding. I would never have managed to learn foreign language without it, you see.

To this day, I believe that the only way to really learn foreign languages is to completely immerse yourself in another culture. If you can speak English at all, you will not learn how to speak a foreign language. Instead, you will keep falling back on your English skills. If you need to learn foreign language in order to interact on a daily basis, however, it will come much more quickly. If I learned a foreign language in a year, you can probably do it using the same methods in six months!

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Please note: All personal opinions expressed in the "Learn Foreign Language" article belong to the contributing author and are not necessarily shared by SloanSemester.org.

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