How I Learnt 7 Languages and You Can Too
I am not a naturally gifted language learner — in fact, I might be the opposite of that. I sucked at languages in high school, didn’t particularly care for French class and I definitely did not give any fucks about Arabic class.
I was so bad at Arabic class that my parents put me in Arabic for Foreigners — even though I’m Arab.
Years later I was so forgetful in my Japanese class and made so many mistakes that my much younger classmates called me ‘Obāchan’ (Grandma).
But now, I speak seven languages (all at different levels). And I plan to learn another three.
If you weren’t already convinced, I hope my embarrassing anecdotes were enough to convince you that you can do it. If not, here are some more things to note:
1. The first key to know is that adults learn languages faster than children. So, don’t give me any more excuses.
The top excuses I hear on a daily are ‘I’m too old’ or ‘I don’t have the brain for that.’
My response: you definitely can learn anything.
The fact that children learn faster is bullocks. They are simply unafraid to make mistakes (more on that later), have the right settings, and mostly just have no other choice. If you were immersed in a foreign language for eight hours a day, you’d be pretty fast too.
Don’t believe me? Read this great article with tons of stats by Medium writer
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And another here by a memory and language geek on how adults can learn faster than children, with the right methods.
2. The second thing to know is that you can do it. I promise you can do it. No matter your age, social background, working hours, or any other factor. You can do it. And don’t let anyone tell you otherwise, especially yourself.
If there’s a will, there’s a way — as my dad loves to quote
Now that we’ve covered these two important things, let’s begin!
*Note that when I refer to European language levels, I am using the CEFRL*
5 Step Method to Language Learning
Mindset > Purpose > Method > Planning > Resources
There is no right way to learn a language and it’s very dependent on every person, but here are five steps I found to be crucial to approaching language learning.
1 — Mindset: Have the right mindset and remove your xenoglossophobia (fear of foreign languages)
I could talk about this for days. In every class I’ve ever been, the biggest obstacle for people was themselves.
They get frustrated if they don’t remember words the rest of the class does, they get angry when they find out all things have genders, they get upset when they need to learn more complex grammar, or angry if they do bad on the test, etc.
It’s a process, and you’re not going to remember everything. In most cases and unless you have an excellent mnemonic-making brain, you WILL forget most things at the start.
The reason WHY studies talk about children being better at learning than adults is because they approach it with a simple mind. One of the only real advantages children have over us is they don’t overthink everything they say. They are not afraid to make mistakes because they don’t think anyone will judge them.
“A good beginner learner needs to know to make a lot of mistakes” Benny the Irish Polygot (speaks 11 languages fluently)
Worst Case Scenarios
The worst-case scenario? You make a mistake.
If you say “Could you please tell me where the bathroom is?” or “Bathroom, where?” people will understand you. So go ahead and make mistakes.
There is no worst-case scenario than being in a small store in Italy and saying you want some vaginas (fighe) instead of figs (fichi). Everyone laughs, and we move on. Actual story that happened with my friend Betty and me.
Or, asking for vaginas (kisset) instead of glasses (kasat)
Or, whispering to your girlfriend Your Mother’s Vagina (kiss immik) instead of I Miss you (shta2tillik) Actual stories that happened with my Scottish friend who learned Arabic for his now Palestinian wife.
I’ve told this story to everyone. It’s hilarious.
Moral of the story? It’s all about vaginas.
Other moral of the story? Making mistakes is amazing!
full article here on Medium.
