Can Anyone Learn A New Language, Or Am I Just A Bit Thick??

Will it take me forever to learn?

There are, without doubt, difficult languages and easy languages, but I have never heard of a language which was impossible to learn. The difference is the time it takes and the dedication you need to “finish” the language. The easiest languages are those closest to your mother tongue or to another language that you already speak.

You can be looking at a period of around 3 months, if 80% or more words are common with your mother tongue, or 6 months if you don’t have quite so much time to give to studying to become fluent For other languages you may be looking at 2 or 3 years. It is always much easier to learn a new language if you can spend a good amount of time surrounded by people who speak this language, rather than having to learn from a book.

Is it possible for anyone to learn a new language?

Almost any person can learn almost any language if they use the right method, and use it consistently for a decent amount of time. The people that really believe that they have no gift for learning languages are generally those that were discouraged back in their school days. DON’T BELIEVE IT!

Most people can learn foreign languages if they do it the right way. Actually, everybody, gifted or not, with a good or bad memory, learns his mother tongue effortlessly. Of course adults learn differently than children, but the point is that it does not take special skills to be an efficient language learner, just an efficient method.

If you are slightly more mature and move to another country, it is possible to become fluent enough to be able to converse with the locals, but you need to get out there and make an effort. Most people who learn this way will always speak with an accent but that doesn’t matter. The only way that foreign speakers can speak fluently and almost without accent is if they moved to that particular area when they were young and were surrounded by the language on a daily basis.

The important thing is to set realistic goals (the first step is to understand and be understood) and then measure yourself against them to know where you stand. The difference between the mediocre and the oustanding language learner is not so much in the time you need rather in where you decide to stop.

You should realize that you will never stop learning a particular language and that there will nearly always be room for improvement in your skills. Decide to improve your language skills everytime you can and never be satisfied with approximate but sufficient skills. The idea is not to work constantly (you have better things to do) in order to pass, one day, for a native.

Instead, just keep it relaxed, whilst still trying to improve your skills with new words or expressions, or simply work on your pronunciation. Aim for the top and with determination, you will get there!