How To Overcome Obstacles When Learning A Language

 

They often say that "we are our worst critics".


Have you heard this before? I am sure that you have. This saying has alot of truth to it although many might not think so. I think that it definitely has its place also when a person wants to learn a language.

Some of the very road blocks or obstacles that learners face sometimes are created by themselves. These obstacles in the learning process are what often hold individuals back from progressing with a language. However, in my opinion, I think obstacles should be viewed as a real challenge. Now what I want you to do now is to consider a few common critical statements, that when used by people often serve as an obstacle in accomplishing their goals.

1) I can't learn because I'm too old...
2) I don't have enough time to learn a language...
3) I don't have the brains to remember things like you do..
4) I will never be able to learn (X language)...because it's too hard..it's too difficult..or even
5) People say that...(riding off of other comments or opinions people make)

These statements represent just a few of the many excuses and exaggerations that many use to get out of learning a language. They even use variations of these to get out learning other things in life. It's just like I mentioned before, we are our worst critics. We can talk can sometimes talk ourselves out something even before giving it try.

How can you overcome these obstacles?

1) Be determined from the beginning that you will succeed at your new venture of learning a language. 
One of the best ways to stay focused and determined is by having goals. Goals keep you on schedule and also motivated not to quit.




2) Avoid making excuses.
My definition of an "excuse" is a "premeditated escape from the truth". We often think hard about something in question and "create" or "invent" a reason to convince ourselves that we can't do something in life. This is simply a quick way to avoid the real truth - that we can achieve it, we just haven't discovered the way yet.

Think about it, if you want to do something, let's say raise money for a vacation or a special event. Although you might not initially count with the resources (possible excuse), you always find a way. Why? Because of its importance to you. This drives you to find a way to raise the money to fulfill that need or goal. The same is for learning a language. Don't make excuses. Focus on your goal and its benefits. Find other methods that will help you to reach your goal.

3) Tell others about your goal to learn a language.
When you tell friends and others, they will likely help you along the way by encouraging you. They also want to know your progress. Natives feel very proud to help others learn their language so why not tell some that you are learning. 

These are just a few things from the very beginning to help you overcome and address certain obstacles that might be presented in the language learning process. By applying these you will learn a language with time and never allow anything nor anybody deter you from achieving your goal!

Google Translate Tool - How To Use It To Learn A Language

There are many free tools online that you can utilize to learn a language or to learn more words in your targeted language. One cool tool that you can make use of is the Google translator (translate.google.com).

 


It's quite simple to use and quite effective. When you arrive to the site, you want to first select the language that you would like to start with (For example English). Then select the language in which you would like the words translated into..(For example Spanish). Once you begin to type the English words inside of the box, a Spanish translation will be rendered.

One cool thing about this translation is that you can also hear the words pronounced for you in that language. This is great because it helps you to understand how to say it correctly. Or you could take a word or phrase in Spanish and get the English equivalent for it by simply switching the settings for translation (Spanish -> English). These are basically the positives of using the Google translating tool to learn a language.

However, although effective, there are a few minor disadvantages to using it. Although you can receive quick renditions or translations of words, this tool as with many other online tools have their limitations. The only real limitation that this tool has is with how much you type into the box.

For example, it is better to type small phrases or single sentences versus copying and pasting LONG paragraphs for translation. The reason for this in my opinion is due simply to the way these translations are rendered. Computer softwares are giving you the translations, not humans. This means that sometimes if you type in slang terms, it is possible to get a translation that is not so accurate. Or if you type long paragraphs versus short sentences or phrases, sometimes punctuation marks might be omitted or lost in translation when verted into the targeted language. Again, this is due largely in part to computer softwares and not breathing human beings that are rending these translations. Most online translations have this problem. However, amist this minor glitch, online tools like Google Translate are pretty good to help you learn many new words in a language.

I think that Google Translate is effective and can get you results to help you to learn the basics, however, with anything in life, learning involves being willing to employ various methods to achieve any goal. And that is precisely what I encourage any learner to do in order to speak and master a language.

Tips For Learning A Language: Building Relationships

Here is a simple tip to help you to learn a language. This is a basic tip that applies to any language that you would like to learn, but many forget to apply it in the learning process. The tip is to take time to build relationships.

How will building relationships help you to learn a language? Well, it's quite simple. The more relationships you with natives of different backgrounds and cultures that speak your targeted language will help you to become more immersed in the language. There is something that natives of ANY language can teach you that you will never learn on your own nor from any textbook.

When you build relationships with natives you will be exposed to other ways of expressing the same thing in that language. For example, let's say that you would like to learn French. You can learn from French-speaking natives from Haiti, Senegal, Benin, Canada or even France just name to name a few countries. You can learn various ways to express different things as natives would in their respective countries. The benefit to this is that it will help you to widen out, expand your horizons, and become more proficient in the language. This is also beneficial in the event that later you would like to serve perhaps as an interpreter for the language. Now that have taken the time to learn and study French not only from some "textbook" or "one specific group" of native speakers, you will now be able to translate various idiomatic expressions that are used because you are familiar with them.

This is what really helps to make a person more proficient with a language. It's being exposed to every thing BREATHES speaking the language you want to learn. It's like learning to cook. You learn one way in the beginning. Then you learn from others that can teach other ways to prepare the same dish with a few additional ingredients. By taking the time to build relationships helps to achieve your very objective - to learn a language!

How To Learn A Language By Watching TV

Tv isn't just for entertaining! You can also use it to learn a language! Try this....
Every time you order or watch a movie or program try to use subtitles. Just about every DVD has an option to select subtitles. If your movie has an option to view the subtitles in your targeted language..let's say Spanish for example..then watch them in Spanish.

I think it is great to watch movies in English while viewing the subtitles in another language. In this way you can learn and pick out news words and expressions in that language. This helps your reading and also your comprehension skills. This works even better with movies that you have already seen before also perhaps more than once. Being that you already familiar with the word contents in English and scenes, now the next time seeing the movie you will be focusing more on the new language.

You could do the same by viewing the movie in (example Spanish) the language and then have the subtitles in English to now focus on hearing the Spanish equivalents of the English. This method is simple and fun because you will doing something that you already like to do and that is  - watching tv! However, at the same time you will be learning new things simultaneously! You know kids do this all day day long and more so being unconscious of the fact. They have programs like Dora the Explorer which deliver words in both Spanish and English. Kids absorb these entertaining themes everyday and never forget what they learn. My 5 year old niece loves this cartoon and has already learned some Spanish words.

So watching tv is great and even better when you use it to your advantage to help you learn your targeted language. If not movies, try to see if you cable company has special packages that offer channels in your targeted language. Most companies do and it can be reasonable depending on how many channels you select. Sometimes you can even streamline or get international channels directly from other countries live. Try to find at least one station that you can watch (Ex Univision, Telemundo, etc) that you can use to help you find tune your ears and get more exposure to the language.

Which foreign languages are the easiest to learn for beginners?

Did you know that are more than 6,000 languages spoken worldwide? According to the Linguistics Society of America, they placed it at around 6,800 languages. That's a very impressive statistic would you say? No doubt! But with all of these languages, which are the easiest to learn for beginners?

Some might argue that English is the easiest language to learn. Others perhaps with side the Latin-based one such Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese just to name a few. But, what do you think?

I could be wrong but I personally think that it is easier to learn any Latin-based language for most beginners. Why do I say this? Well, for the obvious. All of them are corelated and follow a simple grammatical structure which basically repeats itself. The only difference is a slight (not drastic) change or variation in the pronouciation of words. 

One of the benefits of learning any of these is that once the beginner learns one of them, the rest are a piece of cake. A learner can establish a simple system for learning new ones once he understands and masters one. I liken it to a person learning to cook. You can take one dish that everyone loves and then personalize it and put your own spin to it. The same ingredients are used, however, this time the cook changes slighly the recipe.

Latin-based are easy to learn and great because on many occasions you can speak with others using one language and they can understand you although it's not there mother tongue. For example, let's say that I am French and speak to someone who is Italian. Due to the very close similarities in our languages, we can understand each other and communicate.

So if you learn one Latin-based language, it will far easier for you to learn another in a very short time. I can definitely relate to this because I was able to learn Spanish in this same fashion. Don't get me wrong, I did have to work hard and study the language. Something that I noticed was that many of the Spanish words when reading them were just like French. There was only a slight variation in pronouciation. That helped to speed up the learning process.

The point that I would like to arrive at is that learning any language will some lots of time, energy and real work. It doesn't matter whether it's considered one of the easiest languages to learn or of the hardest. All languages will present some challenges. The idea is to NEVER give up and keep going at it because before long you will expreience the benefits of speaking another language!

Simple Tips for Learning Languages & Studying Tips

Let's start out by mentioning that it is never good to assume that grammer in your targeted language will be governed by the sames grammatical rules that are followed in the English language. Big mistake! Why? Most languages have their own pronouns and genders attached to nouns along with rules for adjectives that don't exist in the English language. Sometimes you might even notice that the way some words are read are not in the same direction as in English. It could be from back to front as in Hebrew and similar languages.

Another thing to keep present is that with language learning most books are not laid out in a way that promotes quick speaking. Most textbooks focus more on learning vocabulary and expressions. I prefer books that give you vocabulary and expressions, then prompt you to speak to pronounce and practice them with others. One really good book that does this is "Creole Made Easy" by Wally R. Turnbull. This is a great paperback that gets you speaking instantly with the basics of the Haitian Creole language versus procrastinating years with the idea of having to learn everything before trying to speak what you know. You can conduct a search online or even your local bookstores for books that are conducive to quick speaking.

Another great tip for language learning are radio stations. Many times you can streamline radio stations online in your targeted language. This helps to hear the language and fine-tune your ear although the language might not be spoken locally where you live. Another benefit to using these radio stations is that they are free and don't cost you anything. I think that music is one the best ways to learn a language. It helps you to learn and understand more about culture, beliefs, the people, and of course you can learn some slang. Slang is good to learn because most natives use it and it is also something that you will never learn in any textbook. So listening to music in your targeted language is a great way to help you embrace the language and understand how to pronounce words correctly just as natives do.

Reading is also another important element to learning a language. Speaking is good, however reading is also key. One way that you help improve your reading skills is to start with perhaps some kids books. Now wait a minute! Don't frown when you hear "kid's books"! I think that books for kids always use vocabulary that is easy to understand. It's simple and that is what you need in the beginning stages of language learning. Kids learn to express themselves quickly in simple words and always get their point across. You can too. Then later as you go on progressing you can get perhaps some more weightier novels. This way you can get deeper into the language.

Is There Really A Secret To Learning A Language?

If you are learning a language or deciding which language to learn, maybe you have wondered if there really is a secret to doing it. I have seen tons of websites and videos online that claim to have a SECRET to learning  a language. This video below explains and gives my point of view on this matter as a linguist. It explains what it really takes to learn a language and really become more proficient at it.