The Secret To Learning Any Foreign Language: Spanish, Chinese, you name it

Study abroad programs offer the fastest way to fluency. There is no question about that. You get the language in so many ways: you read the street signs, the menus, hear the people at the bus stop, the list goes on and on.

Yet, there are people that have had a hard time with language learning, regardless of where they are.  For many of these people, they don’t feel studying abroad is the answer because for them learning a foreign language is not going to happen.

Well, nothing could be further from the truth. Just follow these simple tips.

#1 - You are officially a new foreign language student. The emphasis is on NEW because you will be starting from scratch. It’s time to forget about the low test scores, the feeling of ineptitude and the belief that speaking another language wasn’t possible.

Once in your new country you begin again and therefore can start to collect “good moments” instead of reliving the “bad moments.

#2 - You are in charge of your success. Why does this matter? Well, as a current language teacher, I know that students progress according to their own timetables. Yet, when I tell this to a student, they only look at the others in the class and compare. When they see others progressing faster, they get discouraged.

Now, you can become the person that decides how things are going. If you think you want to speak better, make the decision to get out and hang with the natives more. If you need to understand better, find a radio and an interesting station and get busy. When you’ve made some progress, celebrate. Just remember that you are the one who decides how well you need to do in order to celebrate.

#3 - You are a “hands-on” learner. In other words, you aren’t the type of student that can learn a language in a classroom. Don’t worry, you are one of many (and remember, I’m a Spanish teacher). You need to be in the culture with the language all around you. Once there, you will see how quickly you pick things up, compared to the days in class when it appeared nothing ever stuck.

You can learn Spanish or French or even Chinese if you decide it’s worthwhile. Traveling to the country in a Study Abroad program is the fastest and easiet way to get going.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008 at 10:59 am and is filed under Study Abroad. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.