There are few things as frustrating as having to communicate with another person when neither of you share a common tongue. In some aspects, such as an English-speaking person talking with a Danish-speaking person, it may be possible to understand just enough of a similar tongue to get by. When an English-speaking person has to speak with a Japanese-speaking person, however, you can throw out all hope for a fast resolution of a problem. How exactly can one go about learning another language in the event that they want to travel, move to a new location, or simply improve their mental capabilities? There are many answers to that question, but the easiest one is simple: start young.
Mental Development
The progress that people can make when learning another language at an early age is phenomenal. Linguists and development psychologists are all in agreement that the best time for learning a new set of vocabulary and grammar is when your body and mind is still developing. What a five year old child can learn in one year may take an adult more than five years to learn. This is due to the fact that parts of the brain that deal with memory and speech grow fastest when a child is between four to ten years old, but once a child becomes a teenager, the rate of growth slows down before stopping altogether. The ability of a child to absorb new things can be compared to the way new storage units can accommodate new information, because they are still growing. Since not everyone is a child, the question becomes how can adults who have mature brains learn new languages?
The immersion
Learning a new language is much more complex than learning a task such as how to repair a car. This is because language is used in more than one part of your mind's memory. Rather than simply calling up the words that you need to speak, to fluently talk in another language you will have to replace your understanding of vocabulary and grammar alike, completely changing how you look at constructing a sentence. Ideally, you can focus your mind more efficiently by visiting or living in a country where the language is the primary tongue speaking. When you spend more hours of the day exposed to (and forced to think in) a language other than your native tongue, your brain begins to adapt to the process of thinking in a different language. Since you would only study a foreign language at home for one or two hours a day, conversely, you get only a fraction of the thinking power that you would if every conversation, every road sign, and every television show was in a different language.
Be Realistic , Aim For OK
One reason that many people fail in their quest to learn a new language is that they strive for perfection. When one takes on the challenge of learning a new tongue they will need to stop thinking about getting a perfect translation -- after all, there is no such thing -- and think about how to best get your point across. Success and ideal translations are two very different things. Be happy whenever you can hold a basic conversation or communicate a point, and never be frustrated when you cannot summon the perfect phrasing.
Search the Web
While academic study, textbooks and classrooms can be very handy in helping a person learn another language, the world wide web is without a doubt the greatest resource available for people who wish to learn something new without having to leave their homes. The internet can help you to connect to people living in different parts of the world, find language-specific forums and meetings, communicate via video chat and write posts among other resources that can help you to practice with like-minded people. When you want to travel abroad, you can search the internet using your preferred search engine for activities to engage in, or places to stay that will require you to utilize your newly acquired language skills, and get better at communicating in that language.
Mental Development
The progress that people can make when learning another language at an early age is phenomenal. Linguists and development psychologists are all in agreement that the best time for learning a new set of vocabulary and grammar is when your body and mind is still developing. What a five year old child can learn in one year may take an adult more than five years to learn. This is due to the fact that parts of the brain that deal with memory and speech grow fastest when a child is between four to ten years old, but once a child becomes a teenager, the rate of growth slows down before stopping altogether. The ability of a child to absorb new things can be compared to the way new storage units can accommodate new information, because they are still growing. Since not everyone is a child, the question becomes how can adults who have mature brains learn new languages?
The immersion
Learning a new language is much more complex than learning a task such as how to repair a car. This is because language is used in more than one part of your mind's memory. Rather than simply calling up the words that you need to speak, to fluently talk in another language you will have to replace your understanding of vocabulary and grammar alike, completely changing how you look at constructing a sentence. Ideally, you can focus your mind more efficiently by visiting or living in a country where the language is the primary tongue speaking. When you spend more hours of the day exposed to (and forced to think in) a language other than your native tongue, your brain begins to adapt to the process of thinking in a different language. Since you would only study a foreign language at home for one or two hours a day, conversely, you get only a fraction of the thinking power that you would if every conversation, every road sign, and every television show was in a different language.
Be Realistic , Aim For OK
One reason that many people fail in their quest to learn a new language is that they strive for perfection. When one takes on the challenge of learning a new tongue they will need to stop thinking about getting a perfect translation -- after all, there is no such thing -- and think about how to best get your point across. Success and ideal translations are two very different things. Be happy whenever you can hold a basic conversation or communicate a point, and never be frustrated when you cannot summon the perfect phrasing.
Search the Web
While academic study, textbooks and classrooms can be very handy in helping a person learn another language, the world wide web is without a doubt the greatest resource available for people who wish to learn something new without having to leave their homes. The internet can help you to connect to people living in different parts of the world, find language-specific forums and meetings, communicate via video chat and write posts among other resources that can help you to practice with like-minded people. When you want to travel abroad, you can search the internet using your preferred search engine for activities to engage in, or places to stay that will require you to utilize your newly acquired language skills, and get better at communicating in that language.
About the Author:
Daniel White is an expert in world languages and travel for many years, who is sharing is experience, reviews and knowledge through is own website blog. if you want to know more about it, you can go at is languages website. if you desire get more info and reviews about studying languages from around the world, you can go go at is studying languages reviews, videos and articles pages.
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