Language learning is both a challenging and rewarding activity. I recently wrote about some strange and interesting things about language learning. Today, I want to cover some of the realities of language learning.

People who have learned a second language have experienced the highs and the lows of language learning. I know this for a fact through my own experience. It’s only through hard work and determination one can gain fluency in another language. These are three realities:

1. It’s a continuous process

Once you learn to drive or ride a bicycle, for most people the bulk of the learning process usually stops there, unless you is really terrible at it. Obviously, you can certainly improve on any given activity. Learning a language is more complicated, the process is continuous.

It’s like going to the gym. You can gain those big muscles, but if you stop training for a long time the muscle definition will disappear.

Once you gain proficiency in a language, you usually have to maintain it by practicing. That’s why many took a language in high school but years later can’t remember most of it.

I learned to play the piano when I was 14, now I can barely tell the difference between the black and the white keys. If I don’t speak French for a while, it’s hard for me to remember some words. Since French for me isn’t a mother tongue, but a learned language, a lack of practice is a killer. Keep on practicing the language.

2. It gets harder to learn a new language as an adult (not because of age)

There’s no such thing as being too old to learn a language, whether you are 25 or 65 years old. Research has shown that one can never be too old to learn something new. Our brains continue to develop through and beyond middle age, it just may be harder to get and stay motivated.

Motivation isn’t easy to maintain. Life gets in the way. Work, family, and other priorities may make it harder to learn a language. As I mentioned earlier, practice is key. And, finding the time can be difficult.

Because of that, it might be good to figure out why you are learning (or plan to learn) a new language and set expectations accordingly.

The great news is an adult language learner’s vocabulary may be as large as a native speaker. This is one thing that many people don’t realize, an immigrant past the age of 16 may get near-native level fluency in another language in both comprehension and writing, even if his/her pronunciation isn’t at the level of a native speaker. Pronunciation is more difficult to master as an adult.

3. The issue of pronunciation skills

It’s fun to realize that you can speak and understand another language, but can you sound like a native speaker?

Learning a language after a certain age, usually after the age of 16, means that one is likely to have an accent forever.

The perception of an accent by others is not created equal. Some people may see someone’s accent as cute, others may not view it the same way. Some may perceive an accent as a sign of a lack of intelligence or education. So, many language learners or immigrants are afraid to speak because of that. Some go to great length to reduce their foreign language accent even when they have complete command of the target language.

Besides the fact that no one likes to make mistakes or be made fun of, one of the other reasons is the issue of perpetual immigrant status.

Immigrants know this very well, many have lived in the U.S., or other countries, for a significant part of their lives, learned the language thoroughly and built a new life. Some have earned degrees, have even spent more time in their adopted country than they ever spent in their birth country. But, others continue to see them as foreigners or visitors, regardless of them becoming citizens, all because of their accent. This can be very frustrating.

In his TED talk, that as of now has more than 1 million views, artist Safwat Saleem explains that when he narrates his animation work people online would make fun of his Pakistani accent. He says that people didn’t see a narrator with an accent as normal, and normal has a lot to do with expectations.

People are more likely to find spelling errors in your work if they think you are a minority or an immigrant. Saleem vows to continue speaking even when people mock his accent because he plans to challenge the preexistent notion of normal.

Conclusions

Don’t let the harsh realities of language learning prevent you from learning another language. Whether you are thinking about learning a language for fun, learning a new language as a requirement, adding another language to your repertoire or traveling to an exciting destination, just remember that the obstacles on the journey only make achieving fluency in a language more exciting.

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