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Native English-speakers
are increasingly exhorted to learn foreign languages to play a more
effective role in globalisation. However, we tend not to learn foreign
languages for three very valid reasons.
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1. Many other peoples in the world are not just exhorted to learn English,
they are required to do so. Thus, you can find
English virtually everywhere you go.
2. The grammar of most other languages, certainly most European languages,
is much more complex than English. Thus, native anglophones often view
language learning as a daunting, and even demoralising task.
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3. Most native anglophones, especially in North America, live in almost
exclusively English-speaking environments. We virtually never hear other
languages spoken live, on radio or television, and virtually never see
them written in newspapers, magazines, books, etc. This is hardly
motivating.
The fact is, the world conspires against anglophones learning other
languages. So if you speak only English, you have no reason to be ashamed.
Nevertheless, whilst these factors explain why so few anglophones know
other languages, they are not valid excuses for not learning them when the
situation calls for it. For example, you are sent to open or manage a
foreign subsidiary, you are assigned to negotiate or maintain working
relationships with a foreign partner, etc.
How should you go about learning a foreign language with the least pain
and most gain? In my personal experience, the secret lies in changing
your mindset. I live in Brussels. I speak French fluently, understand and
can more-or-less get around in Dutch and German, and I am now rapidly
acquiring Spanish. But the first language I mastered was none of these. It
was Swahili, which I learned when I spent two-and-a-half years working in
Tanzania.
Like many (probably most) Americans growing up in an essentially
English-speaking environment, I thought the ability to speak another
language required superior intelligence; only people endowed with this
unique talent could actually achieve it. Shortly after I got to Tanzania,
I visited in a remote tribal area where virtually everyone spoke three
languages. Moreover, virtually none of them had ever seen the inside of a
school (there just weren't any schools), let alone graduated from a
prestigious university (UCLA).
I therefore had to radically rethink my attitude towards language
learning. This new mindset has significantly helped me master the
languages I now regularly use. I will illustrate with French, the language
I know best. But remember, these same ideas and techniques apply to
virtually any language you may need to acquire.
Some Useful Psychology
The good news is: Learning to speak a language is the easiest part of
the job.
I know you may have thought that speaking would be the most difficult
part. However, I would argue that most people, with minimal effort, can
learn to speak a foreign language reasonably well really quite quickly.
Writing a language is very a different story. French, for example, is
one of the most complex written languages in the world. In fact, written
French and spoken French are almost two separate languages. Therefore, if
your objective is to speak, concentrate on the spoken language and leave
the written language to come along later.
I know this may sound like heresy, because the majority of language
courses try to teach both at the same time, particularly in public
schools. They spend a demoralising amount of time making you write
a language (probably because it is easier to grade students this
way), although this is the last thing you really need to know.
When I say that speaking is the easiest part of the job, I am not
advocating "total immersion". Few of us have the luxury
of spending a week, or preferably several weeks, totally concentrating
on learning a language. What I am advocating is doing things in
the proper psychological order. Most people can master enough of
the fundamentals to be able to speak (poorly but nevertheless coherently),
and to understand what is being said to them, within only 2 - 3
months. The trick is to recognise that the major obstacle to acquiring
a foreign language is not grammar. It's vocabulary.
If you don't know the verb you need, it doesn't matter that you know how
to conjugate verbs; you still cannot speak. If you don't know the
adjective you need, it doesn't matter that you know how to decline
adjectives; you still cannot speak. And so on.
I
therefore suggest that the most effective order for learning a language
would be:
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1. Basic grammar
The minimum necessary to put together an intelligible (if incorrect)
sentence. In my experience, this is
most efficiently done self-taught. Sit down with a grammar book for about
10-15 minutes each day until you begin to feel somewhat comfortable with
it.
2. Basic vocabulary The minimum necessary to begin using the basic grammar.
Again, in my experience this is most efficiently done self-taught, i.e.
the classic "learn five new words each day". It won't be very long before
you start seeing how different words are related, so you can begin to
guess what new words mean without resorting to the dictionary.
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3. Speaking the
language Putting basic grammar and vocabulary to work as soon
as you can actually begin using them. This is the time to consider
a language school or a personal tutor. With the foundation of what
you will have already learned by yourself, you will certainly progress
more easily and rapidly than if you had leapt into formal language
instruction at the very beginning.
4. Writing the language Tackling the daunting task of putting
the language on paper. You will almost certainly never need to do
much writing. And what you do write will certainly need to be revised
and corrected by a native speaker.
Since vocabulary is
crucial, then the largely unrecognised key to mastering another language
is: Learn to read it.
There is nothing like being able to sit down with a newspaper, magazine,
or even a novel in the language to reinforce both grammar and vocabulary.
The more you read, the more your vocabulary will expand. And the more some
of the language's apparently bizarre ways of doing things will become
increasingly familiar.
best results, the novel should contain a maximum of dialogue and a minimum
of description. With dialogue, you can frequently anticipate and interpret
what the characters are saying; with description you haven't a clue.
When I was learning French,
I used novels by Agatha Christie and the
adventures of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs, because they are about 90%
dialogue and 10% description. Hardly my favourite literature, but they
served the purpose. I would also suggest Animal Farm by George Orwell and
Candide by Voltaire. However, any novel with a high ratio of dialogue to
description will do.
continued...
Written By:
Philip Yaffe is a former reporter/feature writer with The Wall Street
Journal and a marketing communication consultant. He currently teaches a
course and conducts one-day workshops in writing and public speaking in
Brussels, Belgium. In the 'I' of the Storm:
the Simple Secrets of Writing & Speaking (Almost) like a Professional, his
recently published book, perceptively and entertainingly explains the key
principles and practices of persuasive communication. It is available from
the publishers in Ghent, Belgium (www.storypublishers.be) and Amazon (www.amazon.com).
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