This topic is one that I find to be of the utmost importance, simply due to the fact that its widespread prevalence throughout society leads to such a large amount of people either relinquishing their language learning goals or feeling as if their progress is going nowhere fast. The widely accepted “correct” way to learn a new language leaves countless amounts of people feeling starved of what they used to think would be a fun goal for themselves, due to the fact that there is way too much emphasis placed on the technical aspects of language at way too early of a time. In this post, I want to expose the flaws of conventional approaches to language learning and offer concrete suggestions on how to prevent yourself from getting sucked into the whirlpool of stagnation that conventional methods all inevitably breed. Language learning is a fun process, and it is one that all should enjoy. Put things into context for yourself: as you learn a new language, you gradually, day-by-day, word-by-word, learn how to SPEAK with people who before were completely inaccessible to you! In this way, language learning is a puzzle, a secret code to be cracked, that enables you to investigate reaches of the world you never before could even brush the surface of. The people you meet and the exchanges you engage in as a result of your language learning efforts make the journey all the more worthwhile, because communication, in any language, is one of human beings’ inherent, defining traits.

That being said, it’s important to call attention to the fact that the root of all languages is communication with others. Nowhere in the world has a language developed without the intent for communication between people who happen to speak the same language. Language is such an integral part of all of human life, that it serves as one of the characteristics that separates us from other animals. Therefore, language learning, regardless of what age the learning process is undertaken, should be completed as a social activity. How does it make any shred of sense to take an inherently social activity, cram it into words on the pages of textbooks, measure progress by the strokes of a pen on a piece of paper, and completely discourage actual dialogue and discourse until a “high enough level is reached.” It doesn’t. Not even a little bit. Sadly, though, this is exactly how we’re told that successful second language acquisition occurs: through repetitive, dry textbook tasks that are all heavy on grammar and syntax. Unfortunately, these learning methods discourage actual speaking, substituting development of communication abilities for the development of your ability to analyze the linguistic structure of the language you’re learning. While the structure of a language can be important at certain times, these fine details of the language you’re learning should be gradually acquired and practiced through continued speaking practice. The best way to internalize concepts in your second language is to speak with other people who speak the language you seek to learn. Since the goal of any language exchange is communication, regardless of your expressive power at the given moment, you can much more accurately measure your command of certain concepts within your second language based on your ability to engage in meaningful communication with others. If others can understand what you say to them, and respond accordingly, you have concrete proof of your command of whatever concepts of the language you just put into practice by uttering whatever it was you just said as a result of this instant feedback. If your only teaching method involves poring over a textbook where countless rules are presented to you in countless convoluted hypothetical scenarios, you will never be able to gauge the degree of your internalization of these concepts. Successful internalization is not marked by memorization, nor is it marked by comprehension when presented with a cookie-cutter scenario in a textbook. Instead, successful internalization of new concepts within your second language is marked by your ability to use these new concepts productively when engaged in real speech, with real people, in real speech situations.

A word of advice, though: don’t over-analyze this. You may have been wondering as you read the previous paragraph, “Well, how do I know what concepts in my second language I’m using if I just go out there and speak?” The answer to this is simpler, and much more counterintuitive, than you may think: most of the time, you don’t. And that’s exactly the way it should be. Aside from focusing on internalization of specific vocabulary words (a topic that will be addressed in a future post), you should not be focusing your energy on being consciously aware of every single little detail and linguistic concept of your second language that you apply in a given conversation with someone in your target language. Even though it may, at first glance, seem as though you will never learn or remember anything, this is not the case. The brain has the incredible ability to internalize concepts without you being actively focused on the internalization of such concepts. Furthermore, this ability of the brain to facilitate the internalization of your L2 concepts can only occur through your productive use of them. Communication via human language is a constant game of tug-of-war, alternating between the passive listening acts and active speaking acts that occur in every conversation. The brain combines these acts synergistically to produce its own mapping of your target language little by little. Consider things in light of your native language: when you speak to someone, anyone, in your native language, do you spend time thinking about what to say, how to say, how to organize the words, etc etc? Never more than an extremely small fraction of a second, which is often so infinitesimally small that it passes by unnoticed by you. You have an innate “feel” for your first language, and this “feel” for your native tongue allows you to be so proficient at speaking in it. If someone were to ever ask you (i.e. a learner of your native language) why you said what you said, why you put words in that order, what the full meaning of your utterance was, you’d likely find it at least moderately difficult to clearly explain to them the answers they seek. You just “know it.” This is how successful language learning occurs. You didn’t learn your first language by studying textbooks, you learned it by constantly communicating and building off of the feedback you received from adults and others who knew how to use your native language correctly. Even though you weren’t consciously focused on internalizing the concepts of your first language, it still happened, but only because you constantly thrust yourself into opportunities to speak what you new, regardless of how grammatically incorrect your sentences were, regardless of how many errors you made in your pronunciation, regardless of how many words you used incorrectly because you didn’t fully understand their meaning and how they should be used. When learning your first language you wanted to speak and you wanted to be heard, so why would you squander excellent opportunities to increase your proficiency in your second language by forgoing speaking and getting lost in the pages of countless textbooks? Go out and speak! The world has much to say!

As always, feel free to leave a comment below if you have questions, comments, or want to engage in discussion!