A friend of mine once told me:
“Lisa, you’ve learnt so many languages, you definitely know some tricks. If you’re looking for a blog topic that will attract a lot of people – you should share your experiences. People usually struggle with this and you seem to be content with everything. Tell us all how to get it right”
Well, I am not an expert myself. Yes, I have started a lot of things. But I have not finished so many. After so many years I ended up speaking Russian on English at the same ease – I would not say I am bilingual, that English is like my second mother tongue. I still got a lot of mistakes in what I say and write – FYI they are all not crucial (I hope) and usually not of grammatical nature – some words choices are still foreign, some sentences do not sound as if a native speaker wrote them, etc. Nobody can get 100% native level in a foreign language, unless – well there are some stories like you’ve moved to the country when you were a kid and so on. So “same ease” it is. And that is as high as it gets. I have started out 5 more languages and neither of them is even close to this “same ease” level. So my friend was right. I can share, more than that I should (!) – but not what to do in order to pick up a lot of languages, no. I am gonna share with you, my dear readers, be you students, young specialists or adults trying to learn a language – I will share my 5 DO NOTs for a foreign language mastering.
I am not saying I suck at everything I’ve started by the way – otherwise I would be an authority enough for you in this context. What I am saying is I could have done much better and I am gonna tell you here why I haven’t.
#1 Do not be afraid to SPEAK IT
“As if we did not know that you have to speak the language to get better”, someone must say.
Yes, you we all do know that. No, most of us do not do that.
Anybody who’s ever started out with a language, was in a position where it was possible to try to communicate with a native. It starts with small things like saying to your language teachers “Ich habe ‘ne Frage”, “Tengo una pregunta“, “J’ai une question” instead of our usual “I have a question”. Even if you are in the very beginning and do not know how to ask the question itself (you still can try by the way – you are going to be strongly encouraged by your professor, believe me) – you can still get the attention in the language and then ask in your own one. It is a small step. And it is JUST your teacher. She/he is there for you. They want to help you. Simple as it is, most of us do not keep it in mind all the time.
When it comes to an ouside-of-the-classroom situation, we are getting to be even worse.
“They are gonna laugh at me, make fun of me”
“They will judge me”
“They will start underestimating me because I cannot truly express myself in the language”
WHO TOLD YOU THAT? Have you ever tried to do that?
And my favourite – and my own one – “They speak it better than I do. I do not wanna look stupid”
That is the worst attitude ever. It is like “I am not gonna dance in front of my ballet teacher, she’s better than me at it” – So what? How do we get better if we do not learn it from the best?
There is also one rather widespread: They are not gonna understand me.
Please, I am begging you. Try it out – otherwise you will never know. I bet they will understand you indeed. More than that, they are going to be attentive, helpful and everything.
You don’t believe me, do you?
Let me draw an example for you that will open your eyes to the simple truth. Have you ever met somebody relatively new to your language? Were you patient? Willing to help? Rather interested and even excited a bit? Yes, yes, and yes. We all were. When I see somebody who’s learnt Russian – I believe it is a pure miracle. Even when I meet somebody who’s learning to learn some of the languages I’ve reached a high level at already – I would always try to help.
“If I were at least 10th as good in Russian as you are in German, I would not shut up. You refuse to talk it at all.”
I have heard it so many times – I still refuse to talk German though. And that is the first and the biggest DO NOT.
Do you want to get more? Sign up for my newsletter and you’ll be the first one to get the updates!
Cheers,
Elisabeth