7 Myths About Learning a New Language
You need to start learning at a very young age
It’s true that in general, children absorb new information faster than adults. When it comes to learning a new language, they are blank slates. They don’t have any pre-existing language habits that they need to unlearn, and more importantly, they are not afraid to make mistakes.
This is their biggest advantage over adults. But if you can overcome your fear of looking silly, you can actually gain an advantage by being more disciplined, consistent and motivated.
You can’t learn a language without living abroad
Language immersion is indeed important and will help you see results quickly. However, now that the Internet is a part of everyday life, it’s possible to surround yourself with your target language without traveling anywhere. To do that, you can invest into lessons with a native speaker and use authentic materials for your studies: movies, YouTube videos, articles or even Instagram posts.
Textbooks and grammar drills are the only option
Textbooks are not that bad and you can certainly use them for studying. But if it’s the only thing that you’re using, you’ll never achieve fluency. Especially if your ultimate goal is to speak freely and be able to express your thoughts in a foreign language. In that case we suggest that you look into interactive learning, which incorporates a more hands-on approach.
You need to master the grammar before you can start speaking
Chances are you’ve heard this one back in your school days. But it doesn’t work like that. Firstly, perfecting your grammar might take years. Secondly, if you don’t use that grammar in real life, you are very likely to forget it. And thirdly, speaking is a completely different skill that you can only acquire by – you’ve guessed it – speaking.
It’s true that in general, children absorb new information faster than adults. When it comes to learning a new language, they are blank slates. They don’t have any pre-existing language habits that they need to unlearn, and more importantly, they are not afraid to make mistakes.
This is their biggest advantage over adults. But if you can overcome your fear of looking silly, you can actually gain an advantage by being more disciplined, consistent and motivated.
You can’t learn a language without living abroad
Language immersion is indeed important and will help you see results quickly. However, now that the Internet is a part of everyday life, it’s possible to surround yourself with your target language without traveling anywhere. To do that, you can invest into lessons with a native speaker and use authentic materials for your studies: movies, YouTube videos, articles or even Instagram posts.
Textbooks and grammar drills are the only option
Textbooks are not that bad and you can certainly use them for studying. But if it’s the only thing that you’re using, you’ll never achieve fluency. Especially if your ultimate goal is to speak freely and be able to express your thoughts in a foreign language. In that case we suggest that you look into interactive learning, which incorporates a more hands-on approach.
You need to master the grammar before you can start speaking
Chances are you’ve heard this one back in your school days. But it doesn’t work like that. Firstly, perfecting your grammar might take years. Secondly, if you don’t use that grammar in real life, you are very likely to forget it. And thirdly, speaking is a completely different skill that you can only acquire by – you’ve guessed it – speaking.
Learning a foreign language requires a special talent
It’s tempting to think that the reason you can’t learn another language is because you simply don’t have that special talent. But that’s just not true. Anyone can learn a new language, regardless of their age, occupation or hobbies. You just need to adopt the right approach and get as much practice as you possibly can.
If your teacher is truly professional, classroom practice is enough
As much as we would want this to be true, it isn’t. Teachers have an important job – they guide us and help us acquire all the knowledge we need. But no matter how great your teacher is, you won’t achieve fluency if you just show up for classes twice a week. Learning a new language requires daily practice that you have to get in addition to lessons.
Language learning requires a lot of free time
You don’t have to dedicate hours to doing grammar drills or learning 15 new words every single day. No one actually has time for this. 20-30 minutes a day would be more than enough, as long as you are consistent. And once you get the hang of it, it will stop feeling like a chore and become a part of your daily routine.
It’s tempting to think that the reason you can’t learn another language is because you simply don’t have that special talent. But that’s just not true. Anyone can learn a new language, regardless of their age, occupation or hobbies. You just need to adopt the right approach and get as much practice as you possibly can.
If your teacher is truly professional, classroom practice is enough
As much as we would want this to be true, it isn’t. Teachers have an important job – they guide us and help us acquire all the knowledge we need. But no matter how great your teacher is, you won’t achieve fluency if you just show up for classes twice a week. Learning a new language requires daily practice that you have to get in addition to lessons.
Language learning requires a lot of free time
You don’t have to dedicate hours to doing grammar drills or learning 15 new words every single day. No one actually has time for this. 20-30 minutes a day would be more than enough, as long as you are consistent. And once you get the hang of it, it will stop feeling like a chore and become a part of your daily routine.
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