I should have given this article the title ‘Difficult language learning‘ or ‘fast and easy language learning’ but then who wants to know that something is hard?. It is much more usual to read that language learning is fast, straight-forward and simple and that you don’t need to work at it to become good.

But that isn’t true.

If you want to know a simple technique for language learning, a generic fix as it were, then it is best to search elsewhere because I don’t know of one. There are plenty of web sites promising near instant language acquisition, so take your pick, you are spoilt for choice. (There are far fewer advertising the fact that language learning is hard). I found one today via a quick search on the web, a system which would help you achieve fluency in many languages quickly and easily. Some methods of language learning are better than others, and different methods suit different individuals, but none of them can teach you to speak another language without a great deal of effort on your part.

Still, this article is about the difficulties of learning a language, not quick fixes, and that is fine because if you believe that language learning is hard you are at an advantage.

You now have the advantage

Many of us have the experience of trying to learn another language and then giving up because it is too demanding, which translates into not making the progress we expect.

This is why you have an enormous advantage as soon as you realize that learning a language is not straight-forward. This understanding means s that you can actually start to learn it without being discouraged when your progress is slower than you want it to be. You can improve because you can are in the position to set yourself realistic and achievable goals, and you can reach these precisely because they are realistic.

Learning a language is a long term occupation and you have to return again and again to words, expressions and grammar that you have already learnt and then forgotten. It is true that there are exceptional individuals who soak up new languages easily as adults but they are in a tiny minority.

Fast and easy language learning

In contrast to what I have already written there is a point at which language learning can be easy (as an adult) and this is when you change your goals.

Learning a new language by its very nature can only be quick when you are only trying to learn a tiny fraction of the language,. expressions which you can use by themselves like “hello, goodbye, yes, no” etc. You then don’t need to worry about grammar or sentence structure or acquiring and retaining a large working vocabulary. There are occasions when it is sensible to take this approach as in when you are planning a short trip to another country that you are unlikely to visit again, or when you don’t have much time available.