Batman
Not all those who wander are lost...
I’ve dabbled in several foreign languages, but I’m most proficient in Spanish and Chinese. I consider myself fluent in the first and passable in the second.
I actually think learning L2s and beyond are quite easy, as long as I devote myself to the task and practice all the four core skills every day. The romance languages are quite easy to learn, and if you can master the verbs, the rest of the grammar is quite simple. Chinese is very different from the romance languages. There are virtually no cognates and the grammar can be quite foreign to Latin-based language speakers. The most difficult aspects of Mandarin are the pronunciation and reading and writing. The Chinese Hanzi system is nothing like the Latin alphabet and requires many years of study to become proficient. The pronunciation is quite unique, as Chinese is a tonal language, meaning every syllable has a specific intonation. However, while a lot of students complain about the tones, I find them quite enjoyable. I’ve been told I have excellent Chinese pronunciation, and I think as long as one practices, it’s possible to become proficient with native accents.
Anyways, I can learn foreign languages relatively easy as long as I devote a lot of time to the learning process. Even difficult languages like Chinese.
There’s quite a bit of controversy as to the best way to learn a foreign language. Many swear by the strict grammar based teaching and the same goes for strict immersion teaching. Personally, I think the best method is to combine the two. It’s sad to say, but statistically, foreign language teachers in the United States are sub-par when it comes to teaching. This is the reason why so many students fail to gain a sufficient level of proficiency with the language. If one is lucky however, like I was, and you have a good teacher who has studied linguistic acquisition, you’ll succeed as long as you study hard and practice daily.
I actually think learning L2s and beyond are quite easy, as long as I devote myself to the task and practice all the four core skills every day. The romance languages are quite easy to learn, and if you can master the verbs, the rest of the grammar is quite simple. Chinese is very different from the romance languages. There are virtually no cognates and the grammar can be quite foreign to Latin-based language speakers. The most difficult aspects of Mandarin are the pronunciation and reading and writing. The Chinese Hanzi system is nothing like the Latin alphabet and requires many years of study to become proficient. The pronunciation is quite unique, as Chinese is a tonal language, meaning every syllable has a specific intonation. However, while a lot of students complain about the tones, I find them quite enjoyable. I’ve been told I have excellent Chinese pronunciation, and I think as long as one practices, it’s possible to become proficient with native accents.
Anyways, I can learn foreign languages relatively easy as long as I devote a lot of time to the learning process. Even difficult languages like Chinese.
There’s quite a bit of controversy as to the best way to learn a foreign language. Many swear by the strict grammar based teaching and the same goes for strict immersion teaching. Personally, I think the best method is to combine the two. It’s sad to say, but statistically, foreign language teachers in the United States are sub-par when it comes to teaching. This is the reason why so many students fail to gain a sufficient level of proficiency with the language. If one is lucky however, like I was, and you have a good teacher who has studied linguistic acquisition, you’ll succeed as long as you study hard and practice daily.