Sounding sexily Italian when ordering a glass of Chianti or sensually French at the terrasse of a Parisian Cafe is within us…. Just sometimes struggling to get out!
What is it that we are all dying to have the ability to speak a foreign language but are hesitant to take the plunge and enrol in a course? The fear of failure?
Apparently 1 in 10 Brits only can have a basic conversation in a foreign language compared to 6 out 10 in other European countries.
So what’s wrong with us?! I think most of us became adverse to languages after some very structured and daunting language lessons at school where all we could put together was a dull sentence about the tourist office! No teacher could get us interested let alone excited (in the slightest) about verb declination and we all went home wondering why oh why, learning a foreign language had any space at all in the school curriculum (along with food technology!)
The great news is: things have changed! The past few years have seen a vast improvement in how language learners are being supported.
Any good language school will spend time figuring out why you want to learn a new language, what are your aims and objectives, and also, what is your learning style? Are you a visual, auditory or kineasthetic learner? Forget your inability to absorb a new language; start focusing on your strengths and your learning style has a lot to answer for!
All our life we try (or are forced) to learn new things… It sometimes seems easy, sometimes challenging. We often simply put it down to what we are trying to learn. What if it was ‘how’ we are attempting to learn it?
There are plenty of free tests online (www.businessballs.com) you can use to determine what kind of learner you are. Do you understand things better when you see them written down? Check out how visual learners fonction. Do you remember the words and rhythm of every song and find it easy to immitate and perfect an accent? Auditory is the one to look for. Did you use to pace up and down in your parents’ corridor when you had to revise for your A levels? You are most probably a kineathetic learner.
Finding out what is your learning preference is the first stage. Use it to your advantage is the second. Any learning process is made much easier when you know how to handle your strengths and weaknesses and learning a new language is no exception.
So if all you have to do to master a new language is answer a quick quiz… What are you waiting for?!