Ah, languages. The human construct of communication that allows us to understand each other and express our ideas seamlessly. Yet many of us find languages extremely difficult to learn; you are right, they can be extremely complicated. Just look at all the different ways you can say “you” in different languages!
If even such a seemingly simple word can be so difficult to translate, then just imagine the burdensome process of trying to learn an entire new language! This frustration when initially beginning to learn a new language has resulted in many people “quitting” languages. But don’t! There’s millions of stories out there about how knowing more languages have changed people’s lives, ranging from starting new lives in foreign countries to meeting true love. Quite simply, the sheer number of practical, tangible benefits of knowing a second or third language greatly outweigh the relatively small effort that one puts in to learn a language.
All of these new people that you can meet using these other languages allow you to expand your horizons.
“But it’s so hard!” I hear you say. I’ve asked some of my friends who happen to speak second or third languages about how they learned their extra languages effectively, and they agreed on a five main things.
- Trash those textbooks! Language learning is all about the engaging process behind interacting and speaking with other people, so that’s what you should do rather than flipping through textbooks over and over again!
- Awkwardly seek out foreigners! From first-hand experience, seeking out foreigners to Canada/fluent native language speakers to help you and converse with you is an immensely beneficial learning experience. Yes it will be awkward to just go up to random strangers and as them to talk to you for a while to practice a language, but if that person agrees, you will gain an eye-opening experience about what you may look like one day, speaking your new language!
- Netflix and chill! Movies, TV shows, and other films with subtitles are a very good way of practicing hearing and reading abilities at the same time. As an added bonus, if you just don’t understand the foreign languages, at least you still get to watch a nice movie!
- Travel! Take every opportunity to travel to places that speak foreign languages. Not only will you be surrounded by people using that language, but you will also be immersed in the local culture, which promises to be very different from what you may experience in Calgary.
- Have patience! If at first you don’t succeed, don’t call it quits! Many people face a colossus of challenges when first trying to learn a language, and if you overcome that first obstacle, you get that much closer to becoming a fluent speaker.
So let’s all become lingaholics together, addicted to the art of language learning. Is “lingaholic” a real word? I guess you better find out – by learning languages.
Photo/video references:
