In this post I discuss why it is not necessary to ‘study’ a foreign language.
It is not hard to learn a foreign language, it is ‘ learning’ that makes it feel challenging! 🙂
Most students I have taught over the years strongly believed that STUDYING is the key to learning. Well, I am sure there is some truth to it, but trying to consciously learn a language is not very helpful.
If you want to learn to speak a language well, you need to use it. You may have very limited vocabulary and grammar, it is still important that you try to communicate in it. It is true that you may sound like a five-year-old, but it should not stop you trying.
Many of us feel silly when starting to learn a new language because we cannot express ourselves in a way that is true to who we are. We should not forget, though, that communication goes way beyond the words we use.
Do you know?
The 55/38/7 Formula
The 90% figure wasn’t plucked out of thin air. It was Albert Mehrabian, a researcher of body language, who first broke down the components of a face-to-face conversation. He found that communication is 55% nonverbal, 38% vocal, and 7% words only. This is where the idea that the vast majority of communication is nonverbal originated. Source Click
Stay assured, that though you may feel silly, you still convey much of your message through non verbal and vocal channels!
I find, that often we try too hard. Language learning is not supposed to be like learning mathematics! Much of learning is about ‘ picking the language up’. Just like children, we simply mimic the language by listening to it and practicing it. It is not necessary to have a great amount of understanding of the language. It is much more important to find ourselves in the language.
Rather than looking at the foreign language as a separate entity, we can look at it as a piece of clothing that is too big. You will grow into it and when you do, it will fit perfectly! :0
If you want to ‘ lean’ English with me, get in touch by clicking on the pictures below.
