Break Language Barriers

We often hear life begins outside of our comfort zone. However, much of current Western civilization is geared toward making us stay in our comfort zones or safe spaces. As American Tyler Cowen shows in his book, “The complacent class”, Americans are less mobile and flexible than ever.  Germans, too, are well known for risk-avoidance and for preferring to stay their whole life with one morning newspaper, one company and one cozy house - with a carefully mowed lawn. We feel threatened when we are obliged to leave our comfort zone: forced to change our profession, to move to another city, to listen to new ideas, or to live with people from other cultures. In language learning, our comfort zone may be: Clinging to a certain accent, intonation or speed while speaking in a foreign language; Preferring visual or audio material; Avoiding unstructured tasks of producing our own sentences, and sticking to multiple-choice grammar exercises; Avoiding difficult audio material, while clin...

How we conceptualize our language learning deeply affects our attitudes and success in language learning. Many of us have – whether we are aware of it or not – adopted a ladder or “video games” model of acquiring a new language. This language learning process is divided into numerous levels. To move to the next level, you need to successfully graduate from the level before. In mathematics at school, it doesn't make sense to move forward before a student has grasped the basic tenets of arithmetic. But, is this a valid approach to learning a language? At first glance, much in the language teaching industry seems to reinforce such a model. Language proficiency, courses and standardized tests follow bureaucratically-imposed levels (like the ABC levels in Europe).   Whether intended or not, this often provokes unproductive attitudes and habits among students. Some curb their natural curiosity of playfully exploring the “territory” of a language: “I am still at A 1.2 level. This futu...

Especially as psychologists, we need to abstain from labelling other human beings.   Yes, social phobia is a clinical diagnosis.   However, we all feel a certain uneasiness in social situations. Some people more than others.   When learning a foreign language, we tend to forget our psychological setup. We put the blame for out communication problems almost entirely on the new language. In reality, we need to work on both: on the foreign language and on our psychological limitations. The more we address our personal issues, the more we will succeed in the foreign language. But it works also the other way around. Improving in a foreign language contributes to higher self-confidence. Your self-image improves, as you demonstrate to yourself and others that you are capable of speaking in a foreign language. Becoming able to express yourself in a foreign language may also help you to open up emotionally. To speak about your emotions in a foreign language is actu...

The well-known SMART formula is useful also for learning a foreign language. There are different interpretations for the letters. For the sake of clarity, let us stick to ·         S: specific ·         M: measurable ·         A: actionable ·         R: relevant ·         T: time-bound With languages, we often set goals like this. “I want to speak language XYZ fluently”. This is neither specific nor measurable. We will go fishing for easy compliments. Is it actionable? Most probably, we will fall for some easy cure, promising fluency at lightning-speed. Here in Moldova, some language schools post advertisements like “Perfect English in just one month”. Really? That means those schools are much more successful than their counterparts in the USA teaching American children English. Is it relevant? Do...