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I have never quite understood how to learn a foreign language. It is a shame too. Learning a foreign language is pretty necessary in this day and age. If you learn foreign language, it makes you more employable in a variety of areas, as well as enhancing your cultural experience. Say what you want about modern translations, but until you learn foreign languages you never get to experience the beauty of foreign writers. Nevertheless, I have only managed to learn a foreign language once, and it was so difficult for me that I doubt I will ever try it again. It was just too much work!
I managed to get all the way through college without ever successfully completing a learn foreign language program. I took a little bit of French in high school, but I dropped it after a couple of semesters. In general, I was a good student. Most subjects came easy to me, but I couldn't manage to learn foreign language no matter how hard I tried. I loved French culture and French literature, and I desperately wanted to learn how to speak French, but it just wouldn't come. I ended up taking an American sign language class to get rid of my learn foreign language requirement. Even that was difficult!
I struggled with learning a foreign language all through college. I went to a liberal arts university that demanded it, and I knew that I could not graduate with the degree that I wanted unless I managed to learn foreign language. I tried using how to speak French software, hiring a private tutor, and working with conversation partners, but nothing worked. I only successfully managed to learn foreign language when I finally went abroad. I spent a year in France, and it was one of the most difficult years of my life. Ultimately, however, it was also one of the most rewarding. I would never have managed to learn foreign language without it, you see.
To this day, I believe that the only way to really learn foreign languages is to completely immerse yourself in another culture. If you can speak English at all, you will not learn how to speak a foreign language. Instead, you will keep falling back on your English skills. If you need to learn foreign language in order to interact on a daily basis, however, it will come much more quickly. If I learned a foreign language in a year, you can probably do it using the same methods in six months!
Studies have shown that how you learn a foreign language impacts whether or not you will actually follow through it. Obviously, if you get bored before you've put in the required time and effort, you're not going to learn much of the language at all. So let's address the facts that help determine whether you're going to stick with your goal of learning a foreign language or not.
First things first, you are going to need positive feedback. That means you need a way to measure your goal of learning the new language. Whether this includes tracking your progress or actually trying to speak the language with someone fluent in it doesn't matter. What does matter is that you have a way to gauge that you're really learning. Otherwise you may get frustrated and give up long before you get anywhere at all.
Secondly, you need to follow a step-by-step course that progresses from easy to hard. It should also do this slowly. Again, the reason you want to learn a foreign language in this manner is so you do not get too frustrated.
The problem with early frustration is that it steers people toward giving up. If you don't see any progress in the early stages, you may not feel like you can accomplish your goal at all. Obviously, if you don't think your goal is achievable after all, chances are good you'll give up.
So minimizing the amount of frustration (especially early on) is a big part of learning a foreign language. On another note, you want to make learning a foreign language as interesting as possible.
As I'm sure you've experienced, learning from a textbook can be monotonous. Not only is reading from a textbook boring, but your chances of sticking with it are slim to none. Besides, merely learning vocabulary and grammar is not going to prepare you for a real-life conversation in a foreign language.
Interaction is the best way to learn anything. You can't just passively read, listen or watch as someone explains everything to you. You need to get involved.
By turning learning a new language into a game, you'll stick with it and actually remember more of what you learn.
You need to actually listen (not just read from a book) and then speak lots of foreign words and phrases. Turn the words into something familiar by associating them with their actual meaning.
You need to practice the new language with fluent speakers, all the while listening to it as it's properly spoken. Many foreign languages are spoken very quickly, therefore you need to make sure you can keep up with the pace and actually hear it spoken correctly.