Graham E. Fuller - How to Learn a Foreign Language

STORM KING PRESS

T his book is for those of you who have never studied a foreign language before. And it is for those of you who have already had one painful experience with a foreign language and who hope to do better at it this time.

I'd like to pass along to you all the tips that it took me years of study in many different languages to learn. These tips all by themselves won't teach you a languagebut they will help you to learn one.

And I want to teach you something about what foreign languages are all abouthow languages work and how to approach this very special learning challenge. As you'll see, learning a foreign languageany foreign languagewill be different from any other kind of study you have ever done.

I have had to study a great many languages over the past years. Fortunately, I've always liked languages. And since I've lived overseas in many different countries, I've had to learn quite a number of them just to do my job properly. Between job requirements and curiosity about languagesand a good bit of language work in college as wellI've studied to one extent or another more than a dozen of them, including Latin, Greek, Russian, Chinese, Arabic, Persian, Turkish and numerous European languages. In other words, I've been through it all, lots of times. My aim is to make the process as easy as possible for you, whatever your own language goal may be.

If you really like foreign languages, that's great. It will only make your task easier.

But this book isn't just for people who like languages. It's for those of you who have to learn a language for one reason or another. You might come to enjoy the process, but your goal is a practical one. And just because your goal is a practical one doesn't mean that the effort required to reach it can't be interestingand even fun as well.

The main reason I've written this book is that I remember a lot of needless suffering the first time that I went through the process back in high school French. I had a friendly teacher who loved Frenchand he even knew how to teach. But there were hundreds of things about how to understand the process of learning a language that neither he nor anybody else ever told me. As a result I had to learn it the hard way, by trial and error, puzzling it out. It's that kind of inefficient, counter-productive work that I'd like to spare you.

But let's get one thing straight right away. Learning any language involves a lot of hard work. True, some languages are easier than others for English speakers. But any foreign language is going to require using a whole range of different skills that you may never have thought about before. This book will describe how to approach studying a foreign language and will outline the necessary skills. Then it will show you how to use them.

If you're lucky, you'll turn out to be one of those people who has a knack for languages. We often hear somebody say that Good Old So-and-So is gifted at learning languages. Or that somebody's cousin went to Mexico and picked up Spanish in a few months. In fact, no one has ever been able to decide just what it is that makes one person better at learning a language than another. Is is brains? Absolutely not. I've known a lot of people who are terrific at learning languages who don't know enough to come in out of the rain. And I've known a lot of people who are very smartexcellent at all sorts of academic workwho never get to be terribly good at a foreign language no matter how hard they try. Other people claim that it may be related to a sense of logic. Still others think that if you have a musical ear you will be better at languages. But nobody has ever convincingly demonstrated that these are key factors, either.

But if you turn out not to have a knack for languagesdon't worry about it. And don't be discouraged. As you will see, learning a foreign language is like anything else in this world. If you are interested in accomplishing your goal, and if you devote a fair amount of attention to it, you'll succeed. But what else can make a difference?

Curiosity may have killed the cat, but it will certainly help you in languages. There are lots of fascinating aspects about foreign languages, from the people who speak them to the cultures they live in. Be prepared to learn some really interesting things. Get into the whole experience and ask questions about the culture you are studying and what makes the people tick. You may want to learn about a people anyway. Language is one of the keys.

An ability to imitate, to mimic, and to play a role will come in handy in your language work. You can't be shy about trying out your new language. Everybody makes some dumb mistakes in speaking. It's par for the course. Just laugh it off and keep on plowing ahead.

Above all, a sense of enthusiasm will make a big difference. As you read through the pages and chapters to come, keep in mind that you're heading into a brand new kind of learning adventure unlike anything you've ever studied before. Enjoy it. And try to have some fun as you go. You'll be pleasantly surprised at how much easier the job will be.