Beginning the study of a new language is either difficult or boring. Beginning Spanish can be difficult and boring, too. Spanish can be a struggle or a joy, and the learning strategies that you employ during the first days of your language study are most important.
The first step you take in wading into the language are the most important because you need to build a rock-steady foundation. Continue reading »
You often hear the quip, “Learning languages is easy. If a two-year old can do it, why can’t you?”
Of course this misses the point. Actually, the perprtrator of this myth glosses over several truths with the attempt at humor. Too bad that this humor turns out to have a mean underbelly, a less-than-nice (subtle) set of implications.
Here are the problems with learning language as a two-year old does.
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Modern high school and college Spanish courses often use a textbook that comes with auxiliary audio and video materials.
Besides increasing the cost of the text book, these materials can add interest and computer interaction (not the same thing as real, person-to-person language interaction, though).
But, carrying these Language Learning CDs is bothersome, particularly when you leave the CD in the CD drive of the computer lab.
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Everyone assumes that Language Learning is easier for auditory learners than for folks with other learning styles.
This might be true, but since only about one percent of people learn best by listening, odds are this mythical ease of learning doesn’t apply to you.
The reason that auditory learners don’t hold a huge advantage in learning languages is that learning a language consists of more than listening skills.
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The Spanish Toolkit Blog published a great article on the trap of learning Spanish using the “Textbook Syndrome.”
What is the “Textbook Syndrome?”
The “Textbook Syndrome” is the collection of non-working, non-useful strategies that students use to memorize a living language (such as Spanish).
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