Don’t Let Yourself Get Stuck

Sometimes letting yourself get too comfortable in that silent period only makes it harder to get out. First of all, you slowly discover that it’s possible to get around without using the local language. You get so used to figuring out ways to manage without it that you forget how much harder it is to live that way than it is when you can talk to everyone everywhere. Needless to say, that alone can lower your motivation.

Another problem is that the people you interact with regularly get used to talking with you in a certain language. Switching languages seems unnecessary, and therefore socially awkward. How to you ask them to switch? What if they refuse because it’s too much trouble? What if they forget and switch back? Oh, the wringing of hands and gnashing of teeth! Better just stick with the language we’ve been speaking, eh?

Getting used to an intermediary language puts a psychological barrier between you and the local language that can be very hard to overcome, especially if you’re the type who doesn’t like to rock the boat. If you just go for it right when you arrive, sure it will be awkward sometimes, but you’ll never have to worry about working up the nerve to make a sudden switch.

Instead, you move forward a little at a time. Your first venture into the language doesn’t have to be much. It can be just asking for a kilo of apples from a fruit stand or exchanging a greeting with your neighbor. Grab any opportunity you can to jump in and then move on to more complex tasks as you progress.

Take Advantage of Your Second Childhood

Learning a language is one of the few times you get to be a kid again. Sure, no one’s going to clap and coo when you first utter “Mama,” but you might be surprised how genuinely delighted people will be to see you progressing “just like a little kid.”

It’s fun to watch someone accomplish something challenging like learning a whole new language and people want to contribute to that accomplishment. So they’ll feed you new words and “test” you with mini-conversations to give you a chance to impress them.

When you first move to a country, it’s understandable you won’t know the language. People who know you just got off the boat will cut you some slack as long as you’re putting in some real effort and making progress. So take advantage of that first three or even six months to learn voraciously. [Try this plan for getting conversant in a foreign language in eight weeks at Hubpages.] The praise and encouragement you get for “knowing so much already” will lower your affective filter (nervousness level, that is) more than a few awkward moments will raise it.

Once you’ve been in the country for a year or two, though, the fact that you’ve learned a little of the language is no longer impressive. If by that time you can hold a simple conversation, instead of “Wow, you’re learning fast!” you’re more likely to hear, “You mean, you’ve been here that long and that’s all you know?” Speaking less fluently than you feel you should becomes embarrassing, so you’re less likely to seek out opportunities to practice.

If you’re struggling to find ways to speak the local language where everyone seems to speak your language, check out these tips for talking with the locals in a bilingual culture.

Related posts:

1. How to Overcome Fear of Speaking a Foreign Language
2. Improve Your Speaking Skills by Surrounding Yourself with Opportunity
3. Learning a Language in a Bilingual Culture: Getting the Locals to Talk with You

Now, I do understand what the author is saying—you should get input and lots of it before you produce output. While I agree that that’s the ideal, there are a few problems with that and some reasons why the Communicative Approach is better in certain cases.

Language in the Real World

I’m very utilitarian about language learning. Most of us don’t learn under ideal conditions, not all of us can reasonably stick to one language until we “master” it, and we don’t always have the luxury of waiting until we’re comfortable with a language to begin speaking or writing.

Often, life throws us into situations where we have to sputter out whatever words we can and hope they work. And we certainly can’t wait until we’ve had 18 months of exposure to native speakers before we venture the word “Mamma.”

Language Class is not for Input

Presuming you’re a reasonably motivated adult learner, you have the foresight and wherewithal to get your own input. You can listen to audio lessons and music, watch movies, or read the newspaper. You have the Internet, the library, and the bookstore for that. You don’t need a professional native speaking teacher or even a partner.

But unless you’re studying in-country, your language class is probably the only time you have to speak and write and get useful feedback. That is why so many teachers make speaking the focus of class (speaking, because it’s like pulling teeth to get students to write).

Most students would get thoroughly annoyed with us if we just handed out newspaper articles to read or put on a video and told them to watch. “We can do this at home!” they’d protest, and they’d be right.

The jump-in-the-deep-end Communicative Approach isn’t perfect, but it is practical for today’s world. Imagine a nurse looking for Spanish lessons so she can talk with Spanish-speaking patients. She’s not going to choose a course in which she’d have to wait a month to begin speaking. She needs it yesterday.

Be Greedy with Input

Personally, I see no reason to hold back on input. You don’t have to understand everything you hear or read to benefit from it. Early on, if you listen to a song and understand one word, hey, that’s great!

The author of Antimoon is certainly correct that you won’t build your vocabulary or learn new grammar by repeating what you already know. This is why so many “conversation classes” improve fluency (speed and ease of speaking), but fail to move the student up a level (from beginner to intermediate, for example). Unless new words and grammar a systematically introduced and practiced, you won’t improve.

Being deeply immersed in real life is the only substitute. Of course, you can learn from only conversation in something like a homestay situation where the sheer volume of input outweighs the lack of lesson planning. But we’re talking 6+ hours of active conversation day in, day out for months.

What Really Counts

So if you’re trying to learn a language fast, it’s worth it to start communicating as soon as you can. If, however, you’re an academic or hobbyist with years to dedicate to attaining perfection, you have other options.

Related posts:

1. How to Learn Second Language Without Stress
2. Fear of Speaking a Foreign Language? Consider This When You Travel
3. How to Revive “Forgotten” Language Knowledge