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Foreign Language Learning For English Speakers
My experience abroad has also influenced my perspective on the foreign language learning of English speakers. Sometimes people’s views on both how difficult or easy it is to learn a language surprise me.
I took a course called Serbo-Croatian at my university, four hours a week for 40 weeks or so before I went to work in Sarajevo for two years. I had a few lessons once there, used the language somewhat frequently and watched tv with local language subtitles. Today, this language is my strongest foreign language – I can make questions, use past present and future, understand the basics of the grammar (though I certainly don’t use it correctly) and use a lot of verbs and nouns. I can have a simple to average conversation with a stranger and talk about basic topics, but while I speak with some fluency (meaning regular pace, without stumbling over or repeating words) I am nowhere near fluent in the sense of near bi-lingual. I would not be able to understand a newspaper article well or fully appreciate a film without subtitles.
I think my success with this language, which isn’t really all that much, is connected to things like the positive feeling I have about the place and people I associate with it. I’m not great, but it’s hard for me to imagine achieving this level with another language, even a similar one like Slovak.
I think many English speakers don’t have experience with many foreign languages, and also use Spanish or French as a measuring stick, and other languages are just more difficult. See the US State Department difficulty ratings for several languages here (and keep in mind the time in weeks incorporates full-time study).
By Katie | Permalink
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Very good point, Chris. When I think of my students, both abroad and in the US, some of whom have been studying English for years, it frustrates me to hear people - generally native English speakers - talk about learning a language in, say, a year (there really are people who think this). If it was that easy…why do people study English for years on end? Sure, immersion helps…but it takes time to learn a language and there are degrees of how well you speak. I think to us - because we both live abroad - and others in the same position, this is very obvious, but to many people it’s not.
I should also point out that I definitely don’t mean to imply that French is easy - my experience is obviously not comprehensive as I’ve only studied a few languages - but pronunciation-wise (and similarly comprehension-wise) I thnk there is a LOT to master to function in French. Despite the cases, aspects, fleeting “a”, and diacritical marks of Slavic languages…there are still many aspects that I find easier.
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We’ve been living in France on and off since 1989. I can carry on a conversation, read books in French, write (with plenty of mistakes in French grammar) but still feel there’s a LOT to learn! Just checked out the rating of language difficulties that French falls into the Category 1 rating. When I think of my native-born Chinese friend who’s currently teaching English to American high school students - then try to imagine me switching places with her and trying to teach Chinese in Shanghai to high school kids - well - it’s very humbling. Moral of the story? There’s no time to get smug - there’s a long way to go when it comes to improving language skills.
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