Different Ways of Learning Languages Essay

Being able to speak more than one language I think it’s a gift from God that not every person is blessed with. Having this gift makes me fell very special because I can travel, communicate, and understand others’ people language and culture. At a very young age I started learning French, German and Italian besides my native language, Romanian. Learning a language to me in learning how to ride a bicycle, once you get it going it’s hard to stop. I learned them the natural way without trying or putting to much effort. To me, learning English it was much easier than the other languages I have studied. When I came to America I didn’t speak English at all and I thought that it would take a long time before I learn anything. To be successful learning a new language you must want to learn it, because if you don’t and not interested in you’ll never get it. At the very early stages of learning a language I think going by the book it is not a very good idea. At the beginning you need as much practice as you can get. In my case television played a major role in learning English. Watching TV and trying to understand the conversation helped me improve my vocabulary and pronunciation at the same time. Reading magazines and articles in the newspapers is another way to approach a new language. This way you learn the spelling of words and can look up in the dictionaries for words that couldn’t be understood. Another thing that helped me was being surrounded by people that only spoke English. Having almost no contact with people that spoke Romanian, forced me learn faster than some people. Communicating with others helps also. Making mistakes and having other people correct you helps and improves your skills. The best way to learn is learning from mistakes. Some people are afraid and embarrassed of speaking in front of others. This only holds them back and keeps them away from learning because there is nobody to correct them if necessary. When you want to get deeper into a language you must concentrate on grammar and vocabulary. This is the key of being successful as well as thinking in the target language. Translating from one language to another is a waste of time because you’ll never be good enough. Learning languages it has always been fun for me. I never looked at it as a must but more as a hobby. Learning a new language, to me, is like discovering a new side of me that has been kept in dark for to long and waited to be taken out.