When you’re learning a language, you’re vulnerable and naive, let’s face it! It’s easy to believe the myths people will come up with to either encourage or discourage you. That’s why I decided to share my list of 7 most common myths you hear when learning a language.
1) How do you not know what ”….” means? You don’t speak the … language well then.
Honestly guys, do you know and understand everything that is discussed in your native language? If you answered no – well of course you don’t, if you answered yes – stop lying to me right now.
The other day I had a class with a student who was judging herself for not knowing what ”sponging” meant when referring to dolphins (?). She immediately thought she didn’t understand the listening task, which made her forget everything else that was said in ”normal” language. She then asked me if we could listen to the task again, promising to nail it down this time.
Not only is this word useless to know in normal life (sorry, dolphin enthusiasts), but it was also coined in 1997. Which only goes to show that that new terms are born every day, folks…
The bottom line is, you are a language learner. Not a wanna-be-omniscient god of everything disguised as a language learner. Unless your goal really is to be all-knowing. Good luck with that!
Oh! Dolphin lovers, I owe you an article about sponging: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/phenomena/2008/12/15/sponging-dolphins-keep-it-in-the-family/
2) Learn … language in one week!
Oh really, what language is that – the one that has 100 words and one tense only? Let me know if there is a language like that and I’ll gladly take on the challenge. Learning a language takes time and your brain needs a loooot more time than just a week to make peace with all the new stuff you throw at it.
Here’s a fact: you’ll need approximately 200 hours to get from one level to another. There are 168 hours in a week (and that doesn’t even imply you’ll be fluent). So, even if you wanted to dedicate all your weekly hours (no sleep, sorry) to learning a language, it would be impossible. Plus, they would have to take you to the hospital due to extreme exhaustion.
This is one of the language learning myths that could end up being expensive as there are a lot of people selling the ”language in a week” idea.
3) No need to learn grammar rules, just learn key words and expressions and you’re good to go.
Woah woah woah hold up, go where? To the land of not making any sense whatsoever?
Sure, there are some phrases like: ”Water, please”. They don’t require grammar knowledge, I’ll give you that. However, your goal as a language learner shouldn’t be to just communicate your ideas, but to communicate them well. Otherwise, you’ll end up putting random words together, get confused looks and get frustrated. God forbid someone should ask you about an event in the past, or a wish (for which you’d need a conditional).
That being said, let’s check out another one of the language learning myths:
4) Grammar is the most important aspect when learning a language and you have to know the name of every tense.
Oh really? You think someone’s gonna come up to you over there in Paris by the Eiffel Tower and be like: ”Hey pal, I was wondering, how do we form le passé simple in French?” ? Spoiler: Nobody cares.
Grammar is super important, though, but not to the point where you need to know what every single grammatical thing is called. Leave that to language teachers!
5) The best way to learn a language is by going to a country where that language is spoken.
Yes…and no! I really have a hard time agreeing with this statement simply because there’s so much that enters into the equation when learning a language.
I know at least five people, living in the United States, who do not necessarily speak English better than some other people who are learning English in their home countries.
This can go to extremes, in which case we’re talking about a sociolinguistic term separation, which defines a person who rejects the host culture while maintaining their culture of origin. Of course, this talks about culture, but culture entails language and vice versa. You have to go out there and do stuff with natives and among natives! Do NOT rely on the the fairy from the enchanted forest that will come and plant the seed of knowledge in your head just because you’re living in a foreign country.
OF COURSE, it’s easier to find someone who speaks Spanish in Spain. That said, don’t think you’ll be fluent in the language you’re not even practicing. It’s common sense.
6) Learning a language involves long lists of vocabulary you should learn by heart.
If this were true, I would have never ever wanted to learn any language in my life. Why bother?! Unless you’re really into reciting poems that don’t even rhyme or make sense, I don’t see how you could embark on such a journey.
In order to learn vocabulary, you need context and that is what truly helps your brain make the connection. Without context, you’ll know the words but you’ll be unable to use them in the right situations.
I wrote a whole article about this, check it out: https://accentavocado.com/learning-vocabulary-by-heart-the-truth-about-it/
Hope you liked my list of language learning myths and that they’ll make the learning process go smoother. 🙂
