http://youtube.com/watch?v=BAPxTr8FshU

I’ve been talking a lot about accents recently, and I know I tend to downplay the importance of perfect, “native” accent. This is mostly for two reasons: 1) it’s unlikely that most adult speakers will ever reach such a high level of proficiency; and 2) a native-like accent is not necessarily the same thing as fluency. Today, I want to make it clear that, while one can retain a foreign accent and still be understood perfectly well, it is still well worth it to focus on pronunciation. Particularly, you want to develop your ability to clearly pronounce (and hear the distinction between) contrastive phonemes in your second language. Contrastive phonemes are the sounds that distinguish between different words in a language. Take a look at the youtube video linked at top for an example.
Many sounds in languages are the same or close enough not to cause trouble. For example, the /t/ sound in Spanish and English are close enough to be mutually understood, but the Spanish /t/ is produced more “forward” in the mouth (on the teeth). The resultant different sounds help to cause an recognizable accent when Spanish speakers speak English or vice versa. That said, we can still clearly understand the sound for what it is. Where this becomes more problematic, of course, is learning to distinguish sounds that don’t exist in one’s own native language. In the video, the radio operator is having trouble distinguishing s- and th- sounds. Learners of Spanish need to correctly differentiate “r” and “rr” sounds. Japanese speakers famously fail to distinguish “l” and “r.” Not clearly distinguishing contrasting phonemes is what causes a lot of “accent-related” misunderstandings. The sounds vary from language to language. There is no way I could list them all here, but one needs to be aware of such contrasts in the language one is studying. Even if one can’t initially hear the difference in the sounds, be aware that they are different sounds and treat them as such. You will be able to distinguish them eventually. These are the little things in language that cause all sorts of trouble and frustration. For example, my wife, as a native speaker of Chinese, has trouble pronouncing voiced consonants at the ends of syllables (i.e., at the ends of syllables, she’ll say /t/ instead of /d/, /k/ instead of /g/, etc.). While she is still working on this, the trouble these sounds give her have made her afraid to say “crab” (one of her favorite foods) in polite company, because it almost invariably comes out as a synonym for excrement….
The only good news I can give you is that, once you know to look for these, it merely becomes a matter of practice. You WILL get it if you keep trying. Don’t get frustrated. Certainly don’t decide “close enough” if speakers of the language are still frequently misunderstanding you. Some sounds come quickly, others take years (I studied Spanish for about 4 years before I could ever make the “rr” sound!). Perseverance will win out in the end, though.

“Why bother? Everyone’s gonna speak English soon anyway!”
I get this response a lot when I suggest language study to people. While in some cases it’s safe to assume that this is merely a snarky response, at times I’m shocked to realize that these people are serious.

It is true — English has become a force in the world unto itself. It is the most studied foreign language in the world. In an ever-growing number of countries, it is a mandated part of the national curriculum. If everyone speaks English anyway, why then should we go through all the pain and bother of learning a foreign tongue? I’d like to offer up a few basic reasons why it is ultimately worth the investment of time and energy. This listing is by no means comprehensive or detailed, and I’ll be adding to it in the future…

1) Self improvement: There are myriad benefits of learning a language. Bilingual children typically outperform their peers in a battery of standard learning assessments. Most linguists theorize that bilingual children, having two languages to evaluate information with, have certain learning advantages such as increased memory, higher metalinguistic ability (the ability to think about and discuss language conceptually — as opposed to just using it), etc. This can lead to results across academic disciplines. For older learners, the effects are still palpable. The “brain as a muscle” metaphor is apt. The more you use it, the better it will perform. There is some evidence that learning foreign language can even help to reduce risk of memory loss, or even Alzheimer’s.

2) Communication: Not everyone speaks English! While it is the most studied language on the planet, the fact is that not everyone who studies English gains any sort of speaking proficiency. Think about your high school language classes — how many of your classmates actually gained proficiency in the language (did you for that matter)? In my years in East Asia, I met literally hundreds of people who, red-faced, related to me that they had studied English for 10+ years, but they remembered no more than “hello” and “this is a pen.” Even in countries where English is widely spoken, do you really want to forever impose English on them via your presence? Wouldn’t you like to know what people are saying around you? It seems that mere politeness would dictate at least a modicum of attempt at learning their language. Friends in the Netherlands — a country where English is quite widely spoken at a very high level — one told me that, in general, they don’t mind in the least speaking English with guests to their country, however, they complained viciously about a professor of theirs who had lived in the country for nearly two decades and had never made any attempt at learning a single word. They felt that the teacher projected a “I’m too good for this” attitude, and it poisoned her relations with her students and all acquaintances. If you plan on spending large amount of time in a foreign country, if you profess to love the country and it’s people, honor them by attempting their language. Most people in the world are quite appreciative of attempts (no matter how mangled), and are quite willing to help you learn.

3) Safety/security: While you can reasonably expect to rely on help of friends, tour guides, etc. during tours of a limited extent, the more you can communicate, ultimately the safer you will be. I’m not just talking about physical safety either. Let’s face it — if you need to communicate through someone else, you will never know exactly what’s going on and you’ll 1) pay more; and 2) miss out on cool opportunities. I remember one episode of the Cosby show where Mr. Huxtible was trying to impress upon his son’s friend, “Cockroach,” the importance of math in education. The boy wanted to run his father’s metal recycling shop when he grew up. Mr. H. asserted that he would need math to weigh the materials and to count the money. The boy responded that he would have clerks and accountants to do that, to which Mr. H. said something to the effect of, ‘if you can’t do your own measurements and count your own money, you’re not going to be in business very long.’ Being able to do it yourself (even when you choose not to) will always be better in the long run.

4) It’s fun!

Enough for tonight… More later…

I’m diverging a bit tonight from the usual practical stuff into the theoretical unknown. People often complain about accent acquisition, but rarely think to ask why we have accents in the first place. Why is it that humans seem hardwired to betray their place-of-0rigin through their speech?
Think back to yesterday’s post, and you’ll recall that accent is a language constant. Every language has accental variations, and any language spoken by more than a single “tribe” is going to have regional differences. While no one has really “nailed down” the specifics of why we develop accents, most theories do concentrate on the “tribal” nature of humans. Humans seem to naturally develop “in-groups” and “out-groups” and assign trust and loyalty accordingly. The development of accents would allow early humans to recognize outsiders from a greater distance or in the dark. Basically, it was a self defense mechanism designed to protect one’s tribe from “shifty” outside groups.
It still serves that purpose today. If you observe carefully, you will note that most people pull back initially when they encounter unfamiliar accents. This is particularly pronounced in places like North America, where, due to the ethnic diversity, it is impossible to ascertain ‘nativeness‘ until someone speaks (unlike in racially homogeneous nations such as Japan or Korea where non-Asian foreigners can be spotted a mile away– though if you are Asian, you’d get the same effect there).
Thus, when you learn foreign language, it is only natural that you retain an accent. Your primitive instincts are merely proclaiming your origin — even through the foreign language. This is what there are distinctive “country” accents (i.e. why we can distinguish French speakers from Russians, from Japanese, even when they’re all speaking English). This is also (unfortunately) why it is soooo hard to “drop” your foreign accent when speaking a second language.
Why do we put so much emphasis, however, on sounding like we come from a place where we don’t? Being comprehensible is ultimately MUCH more important than perfect accent. Hearken again to Kissinger and Schwarzenegger. They’re both perfectly comprehensible and fluent, despite telling accents. Be proud of where you’re from. As long as you’re not a spy by trade, ultimately, it will probably not matter much if people know where you’re from. You’d tell them anyway, right? Focus on accuracy of communication. You’ll be a lot happier….

It’s been a few days… For any readers out there who were chomping at the bit and/or near-suicidal with anticipation to get the next installment of this blog, I’m back….

Just a note to any readers, posts will normally come through the week, Monday through Thursday. I’ll try my best to post on Sunday nights too, but that’s going to be more variable, according to my schedule (i.e. amount of homework to do and what time “The Simpsons” comes on;) ). I didn’t post this last Thursday because it was my wedding anniversary — definitely sufficient reason to take a night off!

Now, today’s subject is “accent.” While most people have the goal to minimize or completely “get rid of” their accent while learning a foreign language, such is not humanly possible. Many people claim to not have an accent (or to have a “neutral” accent) when speaking their native tongue. This is not true. Everyone has an accent, but you probably don’t hear your own accent. It’s likely that you don’t hear your friends’ or neighbors’ accents either, unless their accents diverge significantly from your own. Every speaker of every language in the world has an accent. That is just part of language. When we learn a foreign language, when we say we “want to get rid of our accent” what we really mean is, “I don’t want to sound like an native speaker of English who merely learned this tongue as a second language, but instead, I want to sound like a native speaker of this language.” Clearer, but there’s still a problem to be had… What type of native speaker do you want to sound like?

Just like in English, there are usually varying regional accents and dialects of the language you are studying. What is sometimes called the “standard accent” is usually just the center of power for that language. For example, if you study French, it’s quite likely that you will be pushed toward a Parisian (”standard”) accent. Even if you manage to acquire a perfect accent (not very likely from mere study in school, unfortunately), you will still be marked as different to anyone not in Paris. French accents vary across the nation, and of course the dialects and accents in West Africa and Canada are a far cry from the Parisian standard. If you are planning to work in Senegal, how much good does it really do you to sound like a Parisian.

Additionally, just like in English, accents may vary in the same geographic area according to class, profession, race, etc. Sounding like a French farmer or plumber would be quite an accomplishment, but probably not very desirable if you are a doctor or lawyer. Men and women also often speak in quite different manners. This difference can be subtle or quite distinct (for example, some languages have different grammatical constructions based upon the gender of the person speaking). Make sure that you are emulating the right type of speech. Due to the prevalence of women in teaching positions, it is a common phenomenon for male students of Japanese to initially start picking up female speaking patterns — this must be corrected quickly to avoid massive embarrassment).

Be aware that the earlier in your language study that you make these decisions, the easier it will be to approximate your desired accent. For most of us, our accents will always be characterized first and foremost as foreign, but the more appropriate your speech is for location, gender, and occupation/class, the more easily you will be understood by those around you. Knowing the specifics of what kind of accent you want is one of the easiest ways to minimize your perceived “foreignness…”

Wednesday’s are harsh for me, schedule wise, so a short post today…
Yesterday, I was talking about the problems of defining fluency in a foreign language. Today, I’d like to mention one of the more technical problems we have with that issue, namely a bad comparison model…

Most people who learn a foreign language aspire to speak “like a native.” When it comes down to it, we want to sound like monolingual speaker of the target language, but according to most studies, this is an impossible goal. While you may not “hear” it, the speech of so-called “balanced” bilinguals (i.e., those who grow up speaking both languages equally) bears an “accent.” Often it is such a subtle difference that it is mostly detectable by machines. As an example, Spanish-English bilinguals often exhibit shorter voice onset time lags in voiceless stops (p, t, and k sounds) than monolingual English speakers, and longer than monolingual speakers of Spanish. This seems to indicate that the presence of two languages in the brain will inevitably influence phonological perception and production. Each language exerts an influence on the other. Most high-level foreign language students will admit times when they noticed their second language influencing their native language, such as the mispronunciation of a word in favor of 2nd language phonology. Ergo, the very fact that you already speak your native language will prevent you from ever being able to speak like a monolingual native of your target language. It is still possible to come close — even close enough to evade detection — to pass, as it were… But the foreign language learner will always exhibit behavior that will diverge from monolingual natives.

Linguists often find ourselves playing “gotcha” games with non-native speakers — looking for evidence of a lack of absolute fluency. It gets a little ridiculous, but there is no clear line of when we can call someone “fluent” without reservation. For example, if an English native speaker of French lives in France, works in French day in and day out, in indistinguishable from native speakers of French in terms of accent and use, but one day spills coffee on herself and says “ouch” instead of the French equivalent “ay,” is that evidence of a lack of “fluency?” The brain of a bilingual will always have the two options to choose from, and this forms a fundamental difference from the monolingual.

All things said, my recommendation: stop comparing yourself to monolingual natives. If you wanna reach for the stars in your language study, try to be like a balanced bilingual-speaker of the target language. You’ll save yourself a lot of grief that way….

What does it mean to be “fluent” in a foreign language? When someone says, “I speak [language X],” what does that actually mean. While we all use words like ‘fluency’ in everyday, normal discourse, trying to actually define it in concrete terms is like nailing the proverbial jello to the wall (”mmmm… Wall Jello… [Homer Simpson like drooling sound]”). The problem is that, while we tend to treat this word as having a fixed meaning, it means something a different to each person who says it. What are the limits of fluency? I am a native speaker of English. I was raised in an English-speaking household. I was educated (predominantly) in English. One would presume the ability to safely call me fluent in the English language, but…
1) I still make numerous errors in speech everyday.
2) I all too often find myself grasping for words to express concepts.
3) I can’t claim to know the entire English corpus of words (and to be blunt, there’s no one else on earth who can honestly make that claim, either).
I’m sure many of you are nodding your heads in self-recognition now. The truth is, nobody speaks even their native language perfectly. Language rules exist in the abstract, but what your 9th grade English teacher taught you, in truth, does not describe the way anyone on earth really talks.

So we can rule out a definition of fluency as a “perfect” grasp of the language….

Some define fluency as the ability to communicate daily needs. While this is definitely reachable bar, it is also highly ambiguous. The daily needs of any two individuals are going to vary considerably. An anecdote: When I was a college sophomore, I spent a year studying in France (thank you Dad, Mom, and the OSU Alumni Assoc.!). One day, a fellow exchange student (from Holland) was telling me a story which included a word I didn’t recognize. What I heard was, “This morning, when I was putting on XXXX….” Fortunately, being near a dictionary, I was able to look it up and discover that it was a term for a particular type of makeup. Being a guy, of course, this was not a word that I had a lot of use for, and so I had not come across it before. On the other hand, I was earning extra $$$ there by teaching guitar lessons. I, thus, had acquired all the necessary terminology for describing, teaching, playing, and fixing guitars. Even in our native languages, we are much more comfortable and able when speaking about something about which we have a high amount of background experience.

Another problem with considering the fulfillment of daily needs to be “fluency” is that needs change throughout life. What you need one day is not what you need the next. I’ve had all sort of crazy vocabulary breakdowns during my travels. While I feel competent to discuss most any topic to a certain extent in English, I know I will hit a wall in other languages. While I think that, in a pinch, I could make a reasonable attempt at hostage negotiations or feigning interest in a presentation on molecular biology in English, I doubt I could do the same in Mandarin, even though I am quite competent in daily, and even professional, needs on the streets of Taiwan.

The other problem is the disconnect between the speaker’s and listener’s individual perception and definition of fluency. Some people are harsher judges than others. Many native speakers of the languages I speak have complimented me on what they perceived as complete fluency, and many others basic frowned and told me to keep working at it. Some people consider any amount of foreign accent as an absence of fluency, others don’t mind the worst mistakes in grammar, so long as they can still get the message without too much difficulty. Who is right?

Finally, there is the problem of individual definition of “meeting needs.” Some people will demand much more of themselves before calling themselves “fluent” than others. I’ve found, for example, when people in some European countries say they “speak” a language, you had better believe them. They will have a high professional competency before they dare use the word “fluent.” On the other hand, a lot of people I’ve met from Africa (and I’ve also seen this to some extent in the U.S.) will say they speak, say 5 languages. This seems impressive, but when you probe a bit, they might only know the numbers and some basic phrases in some of these languages. They will still claim the language because, even though their vocabulary is small, they still may frequently make use of what they know in regular market transactions or other purposes. They are, thus, meeting their needs through the language.

So how can we reach a unified definition? Well, linguists have worked hard to provide assessment devices like the FSI (foreign service institute) scale to measure general language proficiency. While better than nothing, these tests still tend to be biased towards measurement of a specific body of knowledge (in the case of the FSI, they of course are most interested in whether one can competently conduct government work in the language). Fluency remains a highly personal affair. While there are some more-or-less “official” measures for classifying language proficiency, they are only accurate for measuring proficiency towards the professional purpose for which the assessment was designed. In reality, most of us will never take those tests. Designating fluency will remain a personal decision in most cases. By and large, my advise is simply to be proud of the level of proficiency which you attain. Whether or not to use the “f-word” (wink) is up to you. Just be aware that everyone defines this a little differently, and thus, they may assume a much higher standard than what you are capable of…

Many people think that all they need in order to learn a foreign language is an immersion experience — as if it were some magical phenomenon which suddenly makes one fluent in the target language. This is one of the (MANY) nuggets of perceived wisdom that gets blown out of proportion by otherwise well-meaning people. I have often heard people reporting the “fact” that “in cases of total immersion, the average child will become ‘fluent’ in weeks.” To the best of my knowledge, the only authority standing behind this statement is Principal Skinner from the Simpsons (the episode where Bart goes to France — you know you know it…). I’ve heard people extrapolate this to adults too. If you’ve spent more than a month or two in country X, people back home will assume that you have become ‘fluent’ in that language. Part of this stems from the impossibility of defining the word ‘fluent’ (I’ll get into that tomorrow), but for today, let’s look at what is actually involved in learning a language…

To break it down into a complex mathematical formula,
(foreign language proficiency) = sum of time spent using the language

That’s it… There’s no magic to it, merely time spent speaking, listening, reading, and writing the language. This can be done in classes, with friends over coffee, online, etc., but it needs to be done. There is no shortcut to simply spending the requisite time. Immersion experiences are very effective in improving language proficiency, but not for any magic/mystical reason. They are effective merely because they considerably up the time spent listening, speaking, reading, and writing the target language. Period! Let’s break it down. If I take a class in Italian, for example, I’ll spend 5 hours/wk. in class using Italian, and possibly another 3 hours or so doing homework outside of class. If I’m really gung ho, I may arrange to meet over coffee with a native conversation partner for a couple hours each week. All together, I’m still only spending 10 hours/week. As a teacher, I’ve always been struck by how students manage to spend the class period conversing in the target language, but at the end of class, they revert to their native language talking with friends before they even reach the classroom door. As soon as you get outside the classroom, the normal demands of life force you to use your native language. Immersion experience merely enforces the use of the target language instead. When you walk down the street, you’re overhearing conversations in the language. You pass billboards and ads in the language. During all of your waking hours, you’re surrounded by foreign language content– at least passively, it’s always entering your brain. Simply put, in an immersion context, you spend most of your waking day receiving FL input (listening and reading) and practicing output (talking and writing). 10 hours a week vs. 12-16 hours a day.

So immersion can greatly speed up the language learning process, but how long does it still take? At the beginning of this post, I noted that immersion was not a cure-all. It still takes a substancial amount of time invested in order to gain any amount of proficiency. For example, according to the American Foreign Service Institute guidelines, it takes a minimum of 720 hours (24 weeks) of intensive study for someone with very high language aptitude to reach a professional level of proficiency (level 3 or higher on the FSI scale) in a highly related (to English) language such as Spanish or French. The number of hours goes as high as 2760 (92 weeks) for less related languages such as Japanese, Chinese, or Arabic. Clearly, language learning requires a considerable investment of time. Consider that the average foreign language major will graduate with only a 2+ rating on the FSI scale — considerably under professional levels — and that after 4 years of university study plus pre-college study.

One more note about immersion: it doesn’t work automatically — it still takes a lot of work! I have known plenty of people who have lived in other countries for years on end without actually learning any of the language. Immersion doesn’t allow you to learn completely passively. Active, engaged learning is still necessary to gain any modicum of proficiency. Just remember that the most important factor in language learning is your own motivation and interest in learning. If that remains high, rest assured you will learn the language to whatever extent you desire….

When I meet new people and tell them what I do, invariably this myth comes out in one form or another. Retirees often tell me that they wish they could study X language now that they have the time, “but, of course, I’m much too old now.” Young business professionals sigh that it would be “helpful” to know a second language in their careers, “but, of course, I’m much too old now.” Parents push children into foreign language classes at ever-younger ages: many friends and acquaintances in East Asia essentially believed that unless their children had “mastered” English by age 5 or younger, that they would be forever doomed to ignorance of the major language of international trade.

Poppycock!!! (Honestly! How often do you hear that expression these days;) )

This is the myth that won’t die. It’s the linguistic equivalent of that rumor about Richard Gere and the gerbil– only more demonstrably untrue… The simple truth is that you can learn foreign languages until the day you die. So where does the myth come from, and what effect does age have on your FL learning ability?

The myth that only children can learn foreign languages is probably a mere distorted conclusion based upon the common perception of child-learners ultimately attaining a more native-like accent than adult-learners. There are several problems with making this conclusion, however:

1) Native-like accent is not the same thing as fluency in a language: Think of Henry Kissinger or Arnold Schwarzenegger — both speak English with very pronounced accents, but would you dare to call them anything less than fluent in English?
2) Some adult learners certainly do attain a native-like accent in the FL, whereas some child learners reared in a second language environment, nonetheless, retain a 1st-language accent.
3) “Accent attainment” is not the same thing as “FL learning,” and for other areas of FL learning, adults have distinct advantages.

The first two points are so big that they will require separate postings later, but today I want to focus on the last point. It’s become accepted that, if immersed in a FL environment, kids will become fluent in “weeks.” Poppycock, again… In fact, when it comes to initial learning, adults have huge advantages…

Imagine, if you will, that a man is transferred by his work to Spain, and promptly moves there with his 5-year-old son. Within a week or two, we can reasonably expect the man to begin speaking a few words and phrases — basic and pidgin-y, for sure, but nonetheless, he’ll make attempts at communication. The son, in the meanwhile, will say nothing. Over the next few weeks and months, the man will progress steadily, and eventually the son may begin to speak as well. Only after about a year, however, can we reasonably expect the son’s progress to outstrip the father’s given equal exposure. Simply put, adults tend to perform better in initial rate of study, whereas children dominate in ultimate attainment (although, only if exposure remains constant). The other thing to remember about child learners is that, no matter how good their accent is, they still speak like children. Five-year-olds often have trouble with phonemes in their own languages, and are generally not known for their complex narrative and rhetorical skills…

The following will help to explain some of the differences in learning associated with age:

(adapted from Saville-Troike, 2006)

Many people seem to believe that when you reach a certain age, your ability to learn a language just withers and dies. This belief was actually formalized in a hypothesis called “the Critical Period Hypothesis” by Eric Lenneberg in 1967, however this belief has since come under attack for two reasons: 1) adults certainly do learn foreign languages, often to very high levels of proficiency; and 2) we’ve never identified any set age where FL learning ability simply “drops off.” Contrary to popular opinion, instead of dropping off at puberty, the phonological portions of FL learning ability (i.e., the ability to get a “correct accent”) seems to decline steadily with age, but never actually disappears. This means that, while earlier is indeed better, there is no such thing as “too late.”

Ultimately, I highly suspect that all those who consider themselves “too old” are merely providing an excuse for themselves. It’s a way of being lazy and saving face. Many might be reading this now and saying to themselves, “But, hey! Doesn’t the research seem to say that if I start late, I’ll never have the accent right?” –Well, not necessarily… I’ll go into the particulars on accents on another day, but I’ll leave you with this… Why does it matter if you have an accent??? Many retirees whom I have known have kick-started new hobbies with retirement– gardening, fishing, boating, etc. None of them have started these endeavors with the goal of becoming world-class experts. They just wanted to enjoy the experience. Take the same attitude with your foreign language learning. If you ultimately sound like a native speaker, good for you!!! But, if you still betray a heavy accent, don’t fret! If you enjoy learning the language and the communicative opportunities that it affords you, then you will never regret the decision to invest your time and energy. Don’t think you have to be “an expert” — everyone is inborn with the mental faculty for learning languages (something that can’t be said for gardening and fishing).

Final anecdote: When I lived in Japan, in addition to my regular junior high school teaching gig, being the only foreigner in the small town I was living in (and I mean the ONLY foreigner– not just the only westerner, there was nobody else not of Japanese birth and ancestry), the community center prevailed upon me to teach an English class there. One of my students was a very noble 70-year-old man who had decided upon retirement that he wanted to learn English. I have to admit that he was one of the quickest-learning individuals whom I have ever had the pleasure to teach. For him, age was nothing. Everything was merely dependent upon the willingness and the desire to learn. If you want it bad enough, you can tackle any language challenge no matter how advanced your years!

Learn on!

Being a voracious reader of blogs, it dawned on me recently that seemingly 99% of the blogosphere fell into one of the following categories: 1) political diatribe; or 2) pointless random musings and event chronicling of the lives of people I’ve never met, and am thus completely uninterested in. I haven’t seen many blogs falling under the umbrella of professional advice. Thus, I’ll flatter myself in supposing that I’m breaking new ground here. As I’m sure will happen, feel free to send me all the links you can find proving me wrong. I want to see other blogs of this type. Now, as for the professional advice I can administer…

I am a linguist. If you want advice on medical conditions or how to build a cupboard, you’ve come to the wrong place (go to your local clinic and Lowe’s, respectively — see how helpful I am:) ), however if you are learning a foreign language, have learned a language, want to learn a new language, or are vaguely interested in the subject of learning foreign languages (or, I suppose, want to force your kids to learn a new language), this blog is for you…

This blog is targeted towards foreign language learners. There are endless numbers of websites for teachers of FL (foreign language). While I may hit upon teaching methodology upon occasion, I will try my best to keep the focus on you as the learner. This blog is potentially for anyone learning any language. While languages have a seemingly infinite amount of individual features, the process of “language learning” is concrete enough to treat holistically. At points, I will diverge into more selected advice for learners of certain languages, but most of what will exist here is for the benefit of anyone (who can read English, I suppose)…

Why should anyone listen to me? Good question. Why should you take advice on FL learning from me as opposed to your neighbor, grandma, etc.? Well, for one, this is actually my profession. Yes, this blog is, in effect, me working on my own time (the horror!). I am currently a doctoral student in the Second Language Acquisition and Teaching (SLAT) program at the University of Arizona. I have a Master of Second Language Teaching degree from Utah State University, and did my BA in French Literature. I speak 6 languages “well” (more on the problems of actually defining language ability in later posts): English (native), Spanish, French, Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, and Taiwanese. In addition, I have formally studied bits of German, Dutch, and Thai. So I have quite a bit experience from multiple perspectives — i.e., as a learner of languages, as a teacher of languages, as a researcher in language acquisition, etc.

I am writing this blog, in part, simply because I like to write. The other reasons are that 1) I get asked about this all the time, so having it written down in a publicly accessible location makes sense; and 2) I am constantly hearing misinformation passed around by otherwise well-meaning folks — I will attempt to herein rebut some of the common misconceptions about language learning capabilities…

I will try my very best to post a minimum of 2x per week. Sometimes, I’ll be capable of much more, but as a full-time PhD student, my free time is pathetically limited. Please check back regularly, though…

Next time: Major myths about language learning abilities and age…