You can learn any language you want

Some people are passionate. They are deeply and immutably fueled by something: music, theatre, sports… I am one of those people. I am a language enthusiast. In other words, I have a true passion for languages – learning them and speaking them.

Either you can learn languages or you can’t. There’s some kind of “language gene”. That’s what most people think. That’s really what they think when they say “well, you know, I have no talent for languages, I tried but I just can’t learn them”. I don’t share that opinion. There’s no such thing as a “language gene” or "language talent". There are only people who like (as far as I am concerned, I could even say love) learning languages and people who don’t. That’s as simple as that.

I spent a lot of time learning languages and put not only passion but also work and effort into it. I learned about 10 languages – half of them within the last 12 months – and can handle 7 of them at different levels. The purpose of that article is to share 5 insights about language learning. They proved incredibly efficient for me and as it is, I am positive they could help other people learning any language they want. By “other people”, I mean you and by “any language you want”, I mean “JUST ANY language you want”.

1. BE MOTIVATED!

I didn’t say “you can learn any language” and I won’t say it. Simply because I don’t think it’s true. What I said is “you can learn any language YOU WANT”. Motivation is key. If you aren’t motivated by the language, you are unlikely to master it. I think that’s one of the main reasons why people often fail at learning languages. Typically, it would be the case of someone trying to learn Chinese because "it is the language of the future”, a “useful language”, and not because they are motivated by the language in itself. If you are motivated by learning French because you are dating a French person (by the way, I’m currently single), Russian because you are mesmerized by the cyrillic alphabet or Swedish because you love the concept of “g?kotta”, then, go for it! For example, I decided to learn Italian last year because I have always been fascinated by the beauty and musicality of the language.

2. GIVE UP ON STEREOTYPES!

You decided to learn a language and you are motivated. Good for you! Now, forget about stereotypes that could prevent you from getting any further. That includes the language gene. Believe in your ability to learn and be confident!  But that also includes language-related stereotypes. Let’s say you picked up German (good choice!). You will probably meet some people telling you “German is difficult, it’s impossible to learn!”, “German is an aggressive and horrible language!” or "German is useless, it's only spoken in Germany". Most of the time they never tried to learned the language themselves (or if they did, they lacked motivation… well, back to square one) or never heard any other German word than “ACHTUNG!”. Get detached from those stereotypes! For my part, I don’t consider German to be a difficult or an ugly language. I also don't believe in "useful" and "useless" languages. You're the only one to decide what languages are useful to you! Since I live and work in Germany, German is extremely useful to me. However, Chinese, "the language of the future", is not (yet?).

3. IMMERSE YOURSELF INTO A NEW WORLD!

Obviously, being motivated and freed from clichés is not everything. Learning a language requires a bit more. You will have to immerse yourself into a new world. When I started learning Italian, I lived 100% Italian. I learned the language but in addition to that, I listened to Tiziano Ferro and Lorenzo Fragola, watched some films and series in Italian (as strange as it is, they were American series but Italians really do a fantastic job at dubbing!), read La Repubblica and Corriere della Sera, talked with native speakers, and traveled three times in Italy within a few months (this one was not necessary but traveling is another passion for me and Italy is an amazing country, so I guess I had no choice).

4. MANAGE YOUR TIME!

Managing time is crucial. You should practice every single day, especially during the first learning weeks. If you practice only on weekends or when you “have time”, it won’t work. Learning 30 minutes a day is way better than 3 hours in the weekend. If you really want to learn a language, I am sure you can find 30 minutes a day to do it.

 5. MAKE MISTAKES!

That might appear paradoxical, but making mistakes is part of the learning process. That’s why, you have to make mistakes. Don’t wait to speak! Speak the language as soon as you can, even if you only know 10 words. I remember talking to a Romanian colleague last week, the day after I started learning the language. All I could say was “How are you? I am tired, I may be ill”. The day after, I tried some more complex sentences but made some mistakes and couldn’t express myself very clearly. But it was a necessary step! And it helped me a lot to go on. Don’t be afraid to be ridiculous! In fact, in that case, you’re curious, courageous, caring... well, everything but ridiculous. You are showing someone some interest for their language, their culture, their country… How could you be ridiculous? If you accept to make mistakes, you will accept to leave your comfort zone. In that matter, you should also avoid to take shelter under “a comfortable language”. If you want to talk German, Russian or Japanese with a native speaker, stick to that language even if your counterpart is fluent in English.

Sometimes, speaking foreign languages is not always an easy task (the imperfect subjunctive in Italian almost gets me crying sometimes, but I keep my head up) but don’t give up! There was a time when you were motivated, had no stereotypes, were confronted to a new world, had a lot of free time to learn and made a lot of mistakes. You probably don’t remember that time and that’s normal: you were a baby. But at the end, you learned a language very well: your mother tongue!  So, reconnect with your inner baby and believe me, you can learn any language you want!