So many times I am asked while tutoring, how do you learn a foreign language?

It's like learning anything else: by study, repetition, practice and memorization. In my opinion, a language is 80% memorization and the other 20% is learning the grammar, the pronunciation and the culture of the people who speak the language.

Think back to when you learned something as a child, like tying your shoelaces or riding a bike. You had to practice tying those shoelaces. Riding that bike took practice. When you learned to write, you had to write the letters a, b, c, and so forth, over and over. Well, the same skills are involved while learning a language, but the only difference is now you are an adult and your brain is more developed.

It also helps a great deal to know what kind of learner you are, so that you can tailor your learning to your learning style. There are four types of learners: visual, auditory, reading/writing, and kinesthetic (learning by touch). Some people learn better by listening to a professor lecture, that would be an auditory learner. Some people do better by reading textbooks, that would be a reading/writing learner. Some are partial to one learning style, some people have all of them or two or three. The important thing is to find out which style you have by taking a learning styles inventory, so you can adapt to them.

Here is one link for taking the Learning Styles Inventory:
http://www.vark-learn.com/english/page.asp?p=questionnaire

When learning a foreign language, no matter what kind of learner you are, there are ways to fit your learning style(s) into your studies outside of class. They are as follows:

-Visual learner: Make charts and flash cards and review them often. (I must be this type of learner because I have learned three languages fluently by making flash cards.)

-Auditory learner: Tape yourself, or even better, a native speaker, speaking whichever language you are learning and play it back constantly. Or maybe, you can buy an audio program already made.

-Reading/Writing learner: Write out every step you need to take in order to understand what you are trying to learn. Read your textbook over and over.

-Kinesthetic learner: This sounds weird, but it works! Go around your house or when outside touch things (within reason LOL) and say the word for it in whatever language you are learning. For example: if you are learning Spanish, in your house touch a glass and think or say "vaso" or your watch and think or say "reloj." When outside, point to a house and think or say "casa."

I think one reason why some people do not do well in classes is because the way the teacher is teaching does not fit the student's learning style(s). If the professor just stands and lectures and you are a kinesthetic learner, that does you no good whatsoever. So, with a few adjustments here and there, as mentioned above, you can overcome this obstacle and still do well with foreign languages.

Nancy Sorkowitz is a life long learner of foreign languages (self-taught and educated). She is also a tutor of Spanish, French and Italian for 9 years in NYC. She has an online store at http://www.ncslearnalanguageresources.com.

[Edited by Administrator (admin) Wed, 06 Jul 2011, 05:45 PM]