Surrounded By A New Language

Imagine if you went to the train station and you couldn't ask when the train comes.  You want to ask the friendly station staff, "Excuse me, when is the train coming?"  But, you find yourself tongue tied, thinking, "How do I say that?"  You give up and ask them in English, and they look at you uncomprehendingly.

Here's another situation - You go to the store to buy some shampoo.  There are aisles and aisles of goods, and the shampoo you need is somewhere among them, but you don't know where.  You can either walk up and down each row looking, or you can ask an employee.  You stop someone and say, "Where is the shampoo?"  But they don't understand.  Good luck looking!

One more - You decide to hit the town and have a few beers in the local bar.  You get there and manage somehow to get a drink in front of you.  Then, you sit there and listen to everyone jabber at each other in a language you don't understand.  You sip your beer and then leave, because there's no way to get into a conversation with someone.

In all of these situations, you are surrounded by a new language.  Wouldn't it be much better if you could use that language and get what you need!?

When you are surrounded by a new language, you may feel scared and alienated.  But this is not a time to shrink back into your shell.  This is an opportunity!  You are in a position to learn a second language, and it's a skill that will last a lifetime.

Let's change the endings of those stories.  Imagine that you bring along a tiny phrasebook, and you look up a few phrases.  You find the entry for "What time is the train coming?"  As you walk to the train station you practice and practice that phrase silently to yourself.  You get there, and there is the station man staring at you.  You let that phrase fly.  He tells you, and you thank him.  Mission accomplished!

Or how about this - You've been studying your new language for a while and you're confident that you can ask a simple question at the store.  You head in and walk right up to the clerk.  "Excuse me," you say, minding your pronunciation.  "Where is the shampoo?"  They direct you to the aisle, and you're in and out in minutes!

After a few months of studying, you think you might be able to hold a conversation.  You head out to the local bar or club, and position yourself at the bar.  You pick up snatches of conversation, and pretty soon you're talking to somebody.  You're not fluent, but things are going well.  Each sentence that you hear has new words and grammar for you to study, and every sentence that you speak is another chance to practice new words and phrases.  If only you could tape record the entire evening!

When you get that first little bit of success, you begin to realize, "I can learn this language."  Once you get a few successful tasks under your belt in your new language, you will be more confident, and it keeps rolling like a snowball.  Soon you are learning by leaps and bounds, and you don't even realize it.

The best way to learn is to be surrounded by a new language.  You will be properly immersed and motivated, and you'll have lots of chances to practice.  This is a great learning opportunity!

Peter Freeman
Polyglotus.com