Why should we not learn a second language?
For some, it doesn't revolutionize your social and professional life. In short, it is not worthwhile. The truth is — life is short, and you shouldn't waste time, money, and energy on something that is not helpful in your life. Learning a language just for the sake of it rarely works!
Because some instruction is in the native language, bilingual education students receive less exposure to English at school than students in English-only programs. This might delay and weaken their acquisition of English language skills, which could in turn affect the academic tracks they can pursue later.
The impact of bilingualism is huge in a developing brain (a child or teenager). Researchers who tested both bilingual and monolingual students concluded that bilinguals have lower intelligence. Bilingualism weakens educational progress and leads to lower learning ability.
Speaking with native speakers leads us to another difficulty in learning a foreign language, which is poor vocabulary. So many new words and phrases can be hard to memorize, let alone, to use while speaking.
One disadvantage of being bilingual is that bilingual and multilingual speakers have a smaller vocabulary in the languages they speak than monolingual speakers. In addition to this, the time taken for bilingual speakers to retrieve words when thinking is slower than for a monolingual speaker.
- Pro: It's a conversation starter.
- Con: You will always be better at one than the other.
- Pro: It's great for the CV.
- Con: Sometimes struggling to speak one language in a professional setting.
- Pro: It's easier to learn other languages and it keeps our brains sharp.
According to N. Doidge, “learning a second language, after the critical period for language learning has ended, is more difficult because, as we age the more our native language comes to dominate the linguistic map space and the second language finds it hard to compete”.
But, why is it so hard to learn a foreign language, anyway? Put simply, it's hard because it challenges both your mind (your brain has to construct new cognitive frameworks) and time (it requires sustained, consistent practice).
- Mandarin. Mandarin is spoken by 70% of the Chinese population, and is the most spoken language in the world. ...
- Arabic. ...
- 3. Japanese. ...
- Hungarian. ...
- Korean. ...
- Finnish. ...
- Basque. ...
- Navajo.
Grammar. Grammar errors are the bane of any language learners' existence. They're often a result of incomplete or inaccurate studying.
What are three main problems with language?
- Expressive language disorder: People have trouble getting their message across when they talk. ...
- Receptive language disorder: People struggle to get the meaning of what others are saying. ...
- Mixed receptive-expressive language issues: People struggle with both using and understanding language.
- The Very Beginning. ...
- Learning Thousands of New Words. ...
- Remembering the Words You Learned. ...
- Understanding Native Speakers. ...
- Speaking with Strangers. ...
- Consistency & Making It a Routine.
They concluded that the ability to learn a new language, at least grammatically, is strongest until the age of 18 after which there is a precipitous decline. To become completely fluent, however, learning should start before the age of 10.
Motivation, attitude, age, intelligence, aptitude, cognitive style, and personality are considered as factors that greatly influence someone in the process of his or her second language acquisition.
- Norwegian. This may come as a surprise, but we have ranked Norwegian as the easiest language to learn for English speakers. ...
- Swedish. ...
- Spanish. ...
- Dutch. ...
- Portuguese. ...
- Indonesian. ...
- Italian. ...
- French.
Of these, Spanish and Italian are the easiest for native English speakers to learn, followed by Portuguese and finally French.
1. Mandarin Chinese. Interestingly, the hardest language to learn is also the most widely spoken native language in the world. Mandarin Chinese is challenging for a number of reasons.
The Disadvantages:
Children enjoying a bilingual environment run the risk of being isolated by the host society or of being teased by their peers when speaking in the foreign language. This teasing can have a detrimental effect on the self-esteem of the child.
For older learners, picking up a language's grammar and syntax rules can be tough because you have to retrain your brain to think of sentences in new ways. Learning a new language's correct pronunciation is also difficult because it often includes using new phonemes, or sounds, that you aren't used to making.
Grooms finds the principal arguments of bilingual education's critics to be that it hinders students' ability to speak, read, and write in English, and even worse, to assimilate culturally.
What challenges do bilingual children face?
1. Language Fluency Delay. Parents often confuse language delays with speech delays, and this is one of the most common challenges for parents. Research shows that bilingualism does not cause speech delays, however, some children may take longer to become fluent in both or all languages.
Your personality is also enhanced because of the new social skills that you gain as a result of learning a new language. Some bilinguals say that they are “shifted” between two personalities when they speak in two different languages.
As with learning any new skill, often the biggest obstacle to learning a new language can be as simple as a loss of motivation.
What's the hardest part of learning a foreign language? According to Dr. Paul Pimsleur, it's not pronunciation, and it's not grammar ... it's mastering vocabulary. More than just recognizing or being able to remember words, it requires knowing the right way to put them together.
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