There comes a time in someone’s life, when they decide to learn a language. Languages can be a lot of fun to learn, but challenging at the same time. What’s the best way to go about it?
Many companies offer courses on speaking a foreign language. But is this really the best way to learn? Sure, they might offer Voice, Visual, and Hands On learning, but is Software really the best way to learn a language?
What about College course material? Many Colleges offer and even require one to learn a foreign language, or two, or three, etc. Depending on your degree. But is College really the best way to learn?
Perhaps the best way to learn a foreign language, is to immerse yourself into the culture. What Culture? Well, the culture who’s language you want to learn. If you want to learn Japanese, you’ll need to immerse yourself in Japanese Culture. The only way to do that? Go to Japan.
Why is Total Immersion important? The thing is, software and audio courses can only get you so far. In other words, you might be learning how to pronounce a word, but what if you’re not accurate? People might look at you funny when you’re trying to speak to them.
Some languages, like Chinese, are tone regulated. In other words, the tone that you speak in, may actually mean an entirely different word/phrase. Most of the time though, it’s usually different ways of saying something. Like we have different levels of love, they might have different tones for love.
So, rather than make a fool of yourself, you might want to consider taking an immersion course, or even just traveling on your own. It’s never too late to travel and you may as well do it while you’re still young.
For those of us who can’t quite afford to travel, at least yet, there is always the courses to use. I for one find myself having trouble learning certain words, so I have no clue if I’m right with the pronunciation or not. What about you? What’s your biggest challenge when learning a foreign language?
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