Articles on Learning | Topics: learning, learn, study, studying
by Omar Alvarez
I have never quite understood how to learn a foreign language. It is a shame too. Learning a foreign language is pretty necessary in this day and age. If you learn foreign language, it makes you more employable in a variety of areas, as well as enhancing your cultural experience. Say what you want about modern translations, but until you learn foreign languages you never get to experience the beauty of foreign writers. Nevertheless, I have only managed to learn a foreign language once, and it was so difficult for me that I doubt I will ever try it again. It was just too much work!
I managed to get all the way through college without ever successfully completing a learn foreign language program. I took a little bit of French in high school, but I dropped it after a couple of semesters. In general, I was a good student. Most subjects came easy to me, but I couldn't manage to learn foreign language no matter how hard I tried. I loved French culture and French literature, and I desperately wanted to learn how to speak French, but it just wouldn't come. I ended up taking an American sign language class to get rid of my learn foreign language requirement. Even that was difficult!
| Quote of the Day |
And would you be a poet
Before you’ve been to school?
Ah, well! I hardly thought you
So absolute a fool.
First learn to be spasmodic—
A very simple rule.
For first you write a sentence,
And then you chop it small;
Then mix the bits, and sort them out
Just as they chance to fall:
The order of the phrases makes
No difference at all.
| —Lewis Carroll [Charles Lutwidge Dodgson] (1832–1898) |
|
|
I struggled with learning a foreign language all through college. I went to a liberal arts university that demanded it, and I knew that I could not graduate with the degree that I wanted unless I managed to learn foreign language. I tried using how to speak French software, hiring a private tutor, and working with conversation partners, but nothing worked. I only successfully managed to learn foreign language when I finally went abroad. I spent a year in France, and it was one of the most difficult years of my life. Ultimately, however, it was also one of the most rewarding. I would never have managed to learn foreign language without it, you see.
To this day, I believe that the only way to really learn foreign languages is to completely immerse yourself in another culture. If you can speak English at all, you will not learn how to speak a foreign language. Instead, you will keep falling back on your English skills. If you need to learn foreign language in order to interact on a daily basis, however, it will come much more quickly. If I learned a foreign language in a year, you can probably do it using the same methods in six months!
|
We strive to provide
only high quality articles on our website. If
there is a specific learning-related topic that you would like us to cover, please contact us here.
Please note: All personal opinions expressed in the "Learn Foreign Language" article belong to the contributing author and are not necessarily shared by SloanSemester.org. |
French Online
By Curt McPherson
Had I not had a classic language background to begin with, I never would have decided to try to learn French language online. You see, if you are studying modern languages, you generally take a different approach than with ancient tongues....
The Freshman Fifteen – Easy Diet Tips for the College Bound
By Queen Underwood
All that freedom that most college students look forward to acquiring when they leave home often ends up being not what it is cut out to be. One big problem that many college freshmen encounter when they leave home to go to college is that of the dorm room and campus diet....
Piano Lessons Online- Helpful or Useless
By Winifred Ingram
The piano is an exceptional instrument. The keys have a breadth unlike any other classical instrument's, and it sounds magnificent when played alone or when played along with other instruments....
Computer Science College
By Yolanda Jones
I did not set out to go to a computer science college. As a matter of fact, if you had asked me when I first enrolled in the University, it would have been one of my last priorities....
Business Degrees are Booming Online
By Jordan
Business Degrees are Booming Online A degree in business can greatly benefit a person who is looking find a career in the corporate world. There are a few areas in business one can use their degree including business management, marketing, legal, analyst positions, and consulting....
|
