DIDACTICA DEL INGLES TASK 02-2nd SEMESTER

TASK

1-Read the article and write in the comments aboout your opinion of this article

Why some people have problem for learning another language?

We live in a global world and many people try to communicate with others but regardless of whether they travel to a foreign country or take lessons of languages, many people don’t learn that language and for that reason they hate languages or they prefer to look for other option and immediately put a wall, close their mind and didn´t give a chance to learn; This fault can be may be bad teacher that doesn´t have good methodology or may be lack of motivation the importance to acquire a new languages and how can you apply them in a real context , we always are looking for a cause in these situations, but we look inside ourselves that is failing not only as students but as teachers, remember that we liked and we did not like our classes.

I´m going to talk about the most common excuses people make up for not learning a foreign language. Of course, these excuses are, more often than not, unsubstantiated creations of our brain, but as it happens they sound fair enough to most of us. And so the issue of whether to learn a language or not can be quickly brushed away until the next person asks the question “why aren't you learning a foreign language?”

This excuse is probably the one that sounds the most reasonable, and it’s most often used by native English speakers. The question that should be asked, though, is: “How do you know you get by with English just fine if you haven’t truly tried learning and using a foreign language?” It’s kind of like asking a frog in a well to come out and enjoy the pond, and being told “I’m just fine where I am.”

According to the conference Hacking Language Learning by Benny Lewis, he makes an introduction about the reasons why some people don´t learn other language so that many people including young, adults and old; they feel frustrated and embarrassed themselves to have a conversation with native speakers, for that reason they believe that the main factors are: they had bad memory when they studied in high school or college (Almost no one paid attention to language lessons, as it could be boring, monotonous, they were not motivating, just student had to do workshops in books and highly repetitive themes), so they couldn´t travel to foreign country or they felt too old.

Taking into account his experiences he had got the opportunity to get into languages and after to finish his career he traveled to Spain and tried to learn Spanish but six month later, couldn’t speak any Spanish, then we must analyze, doesn´t matter if you have tools to learn whatever language, also if you have the best teachers or if you move to a foreign country but none of that works if you consider an important factor to learn a language and communicate with others. You must change your approach and change the attitude; maybe you can awake your language skills.

There is an important question why some people learned different languages and can speak many languages however we must remember that the motivations is necessary and don´t worry if you have some mistakes in a conversation because it can help you to improve your language.

In other hands he talks about reasons why people had never get into language learning, the first is no language gene or talent (no body is perfect and if you don’t have a talent is not good excuse to learn, just you need hard work), also is too old learn a second language (doesn’t matter the age you can learn whatever language), they can´t travel to the country right now ( it´s not necessary to travel outside your country because there are several tools as internet and chat to communicate with all), another reason is bad memory for learning all the vocabulary (just you need practice, use the context and apply everything in your life)  and finally is to frustrate native speakers (there is not a perfect conversation and have some mistakes are necessary to improve your language). There are some walls that people use to avoid for learning a language; I think that we must understand that we live in a global world that has different ways to communicate as internet, phones, chat, video calls and it´s easier than many years ago to have communication and remember that whole a new world will begin if try to learn a new language.

Finally, learning a language will require some effort from own part and it requires an effort. Eating requires an effort. Going to school/work requires an effort. Most things you will do in your life will require varying degrees of effort. Learning a language can be challenging but it’s what make the whole a funny thing. As Frank A. Clark has said, “If you can find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn’t lead anywhere.” Learning a language is a path that certainly has its share of obstacles, but it’s an awesome one well worth treading!

Written by Juan Daza
Mg. Linguistica aplicada
Esp. Pedagocia de la Lengua y la Literatura
Lic. Lenguas Extranjeras Inglés-Francés