Learning languages Requires Us to Let Go and Engage!

Language is much more than the sounds, letters, grammar, vocabulary. That is why so many people struggle learning languages. We were sold the idea that if we learn all that, then we will “know” a language. What a load of bunkum!

Languages are the means we have to express who we are, what we think. They are the means by which we “attempt” to communicate with each other. I say attempt because all too often our communication can go awry and hence the stress that all of us have felt in our lives from these attempts at communication.

The problem is that first of all we have to say something that communicates what we want to express. That is often hard enough, of itself.  And then we want the other person to understand what we said in the way we meant it. When we succeed at both, a miracle! 

I may seem to be digressing from my introduction, but really I am not. What I want to show is that the language we use is meant to express what we want to say. So when we learn a new language it is important that we always keep that connection… ”how can I say what I mean in the new language” is the first step and then “in a way that will be understood clearly by another who speaks that language” is the second. This may seem like nothing new but it is! Let me continue.

Meaning is at the heart of a language. I am here not talking about the kind of meaning that has no life, but about the kind of meaning that moves us to action, to thought, to reflection. The meaning needs to impact who we are in some way otherwise its too easy to keep it at an arms length. That kind of meaning has little chance of being transformed into a new language that we relate to. That is one reason why immersion based language learning has the successes it has. We have no choice then but to react to the language. So it makes the language more personal, not removed (like typical language teaching can be).

When we put on top of all that a cultural overlay, there are even more complications we have to deal with. Unless we are prepared to become vulnerable and let the new culture permeate us, so the meanings stated and implied in another language affects us AND not try to interpret what we hear from our own cultural baggage, we can easily miss what another might be saying.

That is why translation is typically a poor tool for learning a new language. It certainly can sometimes speed things up, and at times may even appear necessary, however we can miss so much when that is the only tool we use to learn a new language.  Culture needs to be experienced for it to be appreciated, especially its subtleties. For that to happen we need to, as much as possible, desist from attachments to and judgments about our culture or the other.  The better we can do this the more effectively we will be able to pick up the nuances of other cultures.

So if you want to learn a language work out some way you can engage with it.  The more fully you do, the better will be your chances. 

Andrew Weiler, 2012