How to Learn a Foreign Language (8 page)

SPECIAL SECTION

C
an you learn a language by yourself? Yes, indeed! It's not easy, but it can definitely be done. I've learned a few that way myself.

If you're seriously interested in learning a language on your own, then this book is especially important to you. It contains the kinds of pointers that otherwise only a teacher could give you. Let's go over the special types of problems that you will need to look out for, and talk about how to solve them.

The problem of incentive:
Obviously, you already have a good bit of incentive if you're interested in going forward on your own. You clearly know what you want: either you're planning to go on a trip, or to live in a foreign country or the language means a lot to you. Or maybe you just have a lot of intellectual curiosity.

The chapter on what to do when you start feeling stuck on a plateau will be especially relevant. You are going to need extra help in maintaining motivation, so foreign films, foreign foods, foreign friends, music, books, comics, radio broadcasts or whatever, will be especially useful to you.

You'll need good language materials.
Good materials always help, but if you don't have a teacher they are imperative. Try to find someone to ask about a good textbook, especially if you haven't had much exposure to language study before. A lot of famous language schools have textbooks commercially available, and they often come with tapes.

You should make it a point to buy several different textbooks.
This can help you in several ways. You will have a variety of materials to help explain things to you more fully. Any language book will have its own strengths and weaknesses so if you have several, you get the benefit of different explanations and viewpoints on the same skills. In addition, you will find it a refreshing break to go over to another textbook just as
a change of routine. When you get bogged down in one, switch to another.

The need for tapes will be absolutely critical if you are on your own.
You can either find them on the market, or you can find somebody somewhere who is a native speaker of the language who can make some tapes for you. You can't do without tapes if you're on your own. You just can't.

Find native speakers.
You will have to have some contact with native speakers if you don't have a formal teacher. If you live near a university, go and ask at the relevant language department. They can probably tell you whether there are foreign students around who might be willing to help you out—either for free, for a small fee, or in exchange for some help in English. If you can arrange it, this last way is best of all since it will give you a lot more opportunity to find out more about the language and culture you're interested in.

If you aren't near a university, try churches or religious groups from the country of your interest. Or grocery stores from that country where you could ask about native speakers or maybe leave a small want-ad asking for some help from a native speaker. Remember, the native speaker can not only help make the language alive and more fun, but can also help you with any problems you may encounter—and can become a
real
friend.

You may want to learn only how to
read
a foreign language, and not get involved in learning to speak or understand the spoken language. This is often the case for people who are interested in using the language as a research tool.

I personally feel that you're missing a lot of the fun and the rare experience of the foreign language if you limit yourself just to reading it. But even learning to read has its challenges—and you still can learn a lot about the culture and the mental processes involved in
the language. But even if you are only interested in learning to read, it's still important to learn to
think
in the language. Remember, you don't want to have to translate as you read. Translating is time-consuming and inefficient. You will need to be able to read just as a native of the language would read—straight from the language to the concept in your head—no intermediary process.

So it will still be crucial to spend a little time with tapes to rev up your thinking processes in your new language. Make sure you read out loud a lot, and try to understand what you read without translating. You'll never be an accomplished reader in the language if you have to translate.

If you are learning only how to read, make sure that in addition to the regular textbooks you also get a proper reader—a book with graduated reading passages and vocabulary, designed to give you practice in reading. There is just no substitute for getting such a book. There are some very good readers on the market today, in particular those produced by the Foreign Service Institute of the US State Department. Their books are available from the US Government Printing Office.

The main feature of these good readers is that they let you read great quantities of “controlled” material written with just the words you know at every stage. That way you become comfortable at reading extensively—getting heavy repetition of the material you're studying. Beware of books that don't give you much opportunity to practice and reinforce the material you've learned. I'd buy every reader I could get my hands on just to ensure that I had every opportunity to repeat and repeat in different contexts.

There is no reason why you can't learn a language on your own. It is a heavy undertaking, but a challenging and exciting one. You'll just have to pay extra attention to the problems of keeping up your incentive and getting your hands on good language materials.

You'll also need to establish some contact with a native speaker. But when you work on your own, you know exactly why you're doing it. You can push yourself that much harder. You will be your own harshest critic—and that can make the rewards of success all the more satisfying.