Learn a New Language in 2009!

I will give you ten good reasons:

1. If you are looking for new work or a promotion, being bilingual will give you a clear advantage.
2. The world is getting smaller, so being able to communicate with others in different languages will only increase in importance.
3. You honor the host culture by attempting to speak their language.
4. You increase your ability to network.
5. You will have more fun travelling abroad.
6. You will be able to watch foreign movies without subtitles.
7. You will be able to read the best works of literature that the language has to offer.
8. You will be able to understand the host culture better.
9. You can start a romantic relationship with someone who may not speak English.
10. You will have more to talk about!

Yes, it can be very difficult. It can be frustrating and confusing. It can drive you loco. However, there are ways to overcome this. I will discuss the major points on how to learn a language and why learning a language is difficult. I will also scour the web for some books that will help you learn your second language better and faster.

So, what makes learning a language difficult?

Here is a non-exhaustive list of things that stump the language learner:

• Vocabulary
• Grammar (in General)
• Verb Conjugation (Past, Present, Future)
• Idioms
• Use of Prepositions and Post-positions
• Writing
• Translation and Circumlocution
• Speaking
• Listening Comprehension
• Honorifics (Formal Speech)
• Forms of Address
• Glyphs (a fancy word for letters)

This list somewhat overlaps in places, but is by far not complete. These are just some common ones I could pull off the top of my mind.

First, let's look at language as a whole. Language has rules and ways for which those rules are followed in order for an understanding to be made between people communicating in that language. In writing, the simplest of these rules is establishing glyphs, or as we call them in English, letters:

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ&

With these 27 letters, we can communicate ideas through writing. These are the basic building blocks in how to learn a language.  The English letter system is based on Roman (Latin) letters. Parts of Europe and any English speaking nation follow the Roman letter system - with a few variations here and there [for instance, Spanish has 29].

As an English speaker, you may or may not be aware of how many different ways we can pronounce our 26 primary letters. Since English has adopted so many languages within it, we have significantly more sounds than we do letters:

• 26 consonant sounds
• 20 vowel sounds

Most of these sounds come from Germanic and Romance languages. If you are interested in learning a Germanic or Romance language, you will not have too much difficulty with the sounds as most of them you have already been exposed to through English.

Accents:

Some letters will have an accent (stress) attached to them. The native speaker can help you identify the proper way of pronouncing an accented letter and when they should be written. Examples include:

èáíóú

Usually, accents are used to indicate where emphasis should be placed in a word. In English, stress is invisible, but for reference, here is an example where stress is different:

• Noun: Program (emphasis on first syllable).
• Example: I have changed the program format.
• Verb: Program (emphasis on second syllable).
• Example: I am going to program the television.

In a language such as Spanish, accents are also used to indicate past or future tense - so changing the stress on a word can change its meaning.

Some languages require different uses of the mouth that may be difficult for the English speaker. An example would be the trilling "r" found in Spanish. Also, some languages do not have nasal sounds, so the natural accent of an English speaker may throw off correct pronunciation if their accent is highly nasal.

Many languages do not follow the Roman alphabet. So, in many cases, learning the language means learning the writing system too.

An example would be the Greek letter [lower case] omega: ω

A good way to learn new letters in a language is to make an association with them to something you already know. The Greek letter omega looks a lot like the letter W in English. Omega is at the end of the Greek alphabet, similarly to W in the English alphabet.

Pulling from another language, consider this Japanese letter: キ

This is pronounced "Key". The way I use to memorize this is that I try to visualize the letter and its sound. So the Japanese writing for "key" I associate with an actual key. It sounds the same, and the letter looks like a key.

This is arguably the most difficult part of learning a new language. The only way to get a grasp on vocabulary is to "use it" or "lose it."

There are a couple ways to tackle vocab:

1. Find children's books in the target language.

Children's books go over common word order and simple vocab. Also, they introduce commonly used verbs like to be, to sleep, and to read. They also illustrate how the verbs are used in a sentence. If you get one with lots of pictures, the learning becomes even easier.

2. Label what you use.

If you put labels on things you commonly use, it makes memorizing vocab easier. For instance, you can use stickers and put them on your computer, your desk, on food containers, and other things you see daily.

3. Learn what you need.

A big mistake in learning languages is to think that you need to memorize things regardless of how often you see them. If you live in a city, you won't have much use for a word like grove. If you work in architecture, you won't have much use for words related to biology. Focus on everyday use!

Here are a few common words in case you need examples:

• Toothbrush
• Shower
• Chicken
• Phone
• Paper
• Stove
• Keyboard

4.  Find a native speaker to practice with (or a movie). 

Nothing works better in helping your learn vocab and proper word use better than someone who was born learning the language.  If you can not find a person who speaks the language you want to learn, I highly recommend watching videos and movies instead.  Try to find movies related to what you do or what your interests are - it makes the learning a lot easier. 

Adjectives and Adverbs:

Part of language building involves learning adjectives and adverbs.  Adjectives are words that can be used to modify a noun, and Adverbes are words used to modify verbs.

Example adjectives:

• Sunny - A sunny day.
• Blue - A blue sweater.
• Difficult - A difficult exam.

Many adjectives can also be modified:

• Sunny
• Sunnier
• Sunniest 

Adverbs are a bit more complicated, as there is no signle rule to identify adverbs. 

Example Adverbs:

• Skillfully
• Quickly
• Clockwise
• Atop
• Perpendicular 
• (...and anything that modifies another adverb) 

SVO stands for Subject Verb Object. In English, simple sentences follow this rule.

An example:

"I will go to the store."

• Subject = I
• Verb = will go
• Object = the store

German and the Romance Languages follow the SVO pattern as well.

Other languages, such as Japanese and Korean, follow a SOV pattern, which would look something like this:

"I the store will go."

Knowing what pattern the target language you are studying fits into will help with tackling the grammar basics.

Grammar rules in English are vast and complicated. Fortunately, in other languages, there are significantly less rules (and exceptions to those rules)!

Conjugation:

In English, differences in conjugation are rare, but when they appear, they look strange. To see how conjugation works in English, let's take the verb "to be" in the present tense:

I am / You are / She is / We are / You (plural) are / They are

In many languages, there are six ways to conjugate a verb:

• I ___
• You ____
• He/She It ____s
• We ____
• You (Plural) ____
• They ____

After you get the simple conjugation rules down for present tense, you can start learning simple past (preterit) and future tense.

Some common verb rules are called the "indicative" rules - they represent a state of being.

They follow in this manner:

• Simple Present: I am
• Simple Past (Preterit): I was
• Imperfect Past: I used to be
• Simple Future: I will

Here are the examples in sentence form:

• I am well.
• I was there
• I used to be shorter.
• I will go.

Verbs are also put into this form:

• Infinitive: to be
• Gerund: being
• Past-Participle: been
• Command: be
• Negative Command: do not be

Conditional Verbs:

Conditional phrasing can take a variety of forms. Here are two common forms:

If..., then...

"If it shrinks, you can't wear it."

....were,....would...

"If I were taller, I would play basketball."

For more descriptive analysis, please refer to the following link:

Conditional

Subjunctive Verbs:

Subjunctive is a more complex rule-set for grammar, existing from Western Europe to the Middle East. It is non existent in Asian Languages.

To learn more about the subjunctive, follow this link:

Subjunctive