FAQ 2 DOES IT MATTER IF MY TEACHER IS NOT A NATIVE SPEAKER?

To this I say absolutely not, especially if your teacher is fluent and has the cultural knowledge of the language because he or she studied abroad, or at least spent some time there. Most language teachers have, because it is the easiest way to get fluent, and if you are not fluent, why would you want to teach it? 

Listen. I hate to tell you this, but you are NOT going to get your teacher’s accent. It just doesn’t work that way. We pick up our accent from those around us and then we mix that with our own habits of pronunciation that we bring with us from other languages. This is also true for children. If you want them to have a perfect accent in a language, put them in situations with native speakers their age.

Non-native speakers have the added benefit of having learned the language themselves, so they may have some tricks that a native does not. They may also hold you to a higher standard and not let you get away with making the typical mistakes that non-natives make. A good teacher will know you better than you know yourself and push you in a way that you might not expect but which allows you to achieve a high level in the language. That is also a bonus.

The fun part of learning a language is the culture. So you want to have a teacher who can share that with you. And please let the teacher be fun and exciting-- a teacher who is going to make you Love the language. Just because a teacher is a native does not mean that he or she will be a good teacher.

I would MUCH rather have a non-native speaker who is excellent than a native speaker who is a bore. How about you?

FAQ 1 I TOOK A LANGUAGE IN HIGH SCHOOL. HOW COME I CAN’T REMEMBER ANYTHING I LEARNED? IS IT MY TEACHER’S FAULT?

People who took language in high school often feel this way. It’s the teacher’s fault they didn’t learn, or it's the teacher's fault for not being a native speaker. I am here to tell you that it is not the teacher’s fault. It is not Your fault, either. You just didn’t have enough contact with the language. 

There are lots of different ideas about how long it takes to really learn a language but the one I tend to go with is this: if you are lucky enough to be in the foreign country when you are doing it, it will take you about a month to have the first big click with the language, this means you have a concrete feeling or flash or moment of clarity when you realize that you understand a lot and can speak. You are not going ot be perfect of course, but that is the first conscious jump. 

To get that click without living in a foreign country you will need about 500 hours of contact with the language, which does not necessarily mean being with a teacher (if it did, I would be rich).This can mean any kind of contact with the languae like listening to the radio or writing, reading, watching films. Any of those things contribute to the contact hours you need to have with the language. 

If you think about a typical class at a language school, you might meet once a week for two hours for the entire academic year, so maybe forty weeks. That seems like a lot, but  it will never get you to the next level in language. If you want to do that, you must give yourself a lot more than what you can get from the class alone. 

To do that, look for as many ways as you can to use the language in everyday life. This way you are not adding hours to the day, but you ARE adding contact with the language. Some easy examples are : putting your phone in the target language (every time you look at your phone you are getting contact with the language, yes 5 seconds at a time is still better than zero seconds!), and watching at least a movie a week in the target language. You can intensify the experience by putting the subtitles in the target language as well. Download an app to your phone like memrise or duolingo. That way you can practice when you have dead time, like on the bus or in line at the grocery store. 

In conclusion, if you took language in high school and then did nothing more with it but have the burning desire to get fluent some day, that time is not lost! You will see that once you put yourself back in contact with the language, a lot of things will come back to you, and quickly. 

Even if you are rusty at first, remember that the initial contact was made, so the the info is still there and waiting to wake up. Think muscle memory when you run long distance. Even if you take an extended amount of time off, you Never go back to zero. 

You Ask me, I answer You!

People ask me lots of questions about learning foreign language and helping their kids do it, too. I am going to answer them for you in a series of ten posts. Ready? Here we go.

What is an Expert?

What most people think experts are.

1. Chosen by a supreme authority.
2. Has read a secret catalogue that the rest of us have no access to.
3. Is more "authentic" than the rest of us.
4. Has a piece of paper stating that they are an expert.
5. Is generally and unquestionably considered one.
6. Is different than the rest of us.
7. Something we can never be because we are stupid, ignorant, not worthy, an impostor.

Here is my definition:

An Expert:
1. Thinks about something a lot more than than the rest of us do.
2.  Is confident about sharing her unique experience and perspective on a certain subject.
3.  Has made a conscious decision to be the best of the best at what she does.
4.  Is naturally curious and uses her resources to gather knowledge and share it.
5.  Is good at marketing.

There is no magic here. And it's not like we all have some kind of talent at something and we just need to find it.

No way. Haven't you noticed that SOME PEOPLE are just GOOD AT EVERYTHING?
It is a decision and a commitment. It is no accident. Those people have figured out how it works and apply it to everything.

We can too. Let's get off of our keisters, people, and get back to work.