Five Myths about Foreign Language Acquisition

and five truths to combat them

Our culture has absolutely ZERO patience.

Our phone lags for 10 seconds while a browser loads and we get frustrated. A two minute wait at a traffic light is enough to put us over the edge. The news is disseminated so rapidly and so widely that one is hardly capable of keeping up.

This culture of immediate gratification has sadly extended to the acquisition of knowledge as well.

Sometimes I like to remind my students about how pathetic we are compared to our historical predecessors. Take Robert Bellarmine for example, who had all of Scripture MEMORIZED. All of it.

Intellectually, we are majorly encumbered compared to the scholars who have gone before us. Google, AI, and immediate access to information have made dotards of us all.

When it comes to foreign languages, there is a lot of nonsense out there. One needs to be very discerning about who they are listening to on this subject. With each dispelled myth about foreign language acquisition, I will provide a truth that I have found helpful when engaging with foreign languages.

Myth #1: The Duolingo fallacy

Gamifying life to make it more competitive and interesting is not always a bad idea, but in the realm of foreign language learning it is rather ineffective. By using a app that is gamified—made to simulate a video game—like Duolingo, you get the sensation that you are accomplishing something by hitting your daily achievements without making much progress.

Language learning is work. Study those irregular verbs, think in your target language despite how uncomfortable it is, tackle the subjunctive mood aggressively. In short, do the work and the fun will begin when you start being able to communicate in that language.

Truth #1: You can’t gamify your way to fluency in another language. As far as vocabulary goes, it is better to acquire it from comprehensible input rather than language learning apps.

Myth #2: Fluency can be achieved quickly.

No, you cannot become fluent in a language in three months. Alexander Arguelles points out that the U.S. military sends soldiers to a school where after 12-16 months of working on a new language for 8+ hours a day, they have a professional working proficiency (not fluency).

Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center

Fluency is one of these nebulous words which can mean any number of things. If we are talking about near-native fluency, however, gear up for years of study. I did meet a linguist who told me that he has known people who have achieved C2 (i.e. near-native) proficiency in just six months, but I am guessing that these are people who both applied an exceptional amount of time to it in that sixth month window and knew how to go about learning a foreign language. Which leads me to the next myth.

Truth: Fluency is a grind. We’re talking thousands of hours. The good news is, nothing worth doing is easy. Embrace the journey and get after it.

Myth #3: Language Acquisition is straightforward, it is just time consuming.

This myth might be my favorite of them all.

Simply accepting the fact that foreign languages take a long time to acquire isn’t enough. Language acquisition is a skill unto itself.

This is why polyglots can acquire new languages much more quickly than those learning their first foreign language. After having discovered the process of learning a foreign language, you can move more quickly through all the necessary steps. This is where an experienced tutor can actually save you a lot of time, and can be well worth the money too.

Truth: Language learning is a skill unto itself.

The GOAT of Foreign Language Acquisition, Alexander Arguelles

The man who taught me French - a savant and an unmatched educator, in my opinion — proposes the following steps for acquiring French. This applies well to the other Romance languages as well:

1. Learn the alphabet of that language

2. Watch some accent and voice videos. This is crucial from day one onwards with any foreign language

3. Subject pronouns

4. Object pronouns

5. Mastering the verb system of that language with all the tenses you’ll ever need: Present, Imperfect, Future, Conditional, Perfect, Pluperfect, Future Perfect, Conditional Perfect

   1. P.S. yes, it’s possible to learn the entire French verb system in 5-10 hours

6. More pronouns

   1. Reflexive pronouns

   2. Direct/indirect pronouns

7. Subjunctive mood

8. Relative pronouns (who, whom, what, with whom, about whom, etc…)

9. Adverbs (not, never, no longer, etc…)

10. All the different ways of saying one (this one, that one, my favorite one, my one, his one, etc…)

11. Demonstratives (this man, that man)

12. Possessive adjectives (my ___, your ____, their ___)

13. Reflexive verbs that use prepositions after them

14. Some more complicated but necessary nuances of the language

    1. In French, the use of “en” and “y”

    2. In Italian, the use of “ne” and “ci”

15. At that juncture you should be ready for some conversation practice, and you should be consuming a lot of comprehensible input.

Myth #4: Making Mistakes is a Problem

You have to walk before you run. Babies speak gibberish for months, sometimes years, before being able to produce anything coherent. Why are you expecting perfection from day one? You need to be comfortable with making mistakes, because that is the only way you will improve.

Truth: In foreign language learning, perfection is the enemy of excellence. Get used to making errors, knowing it is helping you reach your goal of fluency.

Myth #5: Foreign language acquisition is just another skill

This one is kind of a repeat of #2 from a different vantage point. When talking about foreign language acquisition, there is no better way to do it than immersion. The reason for this is you are forced to interact with the language all day long. Learning a foreign language without being in a country where the language is spoken is exceedingly difficult, but not impossible.

The best way to do this is by turning your language acquisition into a lifestyle. Listen to podcasts and music in that language. Find conversation groups and friends who speak that language, and prioritize spending time with them. Read Wikipedia articles in your target language on topics that interest you. In short, integrate that foreign language into your life as much as possible.

Truth: Language learning is a lifestyle. You need to devote a consistent amount of time to study daily before seeing any sort of payoff.

Bonus: Linguists Worth Their Salt

Here are two linguists who are the real deal, and have some great advice on how to learn a foreign language. I’d advise you to tune out anyone who tries to sell you foreign languages the easy way - these two certainly don’t.

1. Alexander Arguelles

2. Luca Lampariell

Cheers,

The Lifetime Reader

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