How fast can I learn a language? What should I learn first? How fluent can I get in a language? These are common questions. Let's look at them here. What do you mean by learning a language? You can always improve. You will never be perfect. You can always enjoy the language. So why not focus on enjoying the language? If you enjoy the language you will improve quickly. You should feel meaningful and satisfying progress every month. You will continue to improve as long as you want to.
What should you learn first? In my view language learning starts with listening. If possible, reading should be combined with listening. If you can understand what you hear in the language, you will feel comfortable and confident. It is important to be able to understand people when they talk to you. You can always stumble a little when you express your own views. In fact, for the first while you need not try to speak, just listen and learn. But it is essential to understand what is said to you. Learning to understand the language in all situations takes time. It takes years. Yet the challenge to improve one's listening comprehension is an excellent stimulus for the brain. It keeps you young and alert.
Reading can help a lot in listening. So take the trouble to read, and to learn vocabulary. Try to enjoy what you are listening to and reading. Do not be in too big a hurry. This will only put unnecessary pressure on yourself. Savour the language. Observe the language and get used to the patterns of the language. Before you know it you will be using the language better than ever before.
If you can understand what you hear you will learn to speak well, when you need to speak. If you do not have the opportunity to speak in the language you are learning, do not worry. Speak to yourself. Write and have your writing corrected. Read your corrected writing out loud to yourself. And when you have the chance to speak, go for it and do not worry about how well you think you performed.
How fluent can you get? There is no limit. You can just keep improving. There are non-native speakers who use the language better than native speakers, even though their pronunciation may betray a foreign origin. It does not matter. The sky is the limit.
The important thing is to continue. We all have the ability to recognize and imitate patterns in all things, including foreign languages. Let yourself go. Enjoy the language. Work a little on learning the words and phrases that you have come across in your listening and reading and soon what seemed strange in the language will seem natural. You will experience a sense of power as you use your new vocabulary, almost without thinking about it.
I think that has been the experience of our learners at The Linguist. I think this will be even more the case once everyone is fully engaged in the new LingQ system.
