Maldonado 1

Daniel Maldonado

Professor Hugetz

ENGL 1302.AHS 04

13 April 2021

Casual Proposal Redux: Rough Draft

Hi there. My name is Daniel Maldonado and I am currently a senior student at Alvin

High School. In the measly city of Alvin, not many people give language-learning a second

thought because they see it as a difficult achievement. Fortunately, I created a website designed

to aid people who want to learn a new language into their first steps of their language-learning

journey. Most beginners tend to have a rough start in this process and commit basic mistakes in

the beginning of their language-learning journey. Since unrealistic expectations, unsuccessful

learning methods, loss of motivation, and lack of confidence cause people who want to start to

learn new languages to be discouraged, then they should take the liberty of spending time with

multilingual people and get their perspective of learning a language because of the worries and

doubts one fears when beginning to learn a brand new language.

Initially, setting expectations is crucial when starting to learn a language, but when done

poorly it can end in the demise of their dream. Most beginners think that they will be able to

speak a new language sooner rather than later and then later quit for not meeting these

expectations. An article titled “How Long Does It Take to Learn a Language?”, written by

Dianne Minardi, further explores this idea. In the article, Minardi provides a table that displays

the time span of learning languages from Spanish all the way to Arabic. Easier languages such as

Spanish, French, and Italian were ranked as a minimum of twenty-three to twenty-four weeks to

reach fluency level, since those are the languages closest to English. More difficult languages,
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however, such as Arabic, Albanian, and Russian were ranked at eighty-eight weeks to reach

fluency level just because of how different they are (Minardi). Considering those statistics,

learning a new language will definitely take a while to learn. This was especially the case for me

since I was the one that was teaching myself. Setting unwise expectations will only delay them

and most likely make them lose interest, as even the easier languages can be learned in a

minimum of six months and certainly not in a couple of weeks.

Furthermore, another reason people become discouraged when learning a new language

is their choice of learning methods. Ineffective learning methods such as famous language

software programs, can ultimately ruin the passion one had at first, as they will eventually realize

they are not making any progress. An article titled “Bad Language”, written by Karen Stollznow

in 2010, further explains this. In her article, Stollznow exposes the flaws of these software

programs by demonstrating how they end up failing in teaching their users language skills. She

comments on its inaccuracy, stating that “-but criticized them for linguistic errors, culturally

inaccurate information, a lack of conversational instruction, weakness in teaching non-Latin

alphabet writing systems, and an overall English-language bias.”(*) Most of these programs use

English as a foundation when translating sentences, ultimately jeopardizing the accuracy of the

translation, costing the learner to falsely use them. The ineffectiveness of these language

programs will make the learner believe that learning a new language is impossible, making them

lose interest along the process.

Perhaps the most well-known reason people quit when learning a new language is loss of

motivation. This happens to everyone: they start off strong and feel unstoppable for the first few

days but after a couple of weeks they no longer find the fire within themselves and are then

confused as to what had happened to them. An article titled “Motivation to Diet and Exercise”,

written by Charles Donald Spielberger in 2004, is able to explain why. Spielberger first
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addresses the origin of the word “motivation” as he states “The term “motivation” is actually a

derivative of the Latin word movere, meaning “to move.” The purpose behind him educating the

reader is to tell them to keep on moving. If learners decide to skip lessons and move slower then

chances are that soon they will not be moving at all. However, when they decide to work hard,

even when they do not feel like it, then they will never be discouraged.

Additionally, confidence also plays a major role in learning a new language. If one wants

to progress then they have to apply what they have learned, which is practice speaking the

language. To a lot of people that is the scariest thing in the world since they are afraid to

mispronounce a word that might get them criticized. According to an article titled “The Role of

Conversation Practice in Second Language Learning”, written by September Cowley in 2019,

practicing linguistic competence is nowhere as effective as practicing to speak the language. If a

learner wants to be able to hold a conversation in their new language then it is crucial for them to

develop their communicative competence, which is just having conversations in that language

(Cowley). Unfortunately, most learners do not like the idea of them having to practice speaking

an unfamiliar language. This lack of confidence will prevent the learner from further improving

their language-learning skills, ultimately resulting in them staying on the same level that they

have been stuck on for months, perhaps even years.

An effective tactic to counter all of these factors is to get a multilingual person’s perspective. An

article titled “Mentorship”, written by Morag Gray in 2010, further supports this. Gray states that

a mentor provides the following to their student: information, motivation, focus, the will to face

new challenges, responsibility and eventually independence (Gray). Talking to someone who has

been through what they are currently going through will not only be an indication of it being
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possible, but will also be useful for the confused learner. With a different perspective, the learner

will be less likely to be discouraged from learning a new language.

Besides using a mentor as a backbone whenever feeling discouraged, one can also use a

mentor as a form of putting what they have learned to use. A fine example would be to practice

speaking with them. Not only will they perfectly understand what the learner is trying to say, but

they can also correct whatever grammar mistakes they might make. After weeks of practice, the

learner will find themself at a much more advanced level than what they were before.

Additionally, by doing this the learner will feel more confident while learning the language as

they will realize that they are truly making progress.

As effective as this tactic is, it is unfortunately not the one most learners think of at first.

Whenever discouragement lures in, one thing learners tend to do that they think will help is to

just take a small break. They take a day or a week off but what ends up happening is that during

that time period they end up losing interest and eventually hang up the dream. Furthermore, they

might also double the amount of effort they are putting in. They think that they are not working

hard enough and could do better and yes, while that may be the case, amplifying the work will

make them grow more weary of the language. These tactics may seem great at first but their lack

effectiveness will eventually discourage the learner furthermore. With an experienced

multilingual to practice with and look up to, learning a language will never be a dreadful task.

Now, finding a multilingual person to practice with has never been easier in today’s

world. There are a plethora of online chat websites where learners can practice speaking a new

language with millions of people around the world. There are many more websites that could be

considered. Some are even specifically designed for language learners and will in fact set them

up with a language teacher, but most of these websites will charge the user as they are more
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effective. Nevertheless, online chat websites will definitely make the language-learning process

less of a burden.

Learning a new language can be a difficult task and can be followed by discouragement

that will drain the perseverance. A learner can only reach a certain point before having to reach

out for help. Make no mistake, such a difficult task requires professional aid and that kind of aid

can be found on the very internet! Having an experienced multilingual person to practice with

and to look up to will set the learner on an entirely new level that they would have never

imagined to be at so quickly.

Autio/ Visuals for Redux Website

“Home” Page:

● Image of man jumping in front of a spectacle-worthy sunset

●Title

“Problem” Page:

● Image of man running on a road while staring into the sun with three black

birds flying by

● Spacing

“Problem” Page:

● Image of a house with a storage unit next to it in the middle of nowhere while

the sunset is taking place

● Image of a boy in an arctic setting while looking into the midst of the

snow/clouds (?)
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“Passion Project” Page:

● Button that automatically takes user into my Passion Project Weebly

Website once clicked on with a mouse