Unit 12-Learning A Foreign Language

A. Preparation Task

Match the definitions (a–h) with the vocabulary (1–8).

Vocabulary Definitions

1. consideration a. to perform or complete a job or activity

b. a language learned by a person after his or her native
2. mother tongue language, especially as a resident of an area where it is in
general use
3. naturally c. have an effect on; make a difference to
d. the language which a person has grown up speaking from
4. second language
early childhood
5. native speaker e. without hesitation or reluctance; willingly
f. a fact or condition connected with or relevant to an event
6. affect
or action
7. readily g. without special help or intervention; in a natural manner
h. a person who has spoken the language in question from
8. circumstances
earliest childhood

B. Reading

The Hardest Language

People often ask which is the most difficult language to learn, and it is not easy to answer because there
are many factors to take into consideration. Firstly, in a first language the differences are unimportant as
people learn their mother tongue naturally, so the question of how hard a language is to learn is only
relevant when learning a second language.

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A native speaker of Spanish, for example, will find Portuguese much easier to learn than a native
speaker of Chinese, for example, because Portuguese is very similar to Spanish, while Chinese is very
different, so first language can affect learning a second language. The greater the differences between
the second language and our first, the harder it will be for most people to learn. Many people answer
that Chinese is the hardest language to learn, possibly influenced by the thought of learning the Chinese
writing system, and the pronunciation of Chinese does appear to be very difficult for many foreign
learners. However, for Japanese speakers, who already use Chinese characters in their own language,
learning writing will be less difficult than for speakers of languages using the Roman alphabet.

Some people seem to learn languages readily, while others find it very difficult. Teachers and the
circumstances in which the language is learned also play an important role, as well as each learner's
motivation for learning. If people learn a language because they need to use it professionally, they often
learn it faster than people studying a language that has no direct use in their day to day life.

Apparently, British diplomats and other embassy staff have found that the second hardest language is
Japanese, which will probably come as no surprise to many, but the language that they have found to be
the most problematic is Hungarian, which has 35 cases (forms of a nouns according to whether it is
subject, object, genitive, etc). This does not mean that Hungarian is the hardest language to learn for
everyone, but it causes British diplomatic personnel, who are generally used to learning languages, the
most difficulty. However, Tabassaran, a Caucasian language has 48 cases, so it might cause more
difficulty if British diplomats had to learn it.

Different cultures and individuals from those cultures will find different languages more difficult. In the
case of Hungarian for British learners, it is not a question of the writing system, which uses a similar
alphabet, but the grammatical complexity, though native speakers of related languages may find it
easier, while struggling with languages that the British find relatively easy.

No language is easy to learn well, though languages which are related to our first language are easier.
Learning a completely different writing system is a huge challenge, but that does not necessarily make a
language more difficult than another. In the end, it is impossible to say that there is one language that is
the most difficult language in the world.

(source: https://www.usingenglish.com/comprehension/5.html)

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Are the sentences true or false?

True/ False

1. The question of how hard a language is to learn is relevant to both first __________

and second language acquisition.

2. Portuguese is definitely easier than Chinese. __________

3. A Japanese speaker may well find the Chinese writing system easier __________

than a speaker of a European language.

4. The Hungarian alphabet causes problems for British speakers. __________

5. Hungarian is the hardest language in the world. __________

6. Hungarian has as many cases as Tabassaran. __________

7. Many British diplomats learn Tabassaran. __________

8. The writer thinks that learning new writing systems is easy. __________

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.

news far later proficiency

suggest bilingual adept critical

New research from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) (1) ____________________ that if

people want native-like (2) ____________________ in a new language, they should start learning that

language before the age of ten. The researchers added that children up to the age of 17 or 18 remain (3)

___________________ at learning grammar. There is bad (4) ____________________ for those who

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want to pick up a new language beyond their late teens. The researchers say this is past the "(5)

____________ period" when language-learning ability starts to decline. Researcher Joshua Hartshorne

said: "As (6) ____________ as a child is concerned, it's quite easy to become (7) ____________....That's

when you're best at learning languages. It's not really something that you can make up (8)

____________."

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.

simply ages points impact

life analysis confuse measured

The research was based on an (9) ____________ of results from a 10-minute online grammar quiz. Over

670,000 language learners of all (10) ____________ participated in the test. Researchers (11)

____________ the grammatical ability of people who started learning a language at different (12)

____________ in their life. Professor Hartshorne focused on grammar rules that were most likely to (13)

____________ a non-native speaker as a gauge of that person's proficiency. MIT researcher Josh

Tenenbaum suggested people (14) ____________ might be too busy to learn a language later in (15)

____________. He said: "After 17 or 18, you leave home, you work full time, or you become a

specialized university student. All of these might (16) ____________ your learning rate for any

language."

Comprehension questions

1. What is the abbreviation of the university that conducted the research?

______________________________________________________

2. Until what age do children remain adept at learning grammar?

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 ______________________________________________________

3. What kind of news did the researchers have for adults?

______________________________________________________

4. What kind of point did researchers describe?

______________________________________________________

5. For whom did researchers say it was easy to become bilingual?

______________________________________________________

6. How long was the grammar quiz that people took?

______________________________________________________

7. How many people took a grammar quiz?

______________________________________________________

8. What did the article say was likely to confuse non-native speakers?

______________________________________________________

9. What reason did a researcher give for adults not learning a language?

______________________________________________________

10. What might leaving home or starting work impact?

______________________________________________________

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