Learning languages

Learning foreign languages is an important and we might as well say indispensable

part of our life. It’s a compulsory subject in school but quite a lot of kids start it even
earlier, in kindergarten or in nursery school. The sooner someone starts learning a
foreign language the better it is, but it’s never too late to start, success doesn’t
depend on age. Even if you don’t master a language and don’t speak, for example,
English fluently, a mere beginner level language knowledge may be a very useful
skill in certain circumstances.

The motivationfor learning a language can be different at the different stages of life.
Small children don’t even realise that they are learning a language if they start the
language learning process early enough. If they are immersed into a language, they
find it natural to speak and to understand the words they hear from day to day and
they learn, or rather, acquire the language almost without any effort. For
elementary school children language learning doesn’t come as natural as that. Often
it’s just a school subject among others that they have to learn whether they want to or
not. They are usually not old enough to be able to fathom that it’s useful in life to
speak foreign languages, and the motivation to learn the language doesn’t always
come from within. It’s the teacher’s responsibility to make the teaching process
rewarding and interesting so that the students make progress and don’t lose their
initial motivation, if they have any, and sparkle the interest of those who otherwise
wouldn’t be so keen on learning a language. Motivating children is not always easy.
They like to play and sing, so in the beginning, songs can be a great help.

Grown-ups normally start a new language because it is a must for them. They need
a language exam for their degree, or for work, or they want to travel to the country
where thegivenlanguage is spoken. Though their motivation is definitely stronger with
a specific aim in sight than schoolchildren’s, there are quite a few other factors that
can hinder the learning process. They don’t have enough time to enrol in a language
course, and even if they attend a course they are tired after a long day’s work so their
progress is slow. They can’t seem to find the time to learn the words necessary for
communication and most of them find the whole process a burden. Even if their
motivation comes from within it’s not easy to keep it up in the midst of their every day
cares and problems. The key motivating factor is success. If they feel that they make
progress they will stick to their aim and won’t give up their language learning goals.

There are various and numerous methods to learn a foreign language. The
bookshops are stacked with better and better course books, grammar books and
graded readers. On the Internet, you can find language teaching webpages,
YouTube videos, films, songs – whatever you are interested in. The wide choice of
material is baffling, and usually, it’s quite difficult to decide what to learn from for the
best possible results.

Studying on your own isn’t always the most adequate way to learn to speak a
language. Lots of people need others’ help to be able to communicate and to see
that they’re on the right track. If you attend a language course the other students can
motivate you to speak and to learn more than you would on your own so that you can
keep up with the others. It’s fun to learn together with mates, you can even make
new friends in a language group. If you want to progress fast or you want individual
treatment you should find a private teacher. It’s a more expensive way of language
learning, but it’s also amore effectiveway.

Wherever you learn a language and whatever methods you use always keep in
mind that you have nothing to lose. Even a few foreign words you’ve learnt may
prove useful somehow and somewhere, you never know when. And never forget
that language learning is fun, so go ahead and never give up!

Vocabulary
indispensable nélkülözhetetlen
compulsory kötelező
to depend on függeni valamitől
to master a language jól beszélni egy nyelvet
fluently folyékonyan
skill készség
stages of life életszakaszok
to be immersed into megmerülni valamiben
to acquire elsajátítani
without any effort erőfeszítés nélkül
to fathom felmérni
responsibility felelősség
rewarding kifizetődő, kielégítő
to make progress haladni
initial kezdeti
to sparklethe interest felkelteni az érdeklődést
it is a must muszáj csinálni
degree diploma
aim cél
to hinder hátráltatni
burden teher
every day cares mindennapigondok
to give up feladni
goal cél
numerous számos
graded readers könnyített olvasmányok
baffling zavarba ejtő
adequate célravezető, megfelelő
to keep up with the others lépést tartani a többiekkel
individual treatment egyéni bánásmód
to keep in mind észben tartani
you have nothing to lose nincsmit vesztened
to prove useful hasznosnak bizonyulni
to go ahead folytatni