This goes to show that plenty of Americans strive to overcome "monolingualism" - and are looking for tools to do so.
I posted the New York Times article, adding: "Language learning for adults has become easier than ever!" and shortly thereafter got a comment by a fellow language teacher.
He didn't deny that fun, inexpensive tools are a boon to language learning, but simply said: "Although, being immersed in the language as it is being lived is still the best way. And it is easier due to the ease of travel!"
Prepare for Language Immersion
Can't argue with that one. Acquiring a language through immersion by being in a country where the language is spoken is the ideal setup for learning. I learned two languages that way as a child (Dutch at age nine, English at age eleven), and three more as an adult, during prolonged stays in Rome, Paris, and Barcelona.
But the experience of language immersion reaches a new level when you've done some preparation beforehand. It goes without saying that if you're planning a stay in another country, you'd enjoy arriving there with some basic knowledge of the language - before soaking up a lot more during your visit.
Afterwards, you may want to continue to learn your new language, just as I have maintained my languages, by reading foreign newspapers, watching films, and sitcoms, participating in social media, and using various online language learning tools.
Short Trips, but a Life-Long Hobby
The point is that trips are short, though they provide vivid experiences that deepen our understanding, as well as allow rapid learning of a language. On the other hand, learning another language can become a wonderful life-long hobby that we start before a trip and continue long after. With the new, free or cheaper, inventive tools available online, it has become easier than ever to continue learning a language, forever.
A couple of weeks ago, a friend wrote me: "Language learning is definitely on top of my list. I especially want to learn Spanish. But life is too hectic!"
My reply to him: "Ten to fifteen minutes a day can boost your Spanish significantly. Just use the time - that you would otherwise waste - by jumping on Duolingo (gamified lessons); or Memrise, Anki (flashcards); or Digital Dialects, Mindsnacks, Gamesforlanguage (language games); Tunein (foreign language radio stations).
So, plan that next trip for language immersion, but add some preparation and follow-up with online tools, a language exchange partner, a tutor, or a local class. Not only will you enjoy the pleasure of communicating in your new language throughout your life, you brain will also thank you. But that's another story.
Bio: Ulrike Rettig is the co-founder of GamesforLanguage.com. She's a lifelong language learner, growing up in Austria, the Netherlands, and Canada. You can follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and leave any comments right here!
For many, speaking in a foreign language is the goal and reason for learning it. And, the best advice for learning how to speak, is: Just do it!
Speak as often as you can, including reading aloud, repeating and practicing phrases, recording yourself, and obviously finding a native speaker to talk to.
Now, once you've reached a level of fluency where you can hold your own during an hour-long casual conversation in your second language, you may be surprised to find that you've hit a plateau.
Reading
That's what happened to me in French. I had been meeting a friend for a bi-monthly French-language lunch but I wasn't thrilled with my progress in speaking.
So, I started reading the Harry Potter series in French. From meeting to meeting, I did notice that my vocabulary was increasing.
However, after a few months, when I was getting well into the fifth Harry Potter tome, I again noticed that I had hit a learning plateau. I was improving some, but not to my satisfaction.
Writing
Then I decided to do an experiment. I put Harry Potter aside, and started writing as much as I could in French: e-mails to friends, journal bits, posting some on Lang-8.com, and racing through Duolingo.com, which includes translating into French, and writing down dictated sentences.
At my next French lunch chat - which was a few days ago - I clearly felt that I had again broken through a plateau. And this time, it was writing that had gotten me there.
Yesterday, I came across the YouTube video of a talk by Judith Meyer, that she held at the June 2014 Polyglot Gathering in Berlin. She too experienced writing as a useful supplement for improving conversational skills.
So if you've reached a plateau in your second-language conversations, try adding some writing practice - chats, e-mails, journal pieces, etc. - in that language and you may find yourself happily moving to a higher fluency plateau.
We all marvel at the ease with which young children can learn one or even more languages. They can't read or write, but when they are immersed in a language, they learn to understand and speak it within weeks.
There are some self-teaching language programs that would like you believe that their method can make you "learn a foreign language like a child." The implication is clear but wrong: no method lets an adult learn like a child does.
Key Differences
This Op-Ed article by William Alexander in the New York Times, The Benefits of Failing at French, summarizes some of the key differences between the ways adults and young children learn languages: • "...[a 2-year old brain has] 50% more synapses - the connections between neurons - than an adult brain..." • "...adults can't help but hear the second language through the filter of the first..." • "...[we] try to get everything right from the get-go and are self-conscious about our efforts."
Train your Brain while Learning
Yes, learning a foreign language requires more effort for an adult than for a (young) child. (The learning advantage that children have over adults begins to disappear between the ages of 6 to 8, according to some psycholinguists.)
But think about it: for an adult it's a "twofer." Even while we grown-ups are struggling with learning a language, our "older" brain is gaining some huge benefits.
There are even studies that conclude that language learning is likely to be more beneficial than popular brain exercise programs such as Luminosity. (see also our post Baby Boomers and Foreign Languages.)
And as Mr. Alexander points out: "Not only is that [i.e. studying a language] a far more useful and enjoyable activity than an abstract brain game, but as a reward for your efforts, you can treat yourself to a trip abroad"...
Explain3D - a system of educational simulations - has added a fun interactive iTunes Memory Game appfor iPhone and iPad in four languages: English, French, Spanish, and German. There's also an Android app in Google Play for English. I played the iPad version of Spanish (Eduxeso-Spanish), which is a language I'm learning.
Eduxeso Spanish
Like the other three Eduxeso games, "Eduxeso Spanish" is a card-pair game, in which you match a picture to a word. There are nine categories (Fruit, Animals, Colors, Food, Numbers, Nature, Clothes, Transport, and Tools).
Each category contains 10 match-ups, so in total, you'll be learning, practicing, reviewing 90 Spanish words. The learning is just visual, there is no audio, but Peter Tomasovic, Founder of Explain 3D, said that in future versions, they would like to add audio.
Since I'm learning Spanish (now, as an adult), I knew some of the words, but didn't know others. For the words I didn't know - especially in the categories of Animals, Transport, and Tools - it was interesting to see how I learned.
Here are four observations:
• In a match-up game, you have to remember where the cards are. But if you don't know the words, it's a hit-and-miss process. It was this process which engaged my brain in trying out and guessing the meaning. Getting it right, especially after making mistakes, definitely helps me remember.
• Repeating the same game, right away and then maybe the next day again, is a huge boost. For me, the category Tools was the most difficult. I noticed however, that the second time around, I remembered word-picture correlation much better, and by doing the game again the next day, I started putting the new words into my long-time memory.
• A great follow-up for new words is to write them down in a small notebook. I use a 4x6 spiral booklet that I can keep around easily. Writing something down by hand benefits your memory in a special way. The words I'm trying to remember get a new look in my notebook. When I go back and play the game again, I'll find that they are well-lodged in my memory.
• Last but not least, the memory match-up game is really fun. Since you're not just memorizing words, but engaged in remembering where the cards are as well as identifying and guessing words in a foreign language, your brain is in high gear.
Learning a foreign language requires you to stay motivated for some time. If your current course or program starts to bore you or is becoming a chore, try Eduxeso or other game-based programs and put some fun back into your learning experience.
Disclosure: Gamesforlanguage.com has no business relationship with Explain3D other than having purchased the Eduxeso-Spanish 99 cents iPad app. See our PrivacyPolicy and Terms of Use for further details.
Many adults still have bad memories from their foreign language learning days in school.
Unless they had a family connection to the foreign language they were learning, had friends who spoke it, or just had a natural curiosity about language in general, children and teenagers often saw required language classes as a necessary evil.
However, as adults they may come to see the benefits of speaking a foreign language. They may encourage their children to do so and – motivated by TV or web-based marketing campaigns – may even want to start learning a foreign again themselves.
“Wanting” to Learn
Learning a foreign language has never been easier than today. A couple of decades ago, options included traditional classes, books, records, self-teaching tapes and CDs. Now you can learn with online self-teaching courses, online personal tutors, you can skype with language partners, listen to MP3 audios, watch videos, join language community networks, etc.
But as LingQ's Steve Kaufmann, somewhat provocatively states: “Nobody can teach you a language. – You have to learn yourself.” And while this notion may be argued by some language “teachers,” most of us adult language learners also know how hard it is to stay motivated.
Radio, TV, and online marketing ads by companies such as Rosetta Stone and others make many “want” to learn a foreign language. But sustaining the efforts through the many months that it takes to become proficient or fluent in a new foreign language are much harder.
And those that are enticed by marketing slogans such as “Learn a language in 10 days” or similar ads, are the first ones who are disappointed when this proves to be just wishful thinking: “Wanting to learn” usually has to be supported and sustained by strong reasons, if the learning is not to be abandoned early.
“Needing” to Learn
In the language teaching community, it is no secret that an adult's strongest motivation for learning a second or third language is the “need to learn.” Such “need” is often caused by external circumstances: moving to another country, wanting to learn the language of one's significant other, fulfilling an educational or an employer's requirement, following a particular career path, etc.
Even when we marvel about how easily young children pick up a second language, we should not forget that they also do so most naturally when they need to be understood by their caregivers and/or playmates. (Games, play acting, etc. can also motivate them during more formal instruction!)
The “need” to be able to communicate in a foreign language is by far the strongest motivator for learning it. So what are you to do when you don't really “need” to learn but just “want” to?
Setting Goals and Staying Motivated
Even without external “needs,” we are all able to accomplish the goals that we set our mind to, i.e. goals that we “want.” In respect to learning a foreign language, this just requires that we set realistic goals and are deliberate about how to stay motivated.
But it also requires that you settle on the right learning method for yourself. This may take some time. For some, attending adult education classes may both be possible and effective; others may find the audio-only lessons work best for them; both free, as well as fee/subscription-based self-teaching courses can easily be found on the internet and often tried out before committing.
In “3 Tips...Part 1:Beginners” and “5 Top Tips...Part 2-Non-Beginners,” we suggest how you can begin and continue learning a foreign language. And when “wanting” and “needing” merge into each other, then staying motivated will be a breeze.
During our month-long stay in Barcelona and travels though Spain in 2012, we became keenly aware of the brewing conflict between Spain and Catalonia.
This was a conflict we did not understand that well initially.
Is Bilingualism the Answer?
Our previous post, In Barcelona Speaking “Spanish” Is Not Enough..., only touched the tip of the “language iceberg.” We were surprised at the time in Barcelona how many people appeared to be truly bilingual.
A recent Reuters article: "Catalan language revival fuels backlash in Spain"reminded us of the language issues we had learned about during our stay. The article points to bilingualism as a potential solution, but disagreements remain. With the monarchy's fallen popularity, even the new King Felipe VI, who speaks Catalan, is not given much of a chance to heal the divisions.
More Than a Language Conflict
Our friend in Barcelona, Fabian, recently updated us on the events since our visit: huge demonstrations; a human chain of about 2 million people from southern France to València in 2013; even bigger demonstrations planned for September 2014 and the planned referendum for independence of Catalonia on November 9.
Fabian also sent us a link to an in-depth and quite balanced review of the situation, written by an English journalist, Gary Gibson: Spain's Secret Conflict, which includes interviews with many players. It is now obvious to us that, while language is an important issue, it is clearly more than that: cultural, historical, economical, emotional, political, and many other aspects are mixed into the disagreement.
We hope that Fabian's ominous statement - “Sadly the Spanish government has the bad habit of bombing Catalonia now and then. We will see!” - is just reflecting historic events, and that democratic processes can avoid violence. Examples exist: in 1905, Sweden agreed to a peaceful dissolution of its union with Norway; and German speaking South-Tyrol is now a multicultural success story after years of conflict.
Young children generally learn a language by listening, repeating, and speaking.
By contrast, adults who use self-teaching language courses for learning a second (or third) language, also are asked to practice their reading skills by most programs. (There are exceptions, of course, such as Pimsleur's audio courses.)
For English speakers acquiring a Germanic or Romance language, the similarities of these languages to their mother tongue is certainly a big bonus.
Reading
Frequent reading can obviously increase your foreign vocabulary tremendously. Once an English speaker has grasped some of the basics of a new language, reading may be the easiest language skill to acquire. This is especially true if reading is done on the web.
Online dictionaries - or even better - Google's Chrome Extension, or programs like LingQ, and other translation tools, can quickly help you find the meaning of unknown words or expressions.
Just compare this to the cumbersome way of the past, when you had to consult a hardcopy dictionary every time to look up words.
Listening comprehension
Listening to a foreign speaker when you're just starting to learn a language does feel overwhelming: You can't even distinguish individual words, nor can you understand any meaning.
That is why most online language courses combine reading with listening. Associating a written word with its pronunciation is an important step towards remembering its meaning.
Here, repetition is key. After listening to the same audio again and again, you gradually start to distinguish where words and phrases begin and where they end.
That is why GamesforLanguage and other programs recommend listening to the audio of each lesson or level as often as possible.
Writing
Writing skills in a foreign language may often even lag behind speaking. You may never write like a Thomas Mann in German, express yourself like a Flaubert in French, a Cervantes in Spanish, or an Eco in Italian.
However, writing out words and phrases in a foreign language is a good way to practice them as it also helps memorization.
Speaking
For many English speaking adults, speaking a foreign language fluently seems to be the hardest skill to master. You can only master foreign sounds by speaking them out loud. But at the same time, you have to deal with the inhibitions and the angst adults feel in the face of potential embarrassment.
Online programs that have learners record their voice and compare it to that of a native speaker are probably just as effective as those that use voice recognition. Beginners can easily be frustrated and discouraged, so you should use what works best for you. (see also our post on Mouth Mechanics)
For most adult language learners speaking a foreign language fluently will be the ultimate goal, but fluency can only be achieved with frequent practice.
Learning words and expanding your vocabulary is important and essential, but so is listening, reading, and practicing aloud. All four language skills in fact support and enhance each other, but unless you start speaking, you won't become fluent!
Bio: Peter Rettig is the co-founder of Gamesforlanguage.com. He is a lifelong language learner, growing up in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and leave any comments with contact or below.
Recently, a New York Times article on language learning has stayed on the most e-mailed list for several days. It's called Inventive, Cheaper Tools for Learning a Language. 
Many adults still have bad memories from their foreign language learning days in school. 
During our month-long stay in Barcelona and travels though Spain in 2012, we became keenly aware of the brewing conflict between Spain and Catalonia. 