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.
Do you have foreign accent worries? Recently while reading David McCullough's fascinating book "The Greater Journey – Americans in Paris", I was intrigued by the following sentence (p. 202):
“Except in infancy, he had never lived in Paris. As a consequence of schooling in Switzerland and Germany, he spoke French with a slight German accent...”
Who was he?
Well, he was Louis Napoleon Bonaparte (left, painting by Alexandre Cabanel [1823-1889]), the improbable president of the Second Republic, and later Emperor Napoleon III, who
“...in 1830, having tried and failed in a ludicrously inept attempt to overthrow King Louis-Philippe, he had been exiled to the United States, where he stayed only briefly before settling in London. (Like Louis-Philippe, he spoke English with ease and, as Thomas Evans had discovered, preferred conversing in English when he did not care to have others nearby understand what was said.)” (p. 203)
What? He had a foreign accent?
For History Buffs
If you are interested, you can read more about Napoleon III in the Wikipedia entry. Except for history buffs, not many English speaking language learners will know much about Louis-Philippe or about Napoleon III.
Clearly, both were quite adept in speaking more than one language. “The London Saturday Journal” (Volume 3 – Page 56 of January 1840, digitized by Google Notes) reports that Louis-Philippe, besides German and English, also spoke Italian: “[he] speaks these three languages fluently, without the slightest foreign accent.”
Both his and his successor's foreign language skills were acquired during their school years and during exile (the latter not necessarily an experience to emulate).
There are plenty of examples of people who became highly successful in a foreign country even though they had a noticeable foreign accent. Similarly, McCullough describes the experiences of many American scholars and artists that had come to Paris by the 1830s:
James Fenimore Cooper, Samuel F.B. Morse, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Charles Sumner just to name a few. They all had to learn French, and very likely, never lost their American accent. Still, they had no trouble communicating and loved their stay in Paris.
After all – if Napoleon III could become emperor of France with a (slight) German accent in his “native” French – you certainly should not give up learning the foreign language in which you want to become fluent!
Do You Want to Practice Your German?
Our games and travel-story based courses are also a great way to practice your German. You'll learn useful vocabulary, hear conversational German in context, and practice your pronunciation by repeating words, phrases, and sentences by after a native speaker.
With our German 1 and 2 story-courses you'll learn and practice German for FREE- with stories of a young man traveling through Germany and - its sequel - solving a "Blüten"-mystery in Berlin. "The Story" and easy games will let you forget that you are actually learning German!
You can also listen to both Stories by clicking on German 1 or German 2 on our Podcast page.
Bio: Peter Rettig is the co-founder of Gamesforlanguage.com. He's 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.
If you want to learn to speak a foreign language, is it really important to practice aloud? My experience has been that although the benefits of practicing listening, reading, writing, and speaking overlap, each foreign language skill also needs its own practice.
Last year my husband and I spent a month in Barcelona. We had rented an apartment and found this to be a brilliant opportunity to practice our nascent Spanish in daily situations - such as shopping, banking, getting around the city, or socializing with locals in our neighborhood café.
Practicing Reading aloud
But Spanish wasn't the only language we "practiced aloud." One weekend, our nephew, his wife, and their 4 year old daughter Céline came to visit us. They live in Switzerland and are French-speaking, so for three days we conversed only in French. The first night, I was the lucky one to read a bed-time story to Céline. She wanted to hear Raiponce (Rapunzel, in French) and had brought her own book.
When I started, it was immediately apparent that Céline was not tired at all and I found myself reading to her aloud for close to an hour. In between bouts of reading, Céline peppered me with questions why Raiponce did this, or Raiponce did that. French is my 4th language and I'm fairly fluent, but let me tell you, discussing the story line of a complicated fairy tale with a chatty 4 year old can be challenging.
The next day, I felt the effects of my brief but intense immersion experience. My French brain was working in high gear: I found that words came more easily to me and the sometimes awkward French sounds flowed more smoothly.
Producing Foreign Language sounds
Practicing a new language aloud starts with sounding out individual words and phrases, but also includes repeating - aloud - longer sentences. These might not always sound perfect, but the effort to recreate the music and intonation of a sentence is excellent practice in itself. Producing the sounds of a foreign language is in part a mechanical process that involves position of the tongue, movement of the muscles in the mouth, and guiding your breath. Your mouth is definitely multitasking.
There are many audio courses, YouTube clips, etc. that teach pronunciations and the particular sounds of many languages. We find that imitating practice by recording your own voice and comparing it to the native speaker works best for us, and we have included this feature in all our courses. In addition, we often find that we can remember a sound better when we see the written word. That's why we have also a “Say it” section: You hear a word or phrase, are asked to repeat it, then see it written for a moment before you hear the next one.
Reading and listening are great ways to rapidly improve your understanding of a foreign language, but don't forget, practicing and speaking aloud will get you ready for conversations: they may be with kids about a fairly tale, or with peers about anything at all!
Much has been learned about language acquisition by children. There appears to be some consensus by linguists that by the age of seven, children will have fully acquired the intonation and sounds of their first language. On the other hand, when they learn another language later in life, they will rarely equal the intonation of a native speaker in that language.
Does this mean the goal of foreign language “fluency” will be elusive to an adult?
Fluency
A recent Wikipedia entry surfaced the following definition:
“Language fluency is used informally to denote broadly a high level of language proficiency, most typically foreign language or another learned language, and more narrowly to denote fluid language use, as opposed to slow, halting use. In this narrow sense, fluency is necessary but not sufficientfor language proficiency: fluent language users (particularly uneducated native speakers) may have narrow vocabularies, limited discourse strategies, and inaccurate word use. They may be illiterate, as well. Native language speakers are often incorrectly referred to as fluent.” [Wikipedia: "Fluency"]
Well-known Public Figures
For Americans, there are wonderful examples of well-known public figures who came to the US as teenagers or adults and whose English could not be called anything but “fluent” - although their accent may still identify them as non-natives.
- Henry Kissinger was 15 when he arrived in the US in 1938. - Arnold Schwarzenegger was 21 when he arrived in the US in 1968. - Arianna Huffington was 19 when she moved to England in 1969 - Martina Navratilova was 19 when she came to the US in 1975
Most readers will have heard at least of one of these celebrities on radio and/or television. You probably would call their English fluent – even though their more or less distinct accent makes it clear that they learned their English later in life.
(Other examples, such as Albert Einstein, Leoh Ming Pei, the famous architect, Felix Frankfurter, the Supreme Court Justice, etc. could also be listed, but their voices are less well known.)
It's likely, however, that most of these immigrants already had a basic knowledge of English when they arrived in the US. And, they perfected their new language in school and/or through diligent study.
So for all of you who shy away from learning a new foreign language or improving an “old” one, because you fear that you won't be able to speak it fluently: It is certainly not too late to start (again). You may never sound exactly like a native. It may even take an extended stay in the foreign country to give you full “fluency.”
But learning and practicing to speak, read, and write another language will open up a new world and - as an added benefit – it will keep your brain neurons moving...
I recently had lunch with my friend Sue, who teaches English as a Second Language (ESL) to adults in Boston.
She said that she spends a fair amount of time explaining to her students how to pronounce English words. For example, how to move one's mouth and where to put one's tongue to produce certain sounds.
English is a hard language to pronounce just right. Particular “culprits” for foreigners are often the two “th” sounds (think/those); the “l” and “r” sounds; “v” and “w”; and the combination “wh.” (This infographic demonstrates well the difficulties learners of English often encounter.)
As she was talking about how to produce various sounds, she laughed and moved her jaw around, by way of demonstration.
A mouth full of teeth
When we speak our own language, we don't think about “mouth mechanics.” We don't think about how our jaw is moving, where we place our tongue, and how we position our teeth, etc.
But try to pronounce a foreign word that has a sound which is not part of your own language – and suddenly there you are, aware that you have “a mouth full of teeth.” There's a Dutch expression: “je staat met een mond vol tanden” (you stand with a mouth full of teeth), which aptly describes a sudden feeling of awkwardness about speaking up. I love this expression, it makes me smile.
I think about it when the “mechanics” of my “foreign language mouth” fail. Just one of these all too human moments!
My friend went on to describe how one of her students had difficulty with a particular sound in English. Then she said: “All I did was tell him to put his tongue against his lower teeth.” He tried it, and the word sounded “like spoken by a native.” All the other students applauded.
English and German Speakers
When I was teaching (college) German, I would ostentatiously demonstrate “mouth mechanics” for certain German sounds that are difficult for Americans. For example, the difference between the harsh “ch” and the soft one.
Or the sound of the German “l” which is light and lilting, as opposed to the American one, which has a “heavy” sound. The German “l” is produced in the front of the month, the American one in the back.
On the other hand, Germans find the English “w” is a hard sound to pronounce. It's a sound that does not exist in German. (The German “w” is pronounced like an English “v”.) Remembering to “round” his lips (like blowing) helped my husband improve his English “w”s!
The wisdom of teaching "Mouth Mechanics"
Later, during the time that I was a writer and editor of self-teaching language courses, mentioning “mouth mechanics” was off limits. But I'm coming back to the wisdom of my teaching days. And so, I've decided to start including a few critical “mouth mechanic” descriptions in our Games for Language courses.
Once you've understood the mechanics of producing a particular sound, the next step is to practice. Certain French sounds and sound combinations always were hard for me (my first language was German). But here I am, babbling away in French with my friends and relatives, no problem.
What has helped me to get over the pronunciation hurdle is practicing a lot, while remembering some key French “mouth mechanics.” And if you want to pick up some quick French "mouth mechanics" tips read this post.
An article by Dr. Marjo Mitsutomi recently caused me to reflect on my own language learning efforts. I had shared with readers of a earlier blog post my dislike and struggles with French.
In fact, I can still remember how I resented having to “produce” the French nasal “n” in class.
On-line language learning can take away such embarrassment, but not the difficulties for an adult learner to fully acquire the native-like pronunciation of a foreign language.
Dr. Marjo Mitsutomi, a linguist and multilingual/multicultural teacher, points out in Some Fundamental Principles of Language Teaching and Learningthat: “when all circumstances are normal, most children learn the basic structures and vocabulary of their language within the first four years of their life.”
She also notes that: “although people are capable of learning any number of languages during their lifetime, many experience failure of different degrees in the process of learning other languages....Anyone who has ever seriously attempted to master another language knows that it is a time consuming and challenging effort... Yet research and experience demonstrate that the only area most negatively affected by a 'late' onset of language study is pronunciation.”
There are many elements of this wonderful article that make it worthwhile reading for any language “aficionado”.
Accent Confessions
My own experience certainly confirms the statements about “pronunciation”: Although I started learning English in fifth grade and became quite fluent in French in my twenties, I cannot disguise my native German accent in either language.
Several years ago, during the zenith of my consulting career, I took “accent reduction” lessons in English. I was able to improve my “Ws” and “Vs”, so I did not sound quite as Colonel Klenk of “Hogan's Heroes”.
In French, my accent may be less Germanic than in English, as French natives often have difficulties placing it. “French Canadian” is not an uncommon guess. A typical Swiss-French giveaway is often not the accent, but the numbers: While 70 in French is “soixante-dix”, the Swiss-French, (as well as French speaking Belgians), would also use a more practical “septante.”)
Famous Accents
Some have suggested that Henry Kissinger kept his strong German accent on purpose, but I don't believe so. Arriving in the US as a teenager, I am sure he tried very hard to sound American.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, during his movie career on the other hand, may even have benefited from his Austrian/German accent; even as governor he could not completely disguise his language background (and “accent reduction” lessons would have been easy for him to find in Hollywood!).
Always Remember
So, what should an adult foreign language learner take away from all of the above recollections and musings: Don't worry too much about your accent!
In all likelihood, you will never sound like a native in the foreign language! It is also true, as Dr. Mitsutomi notes “...since there are so many distinctly different accents and even varieties of English itself throughout the world that all English speakers have an accent in someone else's ear.”
You'll certainly want to try to emulate the native speakers of your language program as much as you can. But don't get discouraged, if this appears difficult at the beginning.
With time, your pronunciation will improve as you'll pick up more of the language “melody.” And by just considering improving your pronunciation a lifelong “hobby,” you are taking away the pressure, and can enjoy listening and speaking, the essentials of verbal communication!
We are speaking German with Calvin, our three-year-old grandson. We don't need a "method." His brain is a sponge that soaks up whatever strikes him as fun.
Telling him that "apple juice" is "AHP-fell-sahft" has him laughing out loud. He repeats the word a couple of times and looks at me to see if I'm laughing. I'm thrilled. I'm amazed at how good his pronunciation is.
PERFECT PRETEND GERMAN
Then we're playing trains. Calvin likes the word "Lo-ko-mo-TIH-veh," which I sneak in, as we make the train chug along.
Suddenly he laughs again. Then he lets loose a stream of "pretend German." It sounds like German, with its characteristic consonants and intonation, but what he's spouting is total nonsense.
I sure can't understand what he's saying. Later, when I think about this, it occurs to me that Calvin is recreating the sounds he hears when my husband and I are having a conversation in German.
He doesn't understand many of the words. But he has definitely picked up the melody and the rhythm, in short, the sounds of the German language and is mimicking them well.
FROM GIBBERISH TO VERB-NOUN SENTENCES
In my mind, this clicks with something I noticed when Calvin was an eighteen-month-old toddler. At that age, he was already able to say a few words. These he used insistently when he wanted something.
But other times he just talked away - in pure gibberish. But this "gibberish" had the melody and the rhythm of American English. No question about that. He was talking in nonsense sentences.
Some of his sentences clearly had the intonation of questions, others were statements, some where emphatic, others more tentative. He was reproducing conversational talk that he hears all the time at home.
In what he was saying, occasionally a word would pop up that I could identify as English. Within weeks, the number of individual words increased that I could understand. A few months later, the gibberish stopped and Calvin started talking in short noun-verb sentences.
As a toddler, he had picked up the melody and rhythm of English and was mimicking those perfectly.
FOREIGN LANGUAGE STREAM OF SOUNDS
And with that, I remember an experience of my own. Five years ago, when my husband and I had just arrived in Rome, we started watching a half-hour of TV every evening.
We were going to spend several months in Italy, and we were determined to learn Italian. During the morning, we worked with a tutor; in the afternoon, we walked the city; then, after a late dinner, we let an Italian soap opera or news program wash over us.
That's what the daily television experience felt like: The language just washed over us. We heard a fast stream of sounds and rhythms. Beautiful sounds.
But we barely caught a familiar word. The stream of Italian sounds was gibberish to us.
However, over time, this stream of sounds seemed to slow down. Here and there, we started to identify familiar words, then phrases. By the end of our stay in Rome, we could pretty well follow a story, for example, the story of the Italian TV series “Orgoglio” (Pride), which was running at that time.
I can well imagine the excitement Calvin feels as he gradually begins to master his languages. I've been there as an adult. My brain too went from hearing a stream of gibberish, to understanding words, and then to understanding their meaning.
I now watch an online soap opera in Italian called “Un posto al sole” (A place in the sun). And, I'm looking around for the next language to learn. I love these new beginnings.
Young children generally learn a language by listening, repeating, and speaking. 
If you want to learn to speak a foreign language, is it really important to practice aloud? My experience has been that although the benefits of practicing listening, reading, writing, and speaking overlap, each foreign language skill also needs its own practice. 
We are speaking German with Calvin, our three-year-old grandson. We don't need a "method." His brain is a sponge that soaks up whatever strikes him as fun.