Can Monolingualism be Cured?
19 May 2005
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When was the last time you studied a foreign language? Some of us think about that experience with pleasure; others think of it as something like root canal. If you're over 16 and trying to learn a new language -- or thinking about learning one (and I hope you are) -- remember that adults learn second languages in ways very different from children. Children learn language as part of learning about the world. It's the child's full-time job for the first few years of life. But it's fun and exciting. No studying necessary, and no homework!
Children are born as language learning machines, a special talent that many experts believe is gone by the time we reach puberty. But that doesn't mean adults can't learn languages and learn them well. Yes, it seems like it takes a long time. But don't forget that children are hearing and using the language for thousands of hours; and for everyday language use, it takes them close to ten years to master their mother tongue.
And in some ways adults have an advantage over children. Because they already have a language, adults can use what they know of their first language to organize the words and grammar of the new one. We don't have to start from scratch.
And since analytic ability comes later in life, we also have an advantage when it comes to figuring out how the new language works. For example, even if a language has some sounds that English doesn't, (maybe a trilled r as in "burro" -- or an n.g. sound at the beginning of a word, like "nga"), chances are that most of its sounds will be familiar. Or the new language may use word orders like "The boy brave with his rifle the tiger fierce shot."
That sounds unnatural to an English speaker, but the grammar rules are only slightly different from English. By recognizing what's English-like in a new language and what's different, and focusing attention on the differences, adult language students can jump-start their learning.
Other aspects of language need to be absorbed rather than studied. Absorbed through continued and repeated exposure. When the mind is relaxed and not seeking explanations or patterns, it's capable of categorizing and sorting some aspects of language without conscious effort. The parts of language taken in best unconsciously can't be captured in a textbook, and they're seldom explained well by teachers or grammar books. To develop this kind of implicit knowledge, it's better to watch TV or listen to the radio in the language you're trying to learn, rather than poring over the rules.
So adults use a combination of unconscious absorbing of language, like a child, and conscious learning through analysis. But even acquiring knowledge isn't enough. You still have to practice, practice PRACTICE. And you have to get past the very adult fear of embarrassment. How do you get over it? With a sense of humor. Accept the risk that you'll sound a little klutzy at first -- and go ahead anyway. Are you willing to walk up to strangers from another country -- say, a group of tourists -- and try to talk with them in their language? To the extent that you're game to jump in and try to communicate, your ability in the foreign language will grow.
Until around 1960, language learning in school was pretty dull. It was all about memorizing vocabulary, talking about grammar -- in English -- and translating as many paragraphs as you could stand. We've learned a lot about teaching languages since then. And we're learning even more since the 1970's when the new field of Second Language Acquisition came on the scene. We're are finding out which elements of a language are best taught through explicit instruction, and which are best absorbed through sustained exposure to the language. So if you're a monolingual adult, there's no reason to continue in that sad condition. Monolingualism can be cured.
That's the linguistic thought for today, which comes from Dr. Katherine Sprang in Leesburg, Virginia. And this is the Five-Minute Linguist at the College of Charleston, in cooperation with the National Museum of Language. If you'd like to ask a question about language go to our website at www.cofc.edu/linguist. In the meantime, keep in mind that wherever you are, and whatever you do... language makes a difference.