Language learning myth: I need to speak perfectly

Few of us bother breaking down what perfection means in the context of language. Knowing all world capitals and flags by heart is a finite task, as new countries rarely appear; learning about all participants in a sports competition, too. “Perfection” is within reach. But what does perfection mean when we consider our own native language?

Are Donald Trump, George W. Bush, Marilyn Manson, Lady Gaga and others perfect speakers of English? Are they as perfect as contemporary and former intellectuals and writers? Or does language consist of a variety of open-ended scales for grammar, vocabulary, voicing, etc?

There are various estimates of how many words there are in different languages. The results vary a great deal, due to different methodologies of counting, and are often controversial in the scientific community and because superiority of language is often tied to nationalistic pride. What is not controversial is the fact that even university professors do not possess the “complete” standard vocabulary in their own native language, let alone the specific vocabularies in all fields of study and industry. (How well do you know terms used by pilots, ship captains, computer scientists, accountants, classical musicians, carpenters or rheumatologists?)

So you see, our quest for perfection will always lead to frustration. If even stellar intellectuals cannot achieve that in their own native language, who are we to self-sabotage  over falling short of this unrealistic goal?!

Instead, from the beginning we should set clear goals regarding what we are planning to achieve and why.

 

If you like the attitude of these articles, please check out my online courses : at the moment, German for Russian- and Romanian-speakers, as well as on goal-setting.

If you are interested in improving your English in the area of business presentations, I know of no better address than Tom Antion. Please check him out following this link.

Stay tuned!

Gerhard

About the GO Method

The GO Method applies research in psychology as well as principles of quality management to the language teaching process. It conforms to key elements of the ISO 9001 standard, while being more specific on teaching-related issues. Customers get access to easily adaptable document templates.

Check us out at The GO Method.

About me

Psychologist and polyglot from Hamburg /Germany (*1979). Married with children. MA in psychology from the University of Hamburg. More than 15 years of experience as a university lecturer in psychology as well as a consultant for UNICEF, Terre des Hommes, IOM, the EU and private companies. Coordinator of the GO Method network, with representatives in more than 90 countries worldwide.

Connect with me on Linkedin or send me an e-mail.

Language learning myths: I only need to learn one word per “thing”

Many years ago, I found the following advice – in a book on how to become a polyglot, that is, how to master many languages: Do not learn synonyms. At the time, that provoked some protest in me, because I loved to explore synonyms or similar words. The argument against was that if you learned synonyms, you would lose free mental „disk space” for other words that describe other things.

I have quite a few issues with that. First, I find it a common attitude among language students, that they tend to disregard any word as soon as they discover it is a synonym. A students asks me what XYZ means in German. I give the first word that comes to my mind, and (almost) everybody in the classroom is taking notes. As soon as I say that you could use also the following words in German, the note-taking stops immediately. So, it is not a secret beknown only to an elite of polyglots. On the contrary, everybody seems to follow it instinctively. Apart from free „disk space”, many students believe there is only one right word for any given concept.

As you will discover, as soon as you dig deeper into words and their meanings, you will realize that even official synonyms vary according to quite a lot of variables:

·        Some words are more formal than others;

·        Some are spoken more often in specific regions, among certain age, social, religious, ethnical groups than others;

·        Some are more poetic or figurative than others;

·        Some add specific meaning the other words do not possess.

There are differences between the following words, or not?

·        Restroom vs. toilet

·        Murder vs. homicide;

·        Displeased vs. pissed;

·        Slander vs. libel vs. gossip;

·        Alcoholic drink vs. booze;

·        To scare vs. to terrify vs. to terrorize;

·        To reveal vs. to disclose;

·        House vs. mansion;

·        A „demonstration for women’s rights” vs. a „slut walk”

If you disregard synonyms you may end up using words out of context or confound different registers of speech. You may ask a new acquaintance at a dinner party if he or she also likes felines (at not cats), offer the lady next to you to get her some booze or, asked about how your job is, answer: I have nothing to bitch about.

The problem with textbooks, teachers and students following the one thing-one word policy is that they almost never take down notes on the specific circumstances the word is appropriate or not.

This is particularly true for one-language-only classrooms. Many students want their teacher only to speak the target language. They say that it is enough to understand „the meaning”. This leads to the teacher avoiding the students’ native language altogether and making (often poor) attempts of becoming a pantomime (or circus clown). Asked what „booze” means he makes some drinking gestures, and everybody thinks he or she has an aha-moment. In their heads they say, yes, it means „drink” (in whatever language they were raised). After that, the typical student does not revise her or his translations of all the words learned in such a way, later on. Yes, in the case of „booze”, someone probably may tell her or him that it is appropriate only in certain contexts. But, maybe nobody will, and everybody will think that you are a freak, from a bad family, unpolite, etc.

In conclusion, all depends on the importance and frequency of certain words and concepts. That, in turn, depends on your individual goals for learning a language, the kinds of people you want to interact with and the topics you want to be fluent in. Based on that you need to calculate for what concepts it would be good to know all the nuances (and synonyms) and for which not. If you want to work as a health professional in a hospital, you better learn all slang, regional and informal words you can, because your patients will come from all rounds of life. If you want to open up a flower shop, especially online, you better study all potential synomyms customers may use for any given flower. On the other hand, if you learn Japanese for a retreat in a Zen monastery, you will not need to learn many slang words.

If you like the attitude of these articles, please check out my online courses : at the moment, German for Russian- and Romanian-speakers, as well as on goal-setting.

If you are interested in improving your English in the area of business presentations, I know of no better address than Tom Antion. Please check him out following this link.

Stay tuned!

Gerhard

About the GO Method

The GO Method applies research in psychology as well as principles of quality management to the language teaching process. 

Check us out at The GO Method.

About me

Psychologist and polyglot from Hamburg /Germany (*1979). Married with children. MA in psychology from the University of Hamburg. More than 15 years of experience as a university lecturer in psychology as well as a consultant for UNICEF, Terre des Hommes, IOM, the EU and private companies. Coordinator of the GO Method network, with representatives in more than 90 countries worldwide.

Connect with me on Linkedin or send me an e-mail.

Language learning myths: I do not need a teacher

Photo by Inzmam Khan from Pexels

Previously, we discussed the opposite language learning myth: that I need a teacher to get started. The present myth does not necessarily imply that I do not learn with a teacher. Yes, there are lot of learners (myself included) that acquire a language without any formal classroom teaching. However, this myth focuses more on attitudes.

There are many students that do attend classes, but who do not accept the teacher’s authority. And I am, of course, not speaking of students having to tremble in front of the teacher, or believing that he or she is the highest authority in the respective language. There are, especially in developing countries, students who almost require their teacher to be a demigod-figure who knows everything and is infallible.

What I mean is students with the attitude that „I consider the teacher competent only as far as explaining words and grammar goes. For everything else, I myself am the best expert.” What is that everything else? Generally: how to learn. More specifically: how to develop discipline, establish routines, use more productive training methods at home, self-correct, measure progress, make use of your time more efficiently, overcome psychological barriers and failure, systematize materials and the learning process, and periodically audit and improve your system.

Most students have the attitude that the only thing missing is the factual knowledge about words and grammar. That is why they love having the teacher explain. What impresses them most is a teacher masterfully explaining the difference between words X and Y. That is why they love watching, again and again, Youtube videos with explanations about one and the same grammar topic. „Maybe I find a still better explanation of the present continuous than the ten I have watched already”.

In reality, almost no student comes to classes with highly-developed skills in the areas named-above. On the contrary, many have developed extremely bad learning habits: impatience and the need for quick results, no matter what; negative self-talk and self-handicapping strategies; total lack of discipline and persistance; aversion for taking notes systematically, and for documenting and analyzing their own mistakes, etc.

Yes, it may very well be that your concrete teacher is not very competent in handling all those issues. It may be the school’s fault, that forces him or her to focus exclusively on teaching to the book and leaving no time to address other issues. On the other hand, many language teachers show little to no interest in other things apart from explaining language.

What is to be done?

·        Make a list of all attitudes and skills necessary for mastering a foreign language. Start with those listed above, and add some more: public speaking, voice training, body language, intercultural skills, emotional intelligence, etc. etc. 

·        Then, try to find an authority figure/a role model/teacher for every one of those.

·        Establish your objectives for all those ares.

·        Make your own „lesson plan” on how to improve in them (e.g. listening to podcasts, reading a certain amount of pages from their books, practicing XYZ), APART from what you do for your normal language class.

If you like the attitude of these articles, please check out my online courses : at the moment, German for Russian- and Romanian-speakers, as well as on goal-setting.

If you are interested in improving your English in the area of business presentations, I know of no better address than Tom Antion. Please check him out following this link.

Stay tuned!

Gerhard

About the GO Method

The GO Method applies research in psychology as well as principles of quality management to the language teaching process. It conforms to key elements of the ISO 9001 standard, while being more specific on teaching-related issues. Customers get access to easily adaptable document templates.

Check us out at The GO Method.

About me

Psychologist and polyglot from Hamburg /Germany (*1979). Married with children. MA in psychology from the University of Hamburg. More than 15 years of experience as a university lecturer in psychology as well as a consultant for UNICEF, Terre des Hommes, IOM, the EU and private companies. Coordinator of the GO Method network, with representatives in more than 90 countries worldwide.

Connect with me on Linkedin or send me an e-mail.

Language learning myths: I need a teacher

Most of the language learning myths discussed here produce one or both of two results. They may serve as an exculpatory strategy to reducing your effort, or, they make you feel bad about yourself.

Claiming that you could only learn a foreign language after having found the right teacher falls into the first category. As a teacher of a fairly conventional and non-exotic language (German), it puzzles me how many students struggle finding a suitable teacher. What to say about more unusual languages such as Icelandic, Laotian or Mongolian?

Often, the question is not of finding a teacher in your home town, which for most languages may be a challenge indeed. Now, there should be countless of opportunities online. Nonetheless, even if you find a teacher – on- or offline – he may not be the „ideal” teacher for you. You may be learning language XYZ for very specific professional purposes, and the respective teacher does not have a matching intellectual background.

Now, many beginners take this as an excuse for procrastination. They say, they will really start learning once they have found the perfect teacher. In reality, from my personal experience, those individuals will also not learn with a teacher. I have encountered that several times. Somebody approaches me and asks for lessons, but I am booked out at the moment. I send them my books and materials on how to learn on your own. They insist that they can only learn with a teacher around. When they finally made their way through the waiting list and actually land in my classroom, they are most often quite unsatisfying students.

Why? Well, the first argument why they need a teacher is, that they need someone to motivate them, they lack the necessary discipline and structuring abilities to be able to learn on their own.

The problem is that even with a teacher you will need those abilities. Success in a language course does not depend on your teacher or the textbook, but on how you practice at home, on your consistency and discipline, on setting up the right routines, and on playing the „mental game” correctly and avoiding self-sabotage.

From yearlong experience with seminars for language schools, I need to admit that, unfortunately, most language teachers, are not at all or very superficially interested in topics outside of their language. They are typically not the experts on motivation or the psychology of learning in general, on time-management, quality management and productivity research. Understandably, since many of them teach many classes per day, they focus on „delivering” the interpretation of the respective textbook in the classroom. This is a big enough challenge: to ensure classroom management, to correct students’ mistakes and to explain grammar and vocabulary.

Thus, most students won’t find their most basic problem solved: how to set up their language training routine at home. At most, it will consist of completing their homework exercises from the textbook, or of playing around, here and there, with apps and online videos.

As a conclusion: indifferently whether you are learning on your own or with a teacher, you need to set up your daily learning routine and set up a system that ensures „automatic” success. The latter includes formulating your goals on papers, measuring your progress using specific indicators and periodically reviewing and correcting the direction you are taking. If you need help in this, just check out the other articles here, or my book on that topic: The GO Method.

If you like the attitude of these articles, please check out my onlinecourses : at the moment, German for Russian- and Romanian-speakers, as well as on goal-setting.

If you are interested in improving your English in the area of business presentations, I know of no better address than Tom Antion. Please check him out following this link.

Stay tuned!

Gerhard

About the GO Method

The GO Method applies research in psychology as well as principles of quality management to the language teaching process. It conforms to key elements of the ISO 9001 standard, while being more specific on teaching-related issues. Customers get access to easily adaptable document templates.

Check us out at The GO Method.

About me

Psychologist and polyglot from Hamburg /Germany (*1979). Married with children. MA in psychology from the University of Hamburg. More than 15 years of experience as a university lecturer in psychology as well as a consultant for UNICEF, Terre des Hommes, IOM, the EU and private companies. Coordinator of the GO Method network, with representatives in more than 90 countries worldwide.

Connect with me on Linkedin or send me an e-mail.