Is Learning a Foreign Language Like Stumbling Around in a Fog?

If you feel like you are in a fog when you try to learn a foreign language, you need a flashlight. I’ll even lend you mine in this article.

Strong language learners will tell you that you need to view learning a foreign language in the proper light.

You need to choose a metaphor that makes it feel easy to move forward and gives you a sense of accomplishment with each small step.

You need to see the light.

I say the proper light is a flashlight.

If you have a flashlight in a dark room, you won’t be able to see everything at once, but you will be able to see wherever you have the flashlight pointed. The flashlight reveals just what you need to know to take that next step.

You don’t need to know everything about the room. You only need to know where you take the next step.

When you are learning a foreign language, you don’t start with total mastery of the language.

You start with a single phrase. The first phrase is your first step. And that first step moves you forward.

Remember the scene in the movie Jerry McGuire, “You had me at hello.”?

One word changed two people’s lives.

So if you see your efforts at learning a foreign language like moving through a dark room with a strong flashlight, you will never be in a fog and want to give up.

When you’re in a fog, you wander around with no results. Maybe you never have the feeling of accomplishment. If you are waiting to speak like a native before you open your mouth and take that first step, you will probably get frustrated and quit.

One phrase can go a long way. With a single phrase you can have a meaningful exchange.

Take the first step and learn a single phrase in a foreign language today. When you use that phrase with an exchange partner, you will be motivated to learn another.

Soon you will find yourself with a bunch of phrases. When someone remarks at how well you speak and asks you how you did it, you will have to stop and think.

Then it will hit you that you were having so much fun using each new phrase that you never realized how far you had traveled.

As always, leave a comment below.

And then stop by http://www.lightninglanguages.com for more tips on how to learn a foreign language fast and have fun doing it.

What about you? What are your thoughts on this subject?

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