Learning a foreign language is something that gets easier with time; this is why everyone says that learning your second language is the most difficult, then the third is much quicker and easier. So why does it get easier?
Using a foreign language not only requires a lot of time, but also confidence in your own ability. Obviously, if you have already done something, it is easier if you want to do it again.
What we want to get across in this post is why learning a language with other language learners can be achieved with greater ease.
I personally would not want a language teacher who only knew their native language. However, this is a personal preference.
A key ingredient to learning a foreign language is experience. Once you know how you learn and how to take advantage of your time, it is far easier to achieve. This is why we want to talk about the importance of learning a language with teachers or language exchange partners who have already learnt at least one foreign language.
This brings us to the age old argument of having a native teacher or not. I personally think that this argument is irrelevant as long as the teacher possesses both the knowledge and the necessary skills to teach. I would personally prefer a teacher who also speaks one of the languages that I know, this will help with explanations of grammar or error corrections.
A language is not an exact science and everyone learns in a slightly different way. Because of this fact, you need to find a starting point to learn the basics. There is also the fact that a language has an almost infinite amount of content to learn, you cannot do it alone until you have tried many different strategies to find an effective blend. When you start learning your second language, the actual words and language are not the only things you need to focus on. It is just as important to work on learning methods and know where to begin.
It might sound a bit extreme to say this, but the experience of learning another language is just as important as actually knowing the target language. It helps the teacher facilitate learning and also saves a lot of time. When we learn with a teacher, we are putting ourselves into their hands to guide us and a key part of this is trust. I personally would not trust someone to teach me something that they had never actually done. This helps you to relate to your teacher and feel encouraged to progress.
On this site, all of the content has been created by teachers who are also themselves language learners. The blog has posts in English, Spanish, German and French to give you useful advice on how to learn more effectively.
Check out our language learning tips here:
Though we have talked about the importance of teachers also being language learners, it is essential to remember that the best way to learn a language is through emersion and this is why we need to stop translating as soon as possible and instead, link new vocabulary to synonyms and then use them in useful phrases.
See our explanation of this here:
