There are different reasons why people decide to learn a foreign language: They may be forced by the school system, motivated by the wish to be fully integrated in society when traveling or even moving to a foreign country, or they may simply enjoy the learning process or other things such as the sound of a language, the culture behind it, the challenge … Concerning myself, my mother tongue is German, and I was taught English, French, and Latin at school. During my time as a university student, I continued with French, and started with Spanish, but stopped after half a year, when I decided to study abroad. Not in France or in Spain, but in Finland. As an ERASMUS exchange student, I took intensive courses in Finnish, one in Swedish and an advanced course in English called „academic writing“. Of course, I had forgotten a lot of all the vocabulary and grammar rules six years later. I realised that I had kind of lost my passion for foreign languages during the first years of working hard to become a business professional. No time, no inspiration – but had I really lost my passion or has it just been buried under a lot of other activities to do?

One fine day, I rediscovered my love to learn foreign languages, and started to study Danish. But guess what: I did not have more time, and I even had started more time-consuming activities (which are: learning a new instrument and doing a second master degree program, having a full-time contract in scientific research at the same time – I will write about this later). What had happened and what kind of positive impacts do I see for my life?

 

Address people’s hearts – and transmit powerful messages

I simply started to observe people using other languages than their mother tongue. And I do not only mean English which has become a common foreign language. Then I looked closer on those who used my mother tongue (German). What was different? I discovered the answer in a video on a friend’s Facebook timeline: If you talk to a person in another than their native language they understand, the message will go to their heads. But if you talk to a person in their mother tongue – the message will go to their heart, which is obviously even more powerful.

Serve others – and receive generous support in turn

But there is another aspect worth mentioning: Using the language of a person you are talking to is like a service, or as if you are meeting halfway with them. You may be linguistically imperfect and not fully mastering the other language (which may lead to a little loss of what you want to say and requires patience on both sides), but you will be welcomed generously. The other person can relax for a moment, because he or she is allowed to think and talk in their mother tongue, and may feel important in being like a guide, and supporting you in the conversation process.

Use the power of perspective change – and improve your problem solving skills

I must say that I do not only study foreign languages for using them in a practical way (or because I really need them), but also because I enjoy the learning process and what it does to my mind and personality. Of course, other people asked me: „Why do you start with a new language – without (perfectly) mastering the foreign languages you already know better?“ Good question. Other people love to occupy themselves with other activities which they learn from. For me, the most interesting aspect of learning languages is that you can use them whenever you want in your daily routine, e. g. just by thinking, reading, talking in the language when possible. And this may lead to new insights! Ever tried to have a look at a problem, describe it, discuss it, etc. in another language? It is like examining it from a different perspective, maybe also like making it smaller, less complex. The latter effect could also be a German peculiarity! The other way round, you could try to make a problem more complex by using the German language to its full and with all facets. 😉 As well, by using the language of another nationality, you get closer to society and culture. One example are idioms that can be very characteristic for one language or similar in several different languages. They reveal something about how people see specific phenomena (I will write about this later). Another very interesting oberservation are language mistakes people make when they use a foreign language. As a native or very skilled speaker, just analyze it and you will get an idea of how the person thinks in their own language – you might also get a feeling how to express yourself when learning their language!

Dig into the depths of the human language DNA – and learn more languages than just one with ease

Renowned linguist Professor Noam Chomsky believes that children do not learn their native language purely by conditioning and imitating, but that humans have a fundamental syntactic structure in their brains, a prerequisite in their DNA, which they can build any kind of language learning upon. A summary of arguments can be found in this easy to read article. As adults, the capability to grasp basic workings of a language quickly and simply by fitting it into these universal syntactic structures decreases gradually, because the brain is formed and everything up there is becoming settled. Just as a logical conclusion of all the clutter in our minds and the rules and regulations we are following each single day of our everyday lives. But why not fight against this deadlock and dig into the depths of this original resource of templates? I like the idea that we could learn every language with all the grammar and could use them creatively.

Prototype yourself – and release new facets of your personality

Last but not least, is you are learning a new language, you are allowed to feel like a child again who discovers a whole new world. You can make as many mistakes as possible – and the more you make, the more experimental you are, the better is your learning experience! It is like prototyping: releasing a new version of yourself, while developing language skills, will lead to the most effective learning experience. Like children do – they do not start to talk when they think they are perfect, but when they pick up a word or phrase. They want to expand, not to mature withdrawn in total isolation. And this makes their learning style so successful. As adults we often fear to make mistakes so we rather keep silent instead of just trying something new and unknown. The most striking experience for me was that I should not fear to make mistakes when using a new language. But I am also honest to myself and I admit that the biggest step for me is to talk to someone (= using the language in a social context), whereas writing to someone, when I can calmly sort my thoughts and vocabulary, is easier. So I always start with writing in a new language, which is the socially less dangerous alternative for me. This helps me to stay motivated and to lessen the fear to use the language in another context, such as having a sparkling conversation with a lot of gesticulation and „uhm“.

 

I am no linguist, so these observations and insights are from a personal and pragmatic point of view. A specialist from this field could explain it from a scientific perspective. Since I am (obviously) not a native speaker in English, I am aware that this text is linguistically imperfect. But I am talking of learning and using foreign languages, so I will follow my own advice: Just go for it!

What is your motivation to learn foreign languages? I am happy to receive your comments 🙂