Have you ever noticed advertisements which say "Learn a foreign language in 6weeks, or we pay your money back. From the first day your pronunciation will be excellent. Just end..."and so on? Of course, it never happens like that. The only language that is easy to learn is the mother tongue. And think how much practice that gets. Before the Second World War, people usually learn a foreign language in order to read the literature of the country. Now speaking the foreign language is what most people want. Every year many millions of people start learning one. How do they do it?
Some people try at home, with books and record tapes; others go to evening classes. If they use the language only 2 or 3 times a week, learning it will take a long time, like language learning at school. A few people try to leran a language fast by studying for 6 or more hours a day. It is clearly easier to learn the language in the country where it is spoken. However, most people cannot afford this, and for many it is necessary. They need the language in order to do teir work better, for example, scientists and doctors chiefly need to be able to read books and reports in the foreign language. Whether the language is learnt quickly or slowly, it is hard work. Machines and good books are helpful, but they cannot do the students' work for them. |
