Learning a language

In bookstores and libraries, there are many language textbooks that claim that the mastery of a language is easier than what we ever think and can be acquired in a remarkably short period of time. Perhaps the existence of these books shows us how the society is changing and moving forward, more and more people are obsessed with compulsion to get something done or achieved in no time, be it a task or a process of going through something. People delude themselves into thinking that it is always possible to accelerate the process of doing or learning something and yet still can get the objective achieved. The faster the better. Everybody seems to have so little time for learning but yet spend more time every day on Instagram or catching Pokémon. It is just a bit hard for me to comprehend what is happening.

Learning a language within a short period of time and with little efforts sounds unrealistic, unachievable and perhaps impossible, just like how people thought a few decades ago when language learning was a lifelong learning and majority of people devoted their lives just to master a few foreign languages. Thanks to the advanced technology available today, learning multiple languages at the same time is no longer a dream with the powerful internet and smartphone our fingertips. In fact, we are spoiled with choices that we have whenever we want to pick up a new language. Undeniably, there are also many low quality courses that bring nothing other than pernicious effects to the language learning and encumber our minds with random and useless information that hinder us from learning a language properly. Eventually, make the whole language learning process unnecessarily more challenging.

For me, learning a language is simple and must be consistent in the process. 30 minutes every day are far better than one studies for five hours one day and then stops for the next 2 weeks. Daily practice of targeted language during the first few months, the most delicate period of language learning, is important and it helps to build a core foundation of mastering the language. Some people stuck in a language and gave up after some time, simply because they got distracted and failed to build up the foundation. Persistence and concentration are the keywords.

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