Take-aways from this article: - inspiring examples for lifelong language learning - individual learning styles and specific study needs associated to them - professional and personal benefits of competencies in several foreign languages Bonus: a peek behind the curtains of foreign language teaching in a dictatorial political regime
Every time I receive a compliment related to the languages I can speak, I tell the person who paid me the compliment that it’s my parents‘ “fault”. They were the ones who surrounded my sister and me with books in different languages – I can still remember our children books in English, French, German, Russian and our conversational guides in several other languages.
It was my parents who encouraged both of us to learn foreign languages from an early age – I was five when I started systematically learning English with a private teacher and my sister could understand this language when she was much younger thanks to the cartoons she was watching in English.
It is not a coincidence that my parents chose to expose us to many languages so early in life. Each of them can speak three foreign languages and this is a result of their constant effort to keep their language knowledge alive throughout the years.
I was curious to find out how they’ve done it and what motivates them to spend time consolidating and expanding their language knowledge. My curiosity lead to a separate interview with each of my parents, where I learnt a lot about their language learning throughout their life so far. Although they experienced similar teaching methods in school, in time they developed individual learning styles and their motivation to keep up with their language skills is linked to distinct reasons for each of them. Leaving subjectivity aside, I consider that their stories are worth sharing, as they may be inspirational for all of us, lifelong language learners.
If you prefer to listen to this article instead of reading it, I recorded it for you at the end of this page.
The languages that my parents are still interested in today are mostly the ones they learnt during their school years, when the languages one could opt for were not as varied as nowadays. They both learnt French and Russian; my mother recalls being taught Latin for a few years as well, while my dad had German private lessons that determined him to continue exercising this language on his own later on.
Russian was a language they both ideologically rejected in school, as it was a mandatory foreign language that most kids felt no connection to due to the general attitude towards the Soviet Union back then. Therefore, this is the language they consciously decided not to continue improving once their school years were over.
French, on the other side, they enjoyed learning in school due to the attractive and innovative teaching methods chosen for this subject. For example, in my mother’s French class in high-school, the language was used as a means for organising debates or for discussing French literature and art. The highlight was a phonological lab where the students could hear their teacher talk in French and it was also possible for them to listen to fragments of conversations between supposed native speakers. My father had a novel experience in high-school. He was advised to no longer attend his French classes, as the teacher considered his language knowledge gained in the previous school years too advanced for his colleagues.
I inserted a short digression here so that you can get the idea of how novel this approach was in the 1970s in a country under a Communist regime. The foreign language classes were usually centred around a short text that was used as a starting point for introducing new vocabulary, grammatical elements and exercises. The conversational aspects of foreign languages (including pronunciation training) was not a priority as the national borders were closed due to political reasons. Therefore no one would actually imagine travelling and using the languages learnt in school while talking to a foreign person. Given the lack of perspective to travel abroad at that time, the methods for teaching foreign languages were designed not to fulfil conversational purposes, but rather to offer a deep understanding of how the language works and to use it as a means to access the related cultural elements. A rather passive usage of the language (aimed at accessing a foreign written culture) was preferred in the given context, as even the rare interactions with native speakers were intermediated by translators.
Thanks to the pleasure of learning French discovered in school, my parents have continued exercising it ever since and they have constantly built on their existing language knowledge over the years. Thus they have both reached the point where they can almost effortlessly read and communicate in French. Furthermore, my father uses this language in his daily interactions with his clients, so he could also notice the professional advantage of learning French both in school and during his private lessons that started when he was 4. My mom has so far used French professionally rather in a passive manner, namely by reading medical articles and taking part in training courses or attending conferences with French speakers.
Once their home-country regained its freedom, my parents realised that there is one important international language that they haven’t been taught in school, namely English. Therefore my father started learning it using our beginner’s English books and audio materials. His current English knowledge allows him to watch movies in English, to read and to listen to music in this language.
For my mother, the eye-opener for the need of advanced English skills was her increased interest in the anglophone culture, combined with the unofficial tests in this language during the last years of studying medicine. After finishing her studies, the communicative aspects of this language came into focus, as she attended medical courses held by American trainers. There she was unexpectedly asked to take on the role of the translator, given that the hired teacher was not familiar with the medical terminology. The private conversations with the trainers during the breaks helped my mother train her active usage of non-medical English vocabulary. She made such a good impression on the trainers, that they changed their (biased) opinion of my mom’s country of origin.
This was not the only personal gain from learning English better. Her meanwhile accomplished dream to be able to understand original poems that tend to lose their essence via translation was the engine behind her desire to improve her English. Here is what my mom recalls from the time when she started learning English on her own:
The deciding factor for me to start learning English was this. I had read Edgar Allan Poe, who has a famous poem named “The Raven” that repeats “Nevermore”. (…) And there was a fabulous translation by one of our greatest poets and actors who kept that “Nevermore”. (…) You can’t translate it, (..) as that “Nevermore” expresses so much! And when I read the translated poem I realised that what I’m reading is not accurate, in spite of the translation done by a great poet, and I said: I want to read the original poem! (…) So I wanted to learn English for that “Nevermore”. And this is how I started learning English.
Interview quote translated into English
Another language that both of my parents are learning on their own is German. My father had a brief time during childhood when he had private German lessons, while for my mother it was only a few years ago that she started to realise it might be useful for her to speak this language, in the hope that she will be able to communicate with her grandchildren in German. In the past years, my parents looked for online and offline German courses suitable to their language level and they have been struggling ever since to find one that keeps them motivated. This is what my father noticed while learning German and French simultaneously:
With German there is (…) some sort of personal ambition, because I wouldn’t want to drop it, but you must learn it in a more systematic and organised manner when compared to learning French.
Interview quote translated into English
The demotivation they often experience in relation to learning German is not only related to the complexity of this language. Another reason relates to their individual learning styles and the associated distinct needs. Often it is the case that adults learn a new foreign language based on teaching materials designed for children. And let’s be serious, what grown-up enjoys learning a language based on the adapted version of “Twinke, twinkle little star”?
During the talk with my parents about their learning style, they each revealed a distinct one. My mother mentioned that her language learning process should answer the why-question and also offer a story. This learning technique helped her especially during her study of medicine, where she could not simply memorise the specific terminology without understanding the underlying concepts. Her approach to learning is therefore a structured one – first she needs basic information for the “skeleton”, so that she can then add the “flesh”, that is the details.
My dad, on the other side, learns languages with a productive purpose in mind. He expects to learn at first the basic grammar of the target language and to notice a rather quick progress in his related linguistic abilities. Luckily he has found the perfect online programme for him that motivates him to improve his proficient French on a daily basis. At the same time, he wishes to discover a tool for German that meets his current learning needs. Until then he makes use of the standard German language programmes, even though he finds them rather rigid. He just won’t give up.
The constant language study is, of course, a habit that not only my parents stick to. I recently read about a 60-year-old woman who passionately learns Latin, although it is considered a “dead” language.
My hope is that these examples prove that language learning has no expiration date, no age when it is “too late” to improve the already existing skills or to start learning a new language. Even when we manage to exercise just a few words every now and then and understand how the grammar system of a language works, we have already opened our mind for understanding different structures than the ones we are accustomed to.
This cognitive flexibility can then touch upon other areas of our life. For instance, we may notice it in our increased acceptance towards other lifestyles or in our sudden curiosity for cultural habits so far unknown to us. Or it may happen that our dedication to learning languages results in our increased self-confidence in our linguistic abilities and in taking pride in our competencies. To me, that is already an important gain and a big step in our personal development, regardless of our age.
So let’s aim for lifelong language learning, shall we?
Yours confidently,
Corina