Teach Yourself Spanish: Breaking the Language Barrier

What is the language barrier?  How do we break through it?

We can understand what it is simply  by examining the language learning “goal”: to speak, understand, read and write a new language with competence and ease.  Whatever prevents us from any of these achievements we can view as an obstacle.  It can be understood and then systematically brought down.

Psychological obstacles:

• Any limiting thought about language learning or your capacity to learn one. 
• Any deep-seated disempowering emotion which automatically and powerfully overshadows the learning process.  These will be adressed in another post.

Learning obstacles

• Lack of familiarity with the pronunciation of the language.  It is crucial that you immerse yourself in the sound system of your new language.  Listen to good quality language learning materials. listen to the radio, watch television and movies, find online programs and podcasts,   Without feeling comfortable with pronunciation, you will always feel hampered and unsure of yourself.
• Lack of knowledge of the basic grammar of the language.  In order to understand and speak you must know – on a basic level – how the language works.  You need to know this practically, not theoretically.  If you are teaching yourself, the easiest way to develop this is through a well-paced beginner and intermediate language course, – using cd’s and software.  You need to be able to understand and practice with ease.
• Lack of vocabulary.  In the initial stages, this will prevent you from understanding native speakers or expressing yourself.  Make sure you learn your basic course vocab.  It is a key element in learning fast
• Inability to understand.  The best way to overcome this obstacle is to immerse yourself in the sound of the language, as you did with pronunciation.  Relax and pay attention.  Do not judge yourself.
• Inability to speak.  Make sure you have enough basic grammar and vocabulary at the tip of your tongue.  Many people simply feel unsure of themselves and this tends to be the main obstacle here.

If you understand what stops you from achieving an important goal, it becomes much easier to achieve  In the initial stages of learning  a language the two key elements are

1. having good, easy-to-use materials and

2. exposing yourself to as much of the language as possible. 

Make sure you are doing all of this in an enjoyable way.

 

 

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