You might have noticed that for some people, learning a new language feels very exciting and natural, whereas for others, this learning process becomes a nightmare full of challenges on the way. But why?
We All Learn New Languages Differently - Here is Why
The answer is that your native language is more important than you think and could reflect on the way you perceive other tongues around the world. On a subconscious level, the language that has accompanied us since our first breath will be shaping how we hear sounds, organize sentences, and even approach learning itself. This is our own comfort way of expressing ourselves, and it is completely normal to be influenced by it when diving into another linguistic culture.
This is why many language-learning mistakes are not random. They tend to follow very predictable patterns linked to our mother tongues. In order to make your learning process more pleasant and less frustrating, it is essential to understand that all these small errors that you keep repeating actually bring a little piece of your own linguistic background.
Instead of fighting against it, start using it as your hidden power!
How Your Mother Tongue Challenges You?
Speaking of learning new languages, as much as your mother tongue could be used as an advantage when exploring new tongues, it can as well lead to specific challenges.
Here are a few of them:
Romance Language Speakers
If your mother tongue belongs to the family of Romance languages, such as Spanish, French, or Italian, it will be a lot easier for you to learn other languages that are as well part of this family, like Portuguese or Romanian. This is due to the fact that they have very similar grammar and vocabulary, as well as structure of the sentences. If you are fluent in one of those, then even without studying, you will be able to understand the others.
Even though the immediate recognition of the linguistic background can speed up the learning process, it can also be misleading. This sense of familiarity could be a false friend of yours, as in the Romance linguistic family there exist words that look similar but have different meanings. This often causes confusion for the beginners assuming to understand a word when, in reality, it is a question of something quite different.
Germanic Language Speakers
All speakers of Germanic languages would agree with the fact that they benefit from a flexible approach to build sentences. Growing up with a Germanic mother tongue will inevitably help you when learning German, English, or even Dutch, especially in the early stages.
Apart from making your first steps of communication in a foreign language easier, this flexibility can drive you to commit mistakes, such as word order, modal verbs, or simplified tense usage. That is why some of the last mentioned require more precision while learning them.
Slavic and Asian Language Speakers
A third group are the Slavic and many Asian languages, where learners often face challenges with articles, in particular when their proper mother tongue does not use them. When you are a beginner in this linguistic background, many of those grammatical details feel unnecessary and confusing.
Another tricky aspect of learning a Slavic or Asian language as a representative of the same linguistic group, is the verb tense, particularly when the target language relies heavily on tense changes that don’t exist in the learner’s native one.
Overall, every language leaves its mark for better, or for worse.
Practical Tips on How to Adapt Your Learning Strategy
Once you understand that your learning habits come from your personal linguistic background, adapting your studying approach becomes much easier!
Play Around With Your Strengths
Committing regular errors because of your mother tongue's similarity with your new language can be frustrating. However the same factor can be a very useful tool.
Start by using what already works for you in your own language and transmit it to the learning process. If your native language shares grammar rules or vocabulary with the new one, lean into that familiarity. Seeing yourself succeed fast in a new field will definitely boost your confidence and motivation to continue learning.
Using these strengths strategically will help you build a solid foundation of the new language rules, making it easier to tackle more complex aspects in the long run afterwards.
Target Your Weak Spots
At the same time, it’s important to acknowledge the areas where your native language cannot be helpful.
A very common struggle for language beginners is pronunciation. This being the biggest struggle, it is really important that you guide your studying from the very start towards sounds and focus on the way words are pronounced. It is as simple as that, but this advice might help you prevent long-term linguistic habits that are hard to correct once you memorized them.
An aspect to be careful about are as well the grammar structures that don’t exist in your first language. Rather than avoiding them like most people do, try to practice these every day intentionally. The results of faster learning and lasting progress will be for sure visible within a few weeks.
Embrace Your Linguistic Background
At the end, as a learner of a new foreign language, you need to remember that your native tongue is not an obstacle to overcome, but a resource to understand. Every language that you are fluent in enriches your linguistic background and contributes to your cognitive flexibility. Following this logic, it becomes way easier for you to learn additional tongues as you have already trained and strengthened your linguistic learning ability.
Many beginners ask themselves how long does it take to learn a new language, however this is not the proper mindset to start with when it comes to languages. By becoming aware of how your own linguistic background influences your learning style and methods, you gain more control over the process. This is how you make it faster and more productive.
With self-awareness, patience, and the right strategies, adapting to a new language becomes not only easier, but also more enjoyable!