Language Learning: a Confidence Booster

The trouble when learning a language is that it seems so daunting.

You sit down with your dictionary, which probably contains more than 150,000 words. You get a big fat grammar book, which looks more complicated than rocket science. And you switch to Spanish TV, and it’s as if they’re all… well… speaking a foreign language.

Don’t panic. It’s natural to feel as though you don’t know it all, because you don’t, and most people never will do. What you CAN achieve, though, is a great level of fluency, the ability to chat to native speakers, the confidence to get by in exams, and certainly to get by in the country where the language is spoken.

Let’s say you’re on holiday in Spain. You’ve learned a couple of basic words before going out for tea…

Quiero – (kee-air-oh) – I want

Por Favor (Por – fa-voor) – please

And you want something tasty to eat. Which word would you pick?

a. Una Hamburguesa

b. Diez Bocadillos

c. Un libro

Most people will choose (a) – a tasty hamburger! If you’re very hungry, you might have chosen (b) – ten sandwiches. But I hope you didn’t choose (c) – this is a book!

This is how easy it can be to get started, and your confidence will shoot up every time you learn a new sentence. There are so many great reasons to learn a language, do give it a go – you’ll grow in confidence and see more of the world.