top of page
GENERAL DIFFICULTIES IN LANGUAGE LEARNING
What's the point? What's the purpose? ~ Nov. 30th, 2023 - Selena (RCP Newspaper)
HARDSHIPS
Polyglots around the world are often praised for their skill and resilience for learning languages as it normally takes a casual or moderate learner much time and dedication to grasp the differences between their mother tongue and new languages. But why? Well, learning an entirely new language is challenging because it forces you to be in completely unknown territory. As with physical skills, you are familiar with making certain motions and exerting effort with your body, however, with languages, you have to make new sounds entirely.
Each language's uniqueness makes for difficulty remembering certain quirks specific to said language, as no two languages are entirely the same.
New words, structure, grammar, sounds, letters, characters, and cultures are introduced as you learn a new language, which can be extremely exhausting and overwhelming. As a foreigner, you will never be able to understand and fully be in touch with the culture and depths of the language like a native will, and that is difficult to grapple with when exploring this new territory. The amount of time and dedication it takes is also a challenge, because it can be arduous and frustrating to the point where you want to give it up entirely.
PURPOSE
Even through all of these difficulties, people still want to learn new languages. It is because of the beauty of communication, of being able to share the passion and heart of a culture, of connecting with others in a way that goes beyond the surface, of embracing one as your own. It is an amazing thing to be able to talk to someone who you never would've been able to before, and it is inspiring to be able to understand someone even when you didn't grow up or have an upbringing in their homeland. Many people are also diasporic, which disconnects them from their native countries. This also serves as motivation, to bond with their culture and celebrate their language.
To the majority of the people learning a different language, it is worth it to struggle through the learning process to be able to speak and connect with others in different environments all around the world.
Languages continue to develop and will not stop any time soon, and with it, people are willing to change and adapt alongside them. Sharing cultures and history through language is a beautiful way to learn and connect with humanity, finding earnest care and joy through every human regardless of ethnicity. To be able to talk to people, that is a beautiful thing.
bottom of page