The Ordeal of Learning a Language alone.

So, I've decided to stop learning French and start learning Italian. This month of February I'm focusing exclusively on Italian to see how far  I can go on my own. I don't really need Italian, I don't need to learn it for anything serious so I'm just doing it for the heck of it. But of course, this leads me to think once again about this whole idea of learning a language alone.

I'm a big promoter of self-education and I'm pretty much a self-educated person, so of course: I like the idea of learning a language alone.

And I understand why many people find the idea interesting. I mean, it's not always easy to find a language teacher, a good one or an affordable one, so the notion of doing this entire process alone seems like an incredibly attractive idea.

But this idea of learning a language on your own always forces me to ask a lot of questions.

Questions like:

• What is the maximum level that you can reach alone without proper tuition or living in another country?


• What are the best conditions to learn a language alone?


• What are the cons? (Because, of course, there are cons)


• Which languages should never be studied alone?


• When should we get a teacher and when should we go solo?

One of the initial things that I must say (and this applies to the whole notion of self-education in general) is that is NOT for everyone.

By this I'm not implying that just a limited number of people are capable or have the talent of doing it, no. In fact, it doesn't matter what your capacity is, because learning a language is not a matter of talent, it's a matter of will. That's the first reason why I say this is not for everyone, not everyone has the will to do it. Personally, I've never met anyone, besides myself, who is willing to go to the whole ordeal of learning a language on their own, even if they know it's possible. And I get it, it's not something that is for everybody, that doesn't mean that I'm better or smarter than them, that just means tha we have a different set of hobbies.

But it's not all just fun and games, in order of doing this, you need to be highly motivated, you need to be patient, you need to be disciplined, you need to be willing to construct a new habit, you need to look for material and you need to be consistent, all of that on your own.

As you can see, none of the reason I've just described require any particular talent, but they require a strong will.

And where are you going to obtain your strong will?

Defining why are you learning this language in the first place. Defining your goals and purposes. This is something that I already discussed about in a video, here it is if you want to watch it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5w-8k0tUQ1o&list=UUUCihBXpSwutALS1mIn3RBA&feature=c4-overview

I mention this again because it's quite an important factor, it's the thing that you need to be reminding yourself every time that you're struggling to understand something new or every time that you're having a rough time speaking about something. Your purpose is going to be the fountain of your motivation, and if you don't have a strong fountain, you're not going to get very far.

I will attempt to answer some of my own questions, I would also like to know what you guy think about this.

Now, regarding one of my questions:

• What is the maximum level that you can reach alone without proper tuition or living in another country?

Well, I guess this depends on two factors: yourself and the language you're learning. My formula regarding this question is: The more motivated you are and the more popular the language you're learning is, the easiest is going to be to reach a high functional level without proper tuition or living in another country. For example, I believe that everybody is capable of reaching a high functional level in English on their own, because English is the most popular language in the world (and also on the web) and it's incredibly easy to find material to learn it.

Other languages that have this characteristic are Spanish, French, German and Italian, Japanese, Chinese, etc. The more popular the languages are, the easiest is to find material regarding them, the more material you're able to find, the higher the level you can achieve alone.

I believe that I'm capable of reaching a high level of Italian on my own because there are a lot of material regarding that language, however, I don't think I would be able to reach the same level this way studying Serbian. I don't mean that there are no Serbian books, but there are more Italian books than Serbian books at my disposal because Italian is a more popular language than Serbian. So I guess that I'd be able to reach a higher level of Italian than Serbian at the end of the day.

• What are the cons? (Because, of course, there are cons)

Well, you don't have anyone to monitor you but yourself, and let's admit it, that sucks. It's harder to know whether or not you're making mistakes, and if it's a mistake, how bad is it?, and sometimes, we tend to ignore certain small details of the language that later turn out to be huge details. For example: the tones in languages like Chinese or Thai, or the musical intonation of languages like Spanish and Italian, etc. And sometimes, is easier to learn grammar if you have a good teacher that gives you special tips that you can't find anywhere else.

• When should we get a teacher and when should we go solo?

The first thing that I would like to say is that there's nothing wrong with finding a teacher, honestly, I recommend you do that. And still, you can study on your own outside the classroom. For me that's the best way to study a language, you have the best of two worlds. I guess that you should find a teacher immediately if you really need to become functional in a language in a short period of time, if that's your situation, then finding a teacher is a most.

Also, if you feel that you've reached a language plateau (which I did while studying French), finding a teacher is also a good way to keep things rolling. A year ago, I felt that I was going nowhere with my French, I felt that I've reached a wall and that I wasn't learning as much as I once was (Trust me, than can happen to you at any time). Then, I found a French teacher and things started to change, the language became much more interactive and my level actually increased. So, don't be afraid of teachers, specially if they are good. Besides, it's a good way of keeping your skills fresh.

I guess that you should fly solo if you don't have anything that is pressuring you and if you are pleased with the way that you've been learning thus far.

So this has been a little overview regarding the ordeal of learning a language on your own and my experience with it. It's still a topic that I tend to analyze a lot and I also think it's an important notion to take into consideration when we are discussing stuff about education in general.

Thanks for reading :)