The time it takes to learn a new language depends on what you want to do with it

If you go by the ads for some language learning apps, you can “have a conversation in a new language in three weeks”.

But the experience of most Australians when trying to learn a new language is more likely to resemble that of our prime minister who, a few years ago, wrote:

Learning any language at school is…difficult because there simply aren’t enough hours in the school calendar for most students to achieve any real facility – as many Australians have discovered when they tried out their schoolboy or schoolgirl French on their first visit to Paris!

The time it takes to learn a language depends on what you mean by “learning a language”. If your definition is being able to order a “café au lait” or ask for directions to “les toilettes, s’il vous plait” on your next trip to Paris, three weeks is perfectly realistic.

Source: The time it takes to learn a new language depends on what you want to do with it

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Author: admin

Billy Brick is Languages Centre Manager and principal lecturer in the School of Humanities at Coventry University. He teaches Multimedia in Language Teaching and Learning to undergraduate students and Computer Assisted Language Learning at Masters level and has been involved with numerous JISC/HEA projects including the Coventry On-line Writing Lab (COWL) and the Humbox, an OER project for the humanities. His research interests include Digital Literacies; Social Networking Sites and Language Learning; and Mobile Assisted Language Learning. He is currently developing a beginners’ Italian language learning app, ImparApp, together with colleagues in the university’s Disruptive Media Learning Lab View all posts by admin