6. Dutch: 1%

7. Chinese: 1%

Here are some more interesting results from a survey of recent participants at Expolingua Berlin (2006), mostly students and largely from Germany I assume. Their interest in learning foreign languages was as fol ows;

? English 64%

? Spanish 52%

? French 32%

? Italian 14%

? German 13%

? Russian 13%

? Japanese 7%

? Portuguese 6%

? Arabic 5%

? Polish 5%

? Chinese 3%

? Turkish 2%

? Other 14%

I suspect that in different parts of the world the choice of languages to learn would change.

How long does it take?

People always ask me how quickly they can 'learn' a second language, like English for example. I always answer that it depends on your level, and whether the language you are learning shares a lot of vocabulary with a language you already know (Italian-Spanish-even English; Korean-Japanese-Chinese etc.).

Most of al it depends on how much effort you put in. Along with motivation, intensity is one of the most important principles of language learning. If you spend at least 90 minutes per day , for six days out of seven every week, you wil make a significant breakthrough in three months.

If you study 3 hours a week you wil achieve very little.

A breakthrough might mean getting to basic conversation ability starting from zero. It might mean going from basic conversation to the ability to express more complex thoughts and read comfortably. You wil know when you have made a breakthrough and it feels good.

Of course your activity must be intense. Sitting in language class may not be intense, especial y if there are 15 other students in the class. Personal study is intense. I am talking about reading, listening, learning words and phrases and using them in writing and speaking.

You can do that with a minimum amount of tutoring.

Language learning is an ongoing process. You are always less than perfect but you should be constantly improving if you do it right. It is a long road of gradual y getting more and more comfortable in the language. It should always be enjoyable but it does require deliberate effort.

Three phases of language learning

Looking at my experience in various languages including Chinese, Japanese, French, Spanish, German and now Russian, to name a few, I would say that learning is divided into three phases.

Phase 1.

You go from zero to the ability to understand simple words and phrases. You can distinguish sounds, words and phrases. You are amazed that you can make out some elements of the language.

This takes 3 months of daily listening and reading and word study. Minimum one hour a day.

Phase 2.

You listen to and read simple short articles and work towards a level where you can begin to read material intended for the native speaker. This takes another 3 months of listening, reading and word study. You start to write. You start to speak but only a little. Minimum one hour a day.

Phase 3.

You are now into authentic content. You are interested. You are motivated by your new ability to function in a new language. You stil do not speak wel but you can read and listen.

You continue to read and listen a lot, broadening your range of content. You start some novels which you do not complete. Another three months of heavy listening and reading and word study.

Phase 4.

You continue your input activities but you are now ready to speak. You want to show off.

Your first efforts at showing off end in defeat but you keep coming back for more. You notice where you have trouble. You are about to take off in the language.

How long does it take for an immigrant to learn English?

According to the folks at the American Center for Applied Linguistics, it takes six years of 100 hours a year of class time. (Paragraph below).In my view, anyone living in the US (or Canada), who plans to rely on spending the next six years in a classroom, twice a week, in order to improve his or her English, is probably not going to get too far.

'Extrapolating from the studies of children's language acquisition cited below, it appears that it can take several years. For example, studies suggest that school-aged children need 2 to 3 years to develop social language (conversational skills) and 5 to 7 years to acquire the academic language proficiency needed to reach parity with native English speakers (Cummins, 1991; Thomas & Col ier, 1997). Moreover, school-aged children usual y attend school 5 days a week for approximately 6 hours a day, which is considerably more hours of instruction than adults in adult education programs receive. Therefore, when considering factors that affect gains in English language proficiency and other educational outcomes, it is important to keep in mind the amount of time that may be required for adults to reach the goals that are set.

McHugh, Gelatt, & Fix (2007) examined the number of instructional hours needed for the approximately 5.8 mil ion adult lawful permanent residents currently in the United States to reach a level of proficiency necessary

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