There are many myths regarding learning foreign languages. They frequently stop people from starting or going on learning.

We would like to outline and refute them.

#1 – Adults learn worse than kids

The myth says that once you turn 18, your brain ceases to grow. But this is not true. Now, many research studies show that your brain goes on fully developing and adjusting itself well into your 20s.

An adult brain varies from an adolescent brain. Until your adulthood, your brain loses gray matter because surplus neurons and synapses are cut back. It happens until about your late 20s. Meanwhile, some brain regions form stronger connections with each other. The majority of nerve tracts get wrapped in insulating myelin. It means that it boosts the brain’s white matter. White matter’s size crests by the age of 40.

As we grow, far-flung areas of the brain start linking up with each other, causing bigger and more extensively distributed networks.

The front portion of the frontal lobe, which is called the prefrontal cortex, turns fully “wired up” in adulthood. 

The prefrontal cortex is responsible for executive functions. For example, controlling certain aspects of speech and language, short-term memory, decision-making, planning, etc. If we compare the brain of an adult and the brain of a teenager, we can see that an adult brain is better wired for cognitive control. It means that when it comes to making decisions, the adult brain is more influenced by rewards, social acceptance, and of course, emotions. 

We have a blog post on Late Bilingualism, which is here. 

The truth is you can learn a new language as an adult because adult brains are better connected. The prefrontal cortex turns fully “wired up” in adulthood. And also, your life experience will help you to learn new information better!

So no, don’t believe in this myth. You can learn a language as an adult.

#2 – Lack of confidence

Remember that courage comes before confidence!

It is normal when learning a language to fear otherness. It will only come to you naturally if you have certain talents or gifts in this domain. You may feel embarrassed for attempting to speak, and it is not quite getting there, and you’re wasting your interlocutor’s time. So instead of immersing yourself in this new world, you focus on continuing listening, reading, and apprehending new vocabulary until your confidence comes to you. Confidence will not come to you unless you dare to speak.

In anything you may attempt in your life, not just learning a new language, in which you are placed in a different situation from your routine, it is scary and unfamiliar territory; thus, there is an element of fear involved. As humans, our brains are plastic, meaning they can grow, adapt and evolve, rewiring our brains at any age. We can learn new things at any moment, and a beginner’s mind is ready. This takes courage if you set yourself a new challenge, such as learning a new language. Indeed, you can think about pivotal points in your life, such as meeting a new date, going on a zoom call with a stranger, or going to a job interview. Was it your courage that went through those moments to just do it, or did you wait for a confidence spell to push you forth? 

The truth is that courage comes before confidence! Speak once, speak twice, speak more and get confidence with Verbal Bridges.

Read more about Courage Over Confidence. 

#3 – Lack of speaking practice

Practicing speaking in a new language is like playing an instrument. It’s not until you start using the device that you produce sounds. Chat or forum groups and watching movies are good tools. Yet, suppose you’re not moving your tongue, lips, jaw, cheeks, and throat muscles. In that case, you might practice a different language skill such as writing, listening, or reading. 

If you’re using your facial musculature but not conversing with another person, you are just practicing spoken production. To put it – you have to talk and interact orally with others to improve your speaking fully.

Many language learners look for opportunities to practice speaking but struggle with them. So have a look at these ideas on how to practice each. 

Let’s start right off by clarifying two things. The first one, there isn’t a magic wand for better and faster speaking. The second one is that there are two different speaking areas, Spoken Production and Spoken Interaction. So again, there’s no right or wrong. Still, it’s easy to get frustrated when we’re intensively practicing spoken production with the expectation of improving spoken interaction. 

Spoken production focuses on monologic speech, which emphasizes a person conceptualizing an idea, constructing it with the elements of the target language, and producing new sounds. Examples of this speaking area are pronunciation practice, oral repetition, oral presentation, or narration.

Spoken interaction focuses on dialogic speech, and the emphasis lies on fostering the learner’s ability to communicate and express experiences, emotions, and opinions based on another person’s responses. It includes the area of spoken production indeed but adds the element of reaction. This area contains dialogues, role-plays, debates, interviews, speed dating, video or phone calls, discussions, and meetups.

We want you to make progress! We want you to speak courageously in English, Spanish, German, or whatever target language you are learning!

The truth is that even if you think you lack practice, you will still succeed in learning a new language!  We can assure you that you will get a lot of practice at Verbal Bridges!

If you’d like to know more about it, we have a blog post – 8 Tips on How to Practice Speaking in a Foreign Language.

#4 – Lack of discipline

Some of our best language resolutions fail because we don’t have an execution system. To reach new language goals and develop new habits, it’s necessary to create new routines. The greater the challenge, the more rigorous your routines need to be. Developing predictable and daily disciplines prepares you to be victorious on your courageous language journey. 

Although goals are a necessary first step to setting the direction in your language journey, the way to accomplish those goals is to translate them into effective daily habits and routines. You won’t master the language overnight, but if you practice consistently day after day and over enough weeks and months, you will eventually reach a high level of proficiency. 

The truth is we are all consistent. We just need to have a powerful “why” and redirect our energy to our goals. Our guide, “7 Step Guide to Language Learning,” may help you with this. Subscribe to our newsletters to download it.

#5 – Lack of time

Indeed it can be hard to find time to learn a language, depending on your day-to-day life, whether you are working full time, maybe you are a parent, maybe you juggle several jobs, or you have a thriving social life, and you simply are just way too busy to learn a new language. The thing is, nobody is too busy for anything. If you want to learn a language, you need to change the way you look at your properties, reiterating the purpose of why you wanted to learn a language in the first place. What is your goal for the language? It can be to form friendships, to find love, for a new job, or as a hobby; whatever the reason it may be, you need to find it. Once you have the reason and goals for starting this journey to learn a new language, reminding yourself why this was an important step for you, the ‘how” aspect of time will always be found. 

At Verbal Bridges, we recognize the purpose of finding your language purpose, which will be a huge motivator for you, and therefore you can download your seven-step guide by subscribing to our newsletter. Luckily, we also happen to live in a tech-savvy world where your smartphone or computer is not out of your hands, and you can have lessons practically anywhere, in your house, in the office, or even on the go. Online language courses are the key to easing your time worries. When you learn with Verbal Bridges, you can have speaking sessions any time of the day – 24/7. Even if we are in different time zones or if you work long hours, there is still a possibility to fill speaking sessions in your busy schedule. 

The truth is that we are all busy, yet, with the right approach, we can find time and resources to learn a new language! Even if we are in different time zones or if you work long hours, there is still a possibility to fill speaking sessions in your busy schedule at Verbal Bridges. 

#6 – Lack of native accent

No one is perfect. The main point of communication is to be understood, right? Speaking a language is not about perfection. It is courage! Many language learners will feel insecure when attempting to speak a target language they have spent some time learning. Traditional teachers will repeat in a mantra, “You need to be more confident. Once you are confident, you will speak”. What happens is that new students, when attempting to speak in their target language, will feel a sense of nervousness and stress and then may rearrange themselves to avoid speaking the language they have been working so hard to learn because well they are “not there yet” they need to wait for the confidence boost. The truth is you, by no means must you, wait to be confident.  You need courage. 

Confidence is developed over time, evolving, growing, and in the end, your hard work pays off by earning confidence. Confidence is not an initial mechanism built within us that we can be confident via osmosis. The act of attainment of confidence is via courage. But all of this takes time, and learning a language might be challenging. However, with the right methodology, approach, and mindset, it is possible, and it’s an enjoyable path.

The truth is that the main point of communication is to be understood. No one is perfect. We do believe that it is all about courage. Be courageous to speak up!

We have an amazing blog post – A Foreign Accent Is A Sign Of Bravery.

#7 – Lack of talent/skills

We have all learned our mother tongues, and therefore there are no people who are not talented enough to learn a language. Generally, most people speak their native language and speak it very well, and thus, learning another language should not deter you because you are not talented enough or lack the skills as you already have what it takes as you speak your native language. You may have particular difficulties attaining the language due to the spectrum of abilities in particular skill sets you may have, and indeed it may be more accessible to those with natural linguistic talents and capable of being polyglots in the blink of an eye. However, you can still learn a language. It just needs time, practice, and patience with the language. This condition applies to language and any other interest you may have. Talent may help, but it does not mean you cannot do it. It just needs the secret ingredients: time, practice, and patience.

The truth is that you can still learn a language. It just needs time, practice, and patience with the language. This condition applies to language and any other interest you may have. Talent may help, but it does not mean you cannot do it. It just needs the secret ingredients: time, practice, and patience.

Don’t let these myths stop you from contributing to the world in more than one way.

Whichever language you choose, you can still contribute in more than one way!

SPEAK BUILD CONTRIBUTE

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