Why is it so hard for me to learn English, while my friend finds it easy? Although we know that making comparisons is not good, it is a question we ask ourselves. The answer is not a simple one. Today we will discuss some of the possible reasons.

 

The reasons

  • Environmental reasons: Being exposed to a second language, being bilingual. For example, if you already speak a Romance language, it will be easier for you to learn a language from the same family because of similarities in vocabulary and grammatical structure
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  • Having a good ear for music: . If you are someone who pays attention to the lyrics of songs and immediately memorizes them, it means that you have an agile and receptive listening comprehension.
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  • Although it is never too late, it is better to start as early as possible while the brain’s structures and connections are still developing.
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  • There are people who have the ability to think about grammar in an abstract way and therefore don’t let their mother tongue act as a barrier when it comes to learning another language.
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  • Not interacting with people from other countries and cultures: . Connecting with people from other countries and speakers of different languages is an incentive and a way of being exposed to different languages and being forced to learn them, as well as getting our ears used to hearing different languages.
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    However, there is good news: Just because it costs you more, doesn’t mean that it is impossible. As we have seen, the ear plays an important part in learning a language. This is one of the many reasons why we work with the Callan Method, a grammatically structured and oral method based questions and answers with which you will not only learn English but also to listen to it and speak it.

     

    Jordi Soler
    Callan Team

    . Weber-Fox, C. & Neville, H. (1999). “Functional neural systems are differentially affected by delays in second language inmersion: ERP and behavioral evidence in bilinguals”. En D. Birdsong (ed), Second language acquisition and the critical period hypothesis (pp. 23- 38). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlba.
    . Nicolás J. (2020). “Las ventajas de los métodos directos para aprender un idioma”. Blog Callan School of English.

    Mamen