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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 es licenciada en Historia por la Universidad de Valladolid. Ha trabajado Técnico de Cultura y programadora de Artes escénicas y en el campo de la arqueología. Implicada desde muy joven en el desarrollo local, cambió de rumbo hace unos años, instalándose en Barcelona para dar un nuevo giro a su vida profesional. Es una apasionada de la literatura, el cine y la ópera.
Mamen has a degree in History from the University of Valladolid. Her passions include literature, cinema and opera. Mamen has worked as a Culture Technician, a Performing Arts programmer, in the field of archaeology, and she has also been involved in local development since she was very young.
She decided to change course a few years ago, when she settled in Barcelona to begin a new chapter of her professional life.