How Long Does It Actually Take To Learn A Language?
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Hello, Friends. Happy April! Today we’re talking about language learning. Fairly often I’m asked what the hardest thing about moving to France has been. I can answer instantly and without hesitation: Learning French is hardest thing about moving to France. I’ve been hearing from lots of people who are thinking about making this kind of move and are especially curious about language skills. Do they need to learn French before moving here? Do the kids needs to learn French before enrolling in school? If you’re someone who’s curious about what our language-learning experience has been like, here’s a whole lot of info you’ll hopefully find helpful. (I’m sure a lot of this applies to any country you move to, but I can only speak to France.)
Something you might not realize until you’re in the middle of it is that learning a language means acquiring four different skills: Listening Comprehension, Reading, Speaking, and Writing. These might seem like they are all essentially the same thing, but they are actually separate. You can understand someone who is speaking French, without being able to speak French yourself. You can read French, without being able to write French. If you want to learn to do all four, you have to work on each specific skill. And I would recommend doing so in the order I listed: Listening first, writing last.
I’m especially having a hard time with the speaking part. To really do this well requires immersion; spending a lot of time with people who are only speaking French, where you can’t fall back on English. I rarely if ever get this kind of opportunity, because I’m working in English all day long. And it’s a pandemic, so get togethers haven’t really been an option.
Another issue for me, is having lots of bilingual people around me. Ben Blair speaks French well. The kids speak French very well. And most of my French friends here also speak English well. So I’m rarely forced to speak French for extended periods of time. I can run errands, and do the basics, but I need much more practice.
One more reason I’m not progressing as fast as I should be, is that I know just enough French to manage. I studied French in high school, and a semester of college. I feel like I didn’t gain much from those studies at all — though I still have a poem memorized. Hah! — but those studies did give me a head start on reading and a few basics. (Ben also studied French in high school.)
What To Expect If You Are Moving To A New Country And Your Kids Will Be Learning French (This Might Apply To Other Languages Too)
For ages 8+, assuming they are starting from scratch in French, the first school year will be tough. They will be physically tired from trying to comprehend a new language all day long. Their brains will hurt. If you speak English at home (like we do), they will have gained a ton of language by the end of the first school year, but they won’t be fluent. After 2 years of in-person school, they’ll be feeling much more confident, and getting the same kinds of grades they earned in their American school.
Even after two years, there will be some subjects where they feel like they will never catch up — history is an especially challenging one. It’s sometimes hard to recognize how much of what we learn in history class is cultural and specific to where we live. So even though our kids have always learned history, they weren’t learning the same history that’s being covered in their history classes at their local French school.
No matter how good they become at French, older kids will likely always have a bit of an accent, and they will never feel like a “native speaker”. French will always feel like their second language.
Want To Speed Up Fluency?
If you want to speed up the language learning, prioritize lots of playdates at the homes of French friends. Even better? Give your kids the chance to live with a French family! All three of our oldest kids got a huge boost to their French language skills when they moved back to France without us and lived with French families.
You could also do some learning before you move to the new country. Language classes, language apps, French movies, tutors. There are lots of options. But even if they’ve studied 2 years of French in middle school, don’t be shocked if you move to France and they feel like absolute beginners who barely know how to say bonjour.
What To Expect For Younger Kids
From my perspective, the ideal age for any child to learn another language by moving to another country is age 4-6. Betty was 4, almost 5 when we first moved to France. Oscar had just turned 6 the month before and was in Kindergarten. Both of them picked up the language and could speak fluently by the end of the first school year. And they never had to practice or try hard. The new language came seamlessly, and was totally painless. It feels like magic watching it happen. Plus, at those ages, they won’t have an accent. They will be fluent and sound native.
That said, remember, kids that age are just learning to read and learning to write, and at school, their teachers will be focused on helping the kids learn how to read and write in French, not English. So if you want your kids to learn to read English and write English (as well as French), you’ll need to work on that outside of their regular school day.
What about 7 year olds? They’re right in the middle and it depends on the kid — they will likely have an easier time than older kids, and a harder time than younger kids.
But It’s Not Just Language Skills
Yes, you (and your kids) will need to learn French if you move to France. But beyond French, there are a bunch of other “mini-languages” you’ll also need to learn. Here are a few:
The metric system. No one here knows what an inch is. Or a foot. Or a yard. Why would they? So you’ll need to get to know the metric system. When you pick up a measuring tape, it will be in millimeters and centimeters. Getting comfortable in the metric system includes getting to know Celsius instead of Farenheit. 25 degrees in Farenheit means bundle up. 25 degrees in Celcius means beach day.
Military time. France uses military time. And it’s great! It makes communicating time really clear. The only problem is that sometimes I see 17:00, and my mind thinks: 7:00PM. And that is not correct. Not at all. If your brain is used to a life a not-military time, you may have the same challenges.
Driving Symbols. Yes, they have stop signs, and yield signs, and traffic lights that will be familiar, but the rest of the road signs and symbols need to be learned — as a driver or as a pedestrian or cyclist.
Recipes. Even if you know how to read the recipe, the types of measurements may catch you off guard. They often call for weights of ingredients (in metric of course!) instead of volume. And sometimes a recipe will use a measurement like “a mustard jar” and you will wonder: Which mustard jar? Is there a standard size of mustard jar? What does that mean?
Phone Numbers. Something you might not know is that phone numbers come in a different format in France. It’s not (510) 555-1234. It’s 09 78 56 34 12
Reading Music. Our kids take music classes here, just as they did in the States. And though the sheet music looks the same, the approach and methods are different. The biggest change for our kids is that instead of notes being A B C D E F G, here they use do re mi fa sol la si (not ti). Our kids were somewhat familiar with the do-re-me scale, but they weren’t used to using it primarily, so that was another challenge.
Favorite Language Learning Resources
We love Duolingo for quick lessons and gaining vocabulary. It’s free and fun.
LingQ is especially good for reading and listening comprehension. You can listen to a French story or article or podcast or book while reading along with it. And if you don’t know a word, just click on it and the translation will appear.
For speaking, try iTalki. You can schedule an iTalki session with a native speaker at any time that is convenient for you. And then you just have a conversation (or a language lesson if you’d rather). You can try lots of different conversation partners until you find someone who is a good fit.
Lastly, Google Translate is miraculous. We use it to scan notes from school and mail. We use it to compose emails (and then adjust the translation as needed). You can write a phrase or sentence, and Google Translate will read it aloud for you in French so you can learn pronunciation. And you can download the language you need, which means you can use Google Translate even if you’re offline.
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Your turn. Have you ever learned a language? Did you ever reach fluency? Would you ever considering moving to a country where you don’t speak the language? Or is that a deal breaker for you? Are you intimidated by learning languages, or does that sort of thing come easy to you? Do you have favorite language learning resources? Feel free to share!
Here’s are a few other links you might enjoy:
-Here are the questions and answers from the Washington Post live chat. The topic was Family-Friendly Design (though I got questions about France too!). I’ve never done that sort of live chat before, where I’m typing the answers to questions in real time. I discovered I’m too wordy; I only got to half the questions, and then the platform turned off. But the questions were great!
-If you’d like to decorate Easter Eggs this weekend, but don’t want to deal with dye baths, or track down craft supplies, take a look at these eggs, made using highlighter pens. So clever and gorgeous. Simple patterns and designs that anyone can recreate. I love a good use-what-you-have project.
-Such positive news — the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine seems to be powerfully protective in children ages 12 to 15. Isn’t that great to hear? Have you had a chance to be vaccinated yet? My oldest daughter, Maude, received her first shot (distributed by her university) this week. I was so emotional when she texted after the fact. She’s the first person in my family to receive a covid vaccine.
-Remember those images of the traffic jam of hikers on Mount Everest? Meet the Nepalese climbers who removed 2.2 tons of rubbish from Everest while the tourists were away during the pandemic. I hope someone compiles the stories like this — stories relating to how the pandemic travel bans and stay-at-home guidelines offered opportunities for communities, and wildlife areas, to reset.
-We made a video of Springtime in Normandy and it’s the perfect way to welcome the first weekend in April. The hillsides here are currently covered in jonquilles — small, wild daffodils that you can gather by the armful.
-This was totally news to me. Did you know you can book passage on one of those massive cargo ships? I wonder if I know anyone in real life (or online) who has done this. I would love to hear what it’s like. I love finding inexpensive and unexpected travel options.
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I hope you have a great weekend! Happy Easter to all who celebrate.
kisses,
Gabrielle
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Thank you for this! We had an experience similar to yours: in 2017 we moved to Spain for a few years with our kids, 8 and 11. My husband is a fluent Spanish-speaker and the kids had already attended a bilingual school here in the US, but I ahead only toddler-level Spanish. Learning a language in mid-life was one of the most challenging, frustrating, and yet rewarding things I’ve ever had to do. 💪💪💪
Gabrielle, I wonder if you’d agree that there’s actually a fifth element to language learning, which is ... body language? The Spanish have so many hand gestures and facial expressions we’d never seen before and are not explained in any textbook. Do the French have some of these as well?
Language Learning is my métier. I have been an ESL teacher for 27 years and am National Board Certified in the USA. Spanish is my second language and I use it daily in my work, among other languages. I don’t teach language in a vacuum; I also support students in all other content areas.
First, some research. Language Learning takes time. In a new language, Basic Interpersonal Communication Skill (“Hello, how are you?,”Do you have any apples?”) requires from 1-2 years. I would say that varies +/- .5 to 1.5 years depending on a lot of factors that I will discuss later. Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (“In conclusion, there are many factors that affect plant growth,” “Describe three long-term effects of colonialism.”) takes from 5-7 years, +/- 3 years.
Regarding whether or not younger folks learn languages “more easily.” Yes and no. Their brains are more plastic and can master the sound bank of a new language more easily. Older kids and adults may need more time and practice to develop the auditory discrimination to hear and reproduce different sounds, but it’s possible. Current research on neuroplasticity supports this. Older learners have an advantage in that they have more knowledge of how language works and how words are categorized and they are more proficient readers. They are better at comparing and contrasting their first language to the new language. Many of my students who speak English with no accent because they learned it very young often lack reading fluency in one or both of their languages. Listening and Speaking tend to come more easily to the younger crew, Reading and Writing more so for the older folks. Listening on the Phone is a deep skill that requires deep cultivation for almost everyone.
Younger folk tend to treat language learning like play. Most are not worried about making mistakes. After all, what parent has ever responded to a baby who said “mama,” by saying “NO! It’s ‘Mother’”)? The friends around them may repeat the phrase correctly for them without making them feel weird about mistakes. They are more likely to say “What?!” when they don’t understand. In primary grades and preschool, there is a lot of learning through play, lots of concrete visuals and lots and lots of context to help kids gauge what’s happening. The rate of speech is slower. Think back to how fast your kindergarten teacher talked, compared to your High School History teacher. Think about how much scaffolding and visual support was in that kindergarten class.
As we get older, we become much more self conscious about speaking a new language. Foreign language instruction typically reinforces this. Remember all those rigidly structured dialogues and red marks on your French/Spanish/German worksheets? Most adults prefer not to speak unless they can do it flawlessly. Many of us also carry our own flawed ideas about the perceived intelligence or lack of effort or people who do not speak our own language well.
Now, some factors and ideas that assist in language learning. What’s the urgency? In a classroom far away from the country, not so much. Need to get through the school day? Now your attention is laser- focused.
How close is the Sound Bank of that language to your language? What about the writing system? How much common vocabulary is there Many Western European/Romance Languages come easily to me because of the similar range of sounds, common vocabulary, and the Roman alphabet. I have picked up quite a few useful phrases to speak in Korean and Russian because the sound bank is close enough to English. Do I write those phrases? No. I can learn phrases in Vietnamese, Chinese, and Arabic, but it takes a lot more repetition and practice to make sure that I am saying them correctly.
Listening is important but Listening and Speaking go together. Anytime we move our tongue in the service of learning, our brain lights up like a fireworks display. Even when we are able to read silently, without hearing any voice in our head, those neurons are still firing. So talk it up, make mistakes, make a mess. One great thing that helps with listening is playing an instrument or singing for at least a year.
Use as many of the pathways as possible (L,S,R,W) at a time to help you learn. I love apps but most of us retain things more readily if we actually write them down.
If more practice, support and scaffolding that is available, usually that results in faster rate or learning.
You have to start where you are. If reading, read things that you can understand easily with 90%+ comprehension and can guess the rest of the words through context clues, NOT Google translate. So start with the pre-kindergarten books, preferably with audio. When you are done reading them, read them again out loud with the audio. Record yourself, but don’t beat yourself up. When I do this for Spanish I keep a journal where I write the title of the book, new words I found, my English guess and a picture/ quick explanation of clues that helped me. If you can, write your explanation in Spanglish, Franglish for a no accountability practice in writing. When that level becomes too easy, go to the next level. I use this technique for independent reading for my students and it works wonderfully and is great evidence of long term progress.
For listening, play videos at slower than normal speed with the target language captions on. So if you are learning French, do French. Duolingo has some great slow language podcast with lots of scaffolding that also help your learn a bit of culture.
If you don’t remember a word, don’t panic. Point and ask “What is it?” Describe it with the words that you DO know (Um… the long, thin orange vegetable that grows under the ground.). Draw a picture to show and and do the same. If the person says the word, repeat it out loud a few times. I find most people, even Parisians, are fairly polite if you are making an effort.
Relax, smile, and stay positive. This helps prevent cortisol from hijacking your brain and impairing your learning circuitry. Cultivate a “child mind.” Label your missteps as “experience,” versus “mistakes.”
Move your body while you learn. Dance, walk, bike, this reduces stress and brings oxygen to your hippocampus-- the memory center of your brain. Learn the lyrics to some songs while you are at it. Activities that use balance and/or coordination, like juggling, catch, hopping can help your brain, too.
Anxious perfectionists can have a hard time with language learning in real time. Especially if someone else in the family is diving right in and experimenting. When we have visited friends in Mexico, my husband needs to take time to explore away from me and/or have a drink or two before he is willing to talk. Help them cultivate a child mind. Also, for anyone who still seems to struggle, consider a developmental vision exam and/or an auditory processing assessment. There are therapies that can help with this.
Finally, time on task, even 15 minutes a day, can have a big impact over time. Kids have more time than parents, because most parents are caught up in the day to day of taking care of their families. Seek out the opportunities that you can, let your kids teach you and vice versa. Bilingual flashcards and math games are one great example. Be creative. It’s important for them to see you working diligently to learn something, too.