When I talk to people about the various books I read and start recommending them, they instantly start asking about the translation in their mother tongue even though they’re quite fluent in the language the book was originally written in. This is where I would normally explain how great it is, to read a book in a foreign language.
Don’t get me wrong, I completely understand why this might seem as a problem and believe me, I’ve been there! At the age of 19 I started studying German and Ukrainian language and literature and at the time my German was not at a very high level and as far as my Ukrainian goes, I couldn’t even read the Cyrillic alphabet. Now try to imagine how it must’ve felt having to read dozens of books the very next year. This experience taught me a lot about “adopting” a foreign language, accepting it and finally loving it as if it were my own.
So, yes, it isn’t the easiest thing, but once you’ve started, it can only get better.
Most of the people I know eventually get to the point where they say they would like to learn another language, or what’s even more often, they would like to refresh the one they used to learn at school. Probably the best way to do so is by reading a book.
Just for the sake of argument, let me share with you my personal experience. About two years ago I started learning French and spent a year doing exercises using a free app called Duolingo. I was making some progress so I looked up in my Kindle to find an appropriate book for me. I was surprised to see just how many books (level A1-A2) there were! The one I chose had even a German -French vocabulary you can check just by clicking at it. The feeling was phenomenal! I’ve read a book in French and I don’t even speak French!
The book: Französisch Einfache Geschichten 10 Themen aus dem Alltagsleben
Author: Sylvie Laine
Publisher: Editions Le Francais C’est Facile
Having said that, let me get back to the main question. Why would anyone put him-/herself through something like that? I mean, it would definitely be great to start reading and speaking another language, but who has the time to bother?
As an experienced German teacher l can tell you people generally dislike German. They actually hate it and that’s just a simple fact. Even if they live in a German speaking country, they are still not very excited about learning German language. At first it sounded crazy to me but then I got to think about it and started asking people why they feel like that. The fear was one of the most common reasons: The fear of failure. But there were also other reasons, the less personal ones, such as the fact they kept themselves isolated from German, meaning, they never listened to the radio, or watched tv. They also had no German speaking friends or colleagues. They never really gave it a chance. The love and the right mindset were still missing. Simple as that. L.O.V.E. So get in love with the idea of learning a new language. Try to find the thing you like about it, allow yourself to celebrate the small successes and stay positive!
For learning German step by step I feel free to recommend a textbook called Gemeinsam, filled with lots of authentic texts, dialogues, beautiful pictures of Austrian landscapes, sights, food and many great videos you can watch online. I personally worked on these books as an author and editor and would therefore be very happy to hear back from you on how you liked learning with the books and most importantly, did they help you fall in love with German?
The book: Gemeinsam
Publisher: Calamus Verlag
As I’ve mentioned it all starts with LOVE but there is also another obvious benefit from learning foreign languages and that is FUN. It´s fun to learn something new and to be able to understand a bit more. Just to think of all the treasures hidden in the music, art and books of some other culture. Not to mention the food, the landscape and the people you could get to know if you just put your mind to it!
Another advantage of learning a foreign language is the fact that learning process changes us. It opens the mind and improves our personal growth but it’s also about the linguistics. We use the words to “transfer” our thoughts and to communicate. Different languages use different “means of transport” to do so. To learn another language means to start thinking differently, to get another perspective. Just to try this idea out, think of one phrase in your mother tongue and then of its equivalent in all the other languages you know.
An example:
Croatian: ići na živce
German: auf die Nerven gehen
English: to annoy someone
Spanish: sacar de quicio a alguien
Ukrainian: graty na nervah
In Croatian and German you “go”, in Spanish you “pull” and in Ukrainian you “play” to annoy someone.
Now, how great is that?
All I want to say is, don’t be afraid to try out something new. Find something you like about one particular language and just give it a try, what can you lose?