Learning Communities

A good meal is made delicious with good friends, a nice view is made memorable when shared with someone special to you, and the most exciting of secrets are made more precious when shared with a friend. These things are true because we are social creatures, and we enjoy social activities. Language learning can also be a social activity

Not too long ago, language learning was basically a solitary activity. There would be high school and university classes, sure, and you could find audio courses or books at the store or in the library. But it wasn’t generally considered a “cool” thing to want to learn another language just for the fun of it. If you were into language learning, you were an outsider, a loner.

Unfortunately, for many learning a language all alone is not only boring, it seems to lack all purpose. After all, isn’t the whole purpose of a language to communicate? And unless you love having conversations with yourself, communication generally involves having contact with others.

Now, we could always argue that the best people to talk to when you’re learning another language are those that already speak your target language. I completely agree. However, unless you are an immigrant or world traveler, daily contact with natives of the language you’re learning isn’t likely to be realistic.

But today we can find many online communities—in the form of chat rooms, forums, blogs, and social networking sites—that provide just the atmosphere you’ll need for regular communication with others in the language you want to practice. But we can take this communities idea even further.

Isn’t it true that you’ll more likely want to communicate with those that share your interests? Isn’t there a lot you could learn from others that are learning another language as well—perhaps even learning the same language you’re learning? Then why not try one of the several language-learning communities you can find online?

Not only can you find others that speak your target language, but you’ll find kindred spirits that are as motivated and interested in becoming bilingual as you are. Here are some sites you can visit to get started:

italki.com
busuu.com
lingq.com
livemocha.com

With sites like these, even more blogs and forums on the topics of language learning, and even more great online communities popping up every day, it’s little wonder that learning another language is easier now than every before.

What Are You Waiting For?

Over the past several language-learning related posts, we’ve seen many reasons why it is easier than ever to learn another language. So what are you waiting for? With modern communication technology, better learning methods, a multilingual forecast, and learning communities, there is no excuse to sit back and dream of being bilingual. Another language—any other language—is firmly within your reach.

No matter if you think globalization with end up being a force for good or evil, it is something that’s happening right now. Our world is getting smaller every day. The question is, do you see the opportunities this shrinking world affords you? Are you taking advantage of those opportunities, or will you just let them pass you by?

Just because something is easier than before, there remains the question of if you really want to become bilingual. What reasons are there to learn another language? That’s what we’ll talk about in the next series of language-learning posts.

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