What is the hardest part of learning a language?
I started teaching myself how to speak Spanish very seriously around four years ago but also tried French, Russian, German, Dutch, Japanese, Korean, and Arabic as little hobbies here and there just to try something new. Although I am by no means fluent in any of the languages I have listed (Spanish being the only exception), I learned some very valuable things over my many years of language learning. “What is the best study method?” etc. But one question that I often get asked a lot and a question that I used to ask myself was “what is the hardest part of learning a language?”
Some would say it is memorization. Some would say it is speaking, or writing, or reading in a foreign language. Conjugation, maybe? Learning slang, perhaps. But all of those things we can work around easily, it just requires changing our habits. But that being hard says more about ourselves than it does about foreign languages.
In my opinion, the hardest part of learning a language is unlearning your native language. That may sound weird, but stick with me. While learning all of those languages, I would also be confused by translations. I would type in a target language exactly word for word as I would in english, but that is not how it works. The biggest mistake new learners can make is constantly comparing their target language to their native tongue. To get the most out of language learning, we have to detach our preconceived thoughts that all languages will follow the framework of English or your native tongue from your target language.
The best thing you can do early on in the process is to learn the language without English/native influence. Learn the grammar from scratch, do not just assume. I feel like it is all too common to see vocabulary as more important that grammar and structure. Also consider phrases and interjections. I was having a conversation with another English learning Spanish person and I said “Que cojones?” which means “What the f*ck?” He thought I was saying something that was not really SFW, all because of a direct translation.
TL;DR drop your preconceived notions about a foreign language early on in the learning process. It is it’s own separate language and despite all similarities to your native language, it is completely different. Learn grammar from scratch, even if it feels novice. You will thank yourself in the long run. Sometimes the shortcuts stunt your growth as a polyglot.
