A motivated learner will surpass a non motivated learner in acquiring any kind of knowledge or skill.

Everyone makes mistakes in grammar, sometimes out of carelessness, but most of the time out of ignorance.  This ignorance is usually not true ignorance but forgetfulness. We may have been taught the correct grammar, but without reinforcement have blithely made mistakes and then continued to make them.

Just as certain things go together, like peanut butter and jelly or fish and chips, a singular subject in a sentence has to go together with a the singular form of the verb in a sentence. And a plural subject with a plural verb, of course.  Most people have no problem in simple subject sentences, but sentences with complex subjects are where confusion often arises.  For example, we know that it’s incorrect to say “Chocolate are good”, or “Games is fun”.   Confusion can arise with some varieties of subject-verb combinations.  

As we grow older, one of our many health concerns is to maintain our mental health.  If scientists could only come up with a surefire way to keep the aging brain sharp and agile, it would be a major breakthrough. Well, they have.  Studies have shown that acquiring a second language actually changes the brain and increases mental acuity. 

As with any new skill you want to learn or old skill you want to improve, practice makes perfect in language acquisition as well.  If you are in a school classroom setting, the curriculum guides you through the steps and you have homework assignments that discipline you to keep working on the language after you have left the classroom.

It’s an age-old story.  You studied Spanish or French or German in high school, perhaps even did fairly well at it, and now you would like to re-learn that language. The problem is, now you have forgotten every word. Or at least you think you did. The human brain is a fascinating apparatus. There is so much knowledge lurking in there, we only need to find the way to tap it when we need to.

“You live a new life for every language you speak. If you know only one language, you live only once.” Czech proverb

How concerned do we have to be about properly mastering the accent in a foreign language?  It may be all but impossible to speak a foreign language without any trace of an accent if you learn that language as an adult.  However, it is important to try to mimic the accent of the language you are studying. It will help you to communicate better, since accents and emphasis form an important part of any language.

Many times, we have no choice as to which language we will take up.  We may be emigrating to another country and want to assimilate more readily. We may be marrying a man or woman from another country and want to be able to communicate with his or her family, or we have met someone from another country we want to get to know better. Perhaps we are planning a trip to a country and want to learn useful phrases in the language of that country, or you have a hobby or interest that is based in a certain country or culture and you want to understand it better.

All languages have variations in pronunciation, usually based on regionalism.  There are those who strive to erase such dialects from their language in order to “fit in” better, or to appear more cultured or educated. An opposing school of thought would like to see the use of dialects encouraged, since they reflect the traditions and history of an area and are threatened with extinction  by mass media.  Sites are popping up on the internet that request speakers of native regional accents to record their voices, in fear that this piece of history will soon be lost forever. Even English, the most media conscious of languages has versions almost so different in some countries as to be almost a different language. This, in countries where it is the official language such Australia, Canada, England, Ireland, South Africa and the United States.