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     by Doug Bower

The failure factor in learning a second language is that most regard learning a new language as an academic endeavor. They think this is going to be like learning Algebra. The approach offered by educated academics is enough to send any normal person screaming from the classroom. This approach to second language acquisition is not second language acquisition at all. It is the learning something about the target language. It will equip you to read and translate into your native tongue some piece of Spanish text. But, will it assist you in speaking and comprehending the language you want to acquire? Not likely.

The question that must be asked when making the decision to have a go at the target language of the country you are planning moving to and for whatever reasons, is do you want to be able to sit down with a local and chat while having dinner? Do you want to be able to engage not only in rudimentary social intercourse but do you want to be able to go to a Mexican doctor or dentist and not have to hire a translator to come along with you? In other words, do you want to be assimilated into the culture?

How will spending a fortune in classes in the target language help you achieve your assimilation goal? How will attending classes that will teach you all the verb declensions of the target language and the cold, mindless memorization of out-of-context vocabulary words aid you in this quest? When your friend, spouse, or life-long companion keels over from a heart attack, how will having learned in the pluscuamperfecto de subjuntivo of any verb in the Spanish language help you to rapidly explain to the emergency room physician the medical history of your loved one?

In my view, based on my research, if what you want is to be able to communicate in the target language, don't begin with a class in which you are issued a textbook, workbook, a list of grammar rules and vocabulary you have to memorize. Rather, begin with something called "Comprehensible Input."

What most try to do when taking classes in a second language is to develop the ability to speak to be understood and to understand the reply. This happens

"... when a language learner comprehends words and sentences in a communicative context. These kinds of utterances are called "comprehensible input." (Language Instructor Manual (LIM) Comprehensible Input)

I think we could all agree than no human popped out of his or her mother's womb quoting Chaucer. Each of us, no matter what our native tongue, heard thousands of repetitions of our caretaker's commands, pleadings, questions, descriptions, and so on before one day trying ourselves to reproduce the speech we heard repeatedly from our parents.

What we were exposed to was an environment in which lots and lots of words and sentences were first heard in a meaningful context. We were not born a linguistic blank slate. At birth, we had a linguistic outline preinstalled of what language should be and hearing our parents and loved ones speak to us filled in the outline. It is hardwired into our brains to learn language and this hardwiring is not ripped out of our heads what we become adults. It's still there, so why not use it to become proficient in a second language?

" Incidentally, there is no evidence that the "biological wiring" for language acquisition changes as the infant develops into childhood and then adulthood." (James Asher, Ph.D.)

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