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language.

Some reasons are obvious. Learning a language requires learning infinite details. There's a new vocabulary, a different and often confusing grammar, odd rules with many exceptions, and variations based on context. There's the formal, the familiar, and the colloquial. And, above all there's a new alphabet and writing system.

But there's a less obvious issue working against you. A foreign language involves sounds that you can't pronounce or even hear. During our childhood, as our brain trains for language, it builds filters that treat other sounds as noise. Once we pass a critical age, between 7 and 9 years of age, it becomes much harder to learn a new language. We have to work hard to retrain our ears to separate syllables, words and sentences, and to do so in real time (it helps if people speak slowly).

Teaching a language is not a new science and we already know what works. The approaches that work best seem to include an immersive environment where the student hears a lot of the new language, has ample opportunity to practice, and combines listening, speaking, reading, and practicing grammar through exercises and writing.

The best way is to go to a country where the language is spoken and live there for some time. Another great way is to find a learning buddy who is proficient in the language and can coach you. You could also take a language course in a classroom setting. For most people, however, these alternatives are not practical.

If you want to learn on your own, then listening to audio lessons can be effective. Unfortunately, most of the available courses are condensed to a few hours on a CD. Because they are condensed they tend not to repeat information. That makes them harder to follow because they quickly get too hard. Moreover, repetition is vital for learning a language. You need to hear the same words used in different contexts and you need lots of examples so you can explore variations and consolidate all the information in your brain.

Perhaps the biggest problem is that we're busy and can't find the time, and there's no quick way to learn a language. We all know that titles like "Learn Spanish in 14-days" really mean "learn a few Spanish phrases". It takes time to train your ear and consolidate all the sounds, rules, and vocabulary in your brain. The slow progress is the most discouraging aspect of learning a language and the reason why so many quit.

Although there's no miracle, the breakthrough that I promised takes advantage of the time

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