#PIMSLEUR GERMAN III HOW TO#

No wonder it is hard for me to learn another language. When I learned of the research showing that toddler minds are specially wired for language learning, I nodded along with it. My frustrations at learning other languages, though, made me decide I must be one of those people for whom foreign language does not come naturally.

#PIMSLEUR GERMAN III HOW TO#

taste the words in my mouth, and I can see how to spell them.' I believe it was the first time I saw an adult cry. And I tentatively explained, 'Actually, I don't sound things out. 'Richard,' she growled, 'for goodness sake, just sound it out! Jesse, that's what you do, right? Tell Richard how you do it.' I became nervous, because her system of 'sound it out' always seemed strange to me. In second grade, a fellow student was challenged with his spelling, and the teacher grew frustrated teaching him. In some ways it seemed strange to me - I delight in learning arcane nooks and crannies of the English language, and I seem to have a natural gift for spelling words properly. A difficult struggle all along, with lots of repetitive copying and tedious memorizing. Later, I took classes in French at school, and still later in Latin. I had fantasized that all I had to do was read the book, just as I'd read any book, and the knowledge would stay.

When I got home, my heart fell as I realized that reading and memorizing word after word was painfully difficult. My parents dissuaded me from getting both: 'It's hard enough just to learn one language.' But I insisted. The books looked simple, cartoony, and fun. I remember being in first grade, and excitedly finding language learning books at the library: 'Learn French' and 'Learn Italian'.

I have gone through life convinced I am bad at language learning.

Pimsleur german iii