Language Acquisition

My Theory and Method for Language Acquisition

Copyright © 2002-2006 by James R. Williams Zavada

Status: In progress...


  1. Introduction: What's the Best Way to Learn a New Language?
  2. If Children Can Do It, Why Can't I?
  3. What Have They Got That I Haven't?
  4. What Have I Got That They Haven't?
  5. Some Keys to Language Acquisition

Introduction: What's the Best Way to Learn a New Language?

At the age of 21, I decided I wanted to be able to communicate using the Spanish language. Up to that moment, the only languages I had ever handled were my native English, my two years of junior high school French wherein I was an 'A' student, and a year of high school French that scarcely earned me a 'C'. Being a serious-minded young man at the time, but without serious means (a hardware store clerk doesn't earn a great deal, mind you), I could not afford classes. As I analysed my situation, I realised that children learn new languages, and they do not pay a cent to do so. This opened the floodgates for a completely new train of thought: Children appear to be the masters of language acquisition. How do they do it? They have no prior language experience to rely upon, yet they easily pick up languages to which they are exposed. What is their secret, and how could I harness it?

If Children Can Do It, Why Can't I?

After a time of observation and analysis, I came to the conclusion that the thought process in every human being occurs at a level prior to language. To start, I realised that most adults, when faced with the task of learning a new language learn to translate: That is, they learn to attach words and phrases in the second language with equivalent words and phrases in the first language. On the other hand, when children learn their first language, how can they translate the words in the new language to some prior language? What could they be attaching these new words and phrases to, other than ideas of the world around them? The fact that children recognise Mama and Papa long before they learn words 'Mama' and 'Papa', led me to believe that as children, we learn to apply these newly encountered language constructs to pre-existing concepts. And if this were true, then thought must take place at a pre-linguistic level, at least in children. But what about adults? After giving it a great deal of thought, I recalled instances in my life where during conversations I had been at a loss to find words to express thoughts that were crystal clear in my mind. At other times, a single word would be at the tip of my tongue, ready to express a complex concept that was plainly outlined in my head, but I had forgotten that one word that I had known and used on other occasions. To further corroborate this, every adult that I have ever asked has experienced the same thing at one time or another. As a matter of fact, I have yet to come across the person whose face refuses to light up with an understanding "Me too!" expression when I describe the experience: "I know what I'm thinking, but I can't put it into words so that I can tell you."

What Have They Got That I Haven't?

The second conclusion I arrived at is that a native or extremely near-native pronunciation of a language acquired as an adult is an entirely reachable goal. As before, this idea came from my analysis of those language-learning masters, children. What is it that determines that a child growing up in Canada learns to speak English 'R' with a curl of his tongue, while a child growing up in France, growls out his 'R's at the back of his throat? Is there some physical change that takes place, so that an Adult having learned English first is no longer capable of speaking a French 'R'? Does one have muscles that the other doesn't, or does the former grow bones that the latter never develops? After doing some light reading on anatomy, I discovered that nothing of the sort had ever been recorded, so it was apparent that not only are we all born with the same physical equipment (barring defects, of course), we all retained pretty much the same equipment on into adulthood. This being the case, the only thing that would inhibit speaking a language "like a native" would be a weak muscle here, or an overly developed one there. And as we all know, exercise does wonders for muscle tone, doesn't it?

What Have I Got That They Haven't?

At this point, I began to ask myself a new question: Do I as an adult have any skills or capabilities to apply to learning another language that a child would not? Yes, as a matter of fact, I do. I have learned to be consciously analytical, and thus can be more proactive in the process of learning a new language. This means that, unlike a child, I do not have to learn the rules of the language (grammar, syntax, diction, etc.) solely by trial and error, but rather I can also use conscious study and application to enhance the process.

Keys to Language Acquisition