How Learning a Language Is Like Driving a Car

Are you a master of the roads but not a master of the rolled rs? Then today's post is for you. I've noticed in the past that getting behind the wheel of a car is a lot like learning a language. Here's a few reasons how...

You won't pick it up straight away

Driving and learning languages aren't easy. Your brain is doing a lot of things and learning to do a lot of things differently. Don't expect to be a master from day one. Just be patient and go at your own speed.

Take your time and soon you'll be flying!

You'll stall

Making mistakes and getting stuck are all parts of any learning process. Just like you stall a car, sometimes you'll be half way into a sentence and forget a word or not know how to finish your sentence. Relax! Just take a breath, pump the brakes, and start over. Everybody knows you're just learning, they're not going to kill you for it!

Adults are better at it

That's why the older you are, the cheaper your insurance is! You'll often hear that children have the mind of a sponge and can pick up languages in the blink of an eye. However, that's not necessarily true.

It's been shown that in some ways, adults are even better than children. Adults already know a language and they can use this to help them learn. They don't tend to master pronunciation as well as children but there's nothing wrong with a bit of an accent.

If you never get behind the wheel, you'll never understand how to do it

If you're always a passenger, you probably think you know what everything in a car does. But have you ever driven? Try and remember the first time you got behind the wheel. Were you an immediate expert thanks to a decade and a half of being a passenger? I doubt it! Did you get better by actually driving? Of course you did.

Language is exactly the same. You can study for years and never really use your language. You won't see much benefit in your language learning until you actually start creating language, both by writing and by speaking.

It'll take you places

Learning a language opens doors. Just like owning a car gives you the freedom to go where you want, speaking another language will take you plenty of places. You'll have better career prospects and another skill to put on your CV. You'll be able to meet and speak to people that you wouldn't necessarily know before. The world is your oyster!