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My Most Disputed Language Learning Opinions
No information can be taken at face value
Thinking critically is something you cannot teach, but only comes from real-world experience. If you ask for advice online about your industry, you’re likely to get a mix of good information and bad information, which you’ll need to filter through.
This is especially true for the oversaturated universe of language learning, where everyone is vying for your time, money, and attention. Information may be true in principle but also may be overly exaggerated to make a point.
The following views are my biggest departure from what you’ll likely find online about language learning. I’m basing my views on my personal anecdotal experience of learning Finnish for 3 years, and accept that your experience might be different.
Fossilized errors do not exist
My biggest “fossilized error” happened to me recently in Finnish. For 2 years, I always said “apua” for help, when that really means “help me!” The general word for help is “auttaa.”
Once my teacher identified this error, it took me 3 more Finnish lessons to start using the word for help correctly. This was a fast improvement, so calling it a “fossilized error” is a little extreme. Calling it an “uncorrected error”…
