Don’t follow your language heroes


Don't follow your language heroes

We all have our heroes. We all know people who can speak foreign languages in a way we admire. We look up to them and get inspired by them. And we’re often tempted to follow them. We want their advice and we want to hear their success stories. We want to do things the way they did to get to where they are.

But is that the right thing to do? Perhaps not.

In this post, I’d like to talk to you about why you should not follow your language heroes. And I’m going to explain what you should do instead. Are you ready?

Reason #1: they are biased because they’re already successful

This is the biggest reason why you should not follow your language heroes. They are your heroes because they can already speak the language well. They are already successful. And because they are already successful, they are biased. 

They may have forgotten what it’s like to struggle with language learning. They may not remember the lack of confidence, the overwhelm and the frustration they once felt when they were in the middle of the struggle.

All they have is hindsight. They know fluency is possible because they’ve done it themselves. But they didn’t know it before they got there. In the middle of the struggle, they felt exactly like you’re feeling now – like they might make it or they might not.

So, the success stories they share are biased in a way – biased by the experience of having already achieved fluency.

Reason #2: they may not know exactly how they got to where they are

Your language heroes are good at languages. And that’s why they can, and sometimes want to, share their tips and advice with you. You want to listen because you know their stories are real – your heroes are the proof. They speak the language, which is good enough evidence that their advice is valid.

But how well did they really document their learning while they were in the middle of it? They may have not. They may have done things that helped them along the way that they’ve already forgotten. They may have done things they didn’t even know would have any impact on their progress. Or avoided certain things – unintentionally – that would hinder it.

What I’m saying is that your heroes may not know exactly how they got to the point of fluency. Looking back now, they try to recreate the process step by step but it won’t always be accurate.

Unless they documented the process in some formal way, like some people do when they do various language learning challenges or experiments. Otherwise, their story might be just a story of what they think they did that helped them.

Reason #3: everyone’s learning context is different  

Your heroes don’t belong to the same context as you. Think about it this way: both you and I can speak English.

I grew up in Poland and you grew up in [insert country].

My parents sent me to private English lessons when I was still in primary school. You may have started learning English as soon as you started to speak your native language. Or maybe you only started in your 40s.

I was lucky to have come across a couple of very inspiring English teachers when I was still a teenager. You may have had a teacher who couldn’t care less.

Our contexts are completely different. And so our experiences of learning English will be completely different too. You can’t blindly follow your language hero because the two of you belong to different contexts.

Reason #4: we are all different people with different learning styles

This one is similar to the one above. It’s not about our context, though, but about us as individuals. We are all different. We have different learning styles and preferences. We learn at different speeds. We find different types of learning materials useful.

Picture this: I like to use Duolingo when I first start learning a language but you hate the idea of phone apps.

I learn vocabulary by memorising lists but your memory doesn’t work that way and you prefer to learn words in context.

I like video lessons but you prefer to read grammar textbooks.

Two completely different people!

So, what works for our language heroes won’t necessarily work for us. Because they are unique, in the same way as each of us is unique. And the things that work for each of us will be unique too.

Reason #5: things have evolved since your heroes got to fluency

Your heroes took a long time to reach fluency. Probably several years – or at least two. That’s a long time in the history of language learning methods and materials. Duolingo or italki didn’t even exist when I first started learning French.

Your heroes will have success stories based on the tools and resources available at the time they were learning the language. When was that? In the past. And yes – things have evolved since then.

There are new tips, techniques and resources coming up all the time. Things that may work wonders for you and your learning progress. So, if you’re just blindly trying to replicate your language heroes’ stories, you might be missing out on what’s available now because you’re focusing on what was available then.

So how can your language heroes help you?

I’m not trying to say that you should not listen to any advice other people offer you. All I’m trying to say is that your language learning journey is unique. Just as your language heroes’ journeys are unique and can’t be replicated. Things that worked for them won’t necessarily work for you, although they may!

So, try different things. Pick and choose. Experiment. See what works for you and what doesn’t. So and so did this to get fluent? Try it. If it’s not working, there’s nothing wrong with you – it’s just not the right approach so scrap it and try something else.

One day you’ll be your own language hero, I’m sure.

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