Languages
This article is written by Bethan.

    I have found language learning one of the most enjoyable, fascinating, satisfying and liberating things I have ever done.
    Learning a language helps one to understand that people from other countries are just the same as you are. Suddenly you are able to strip away the unfamiliar words and sounds, and see that there is really something very familiar underneath.
    Learning a language also makes one understand and speak one's own language much better. Studying the rules that govern another language makes you aware that English is also governed by a set of rules. Understanding these rules enables you to speak more clearly, and helps you to express what you want to express.
    I have found learning a language liberating because, for the first time, you do not have to rely on other people's interpretations of things written in another language.
    I had only been studying French for a short while when I realised that everything that is called a "translation" is really an "interpretation". For the translation to be as good as the original the translator would have to be as gifted or as wise as the original author. This is rarely the case, and I have found that most translations bear only a passing resemblance to the original.

Learning through Literature

    One of the traditional ways to learn a language is to read the books, poems, writings etc. originally written in that language. This is a particularly good method for students working at home, without a teacher. However far you may be from the country of your chosen language, or from native speakers of that language, you can read its great works of literature and acquire a knowledge of vocabulary, idioms, grammar, and style that native speakers may not possess. It is also far more interesting to read a work of literature than to follow a course book. You get to see the language in its best light, and are less likely to learn unnecessary vocabulary, grammar etc. 

What to read

     Many people assume that "classic" works of literature are boring, old fashioned and hard to understand. The idea of reading a classic in a foreign language is therefore doubly daunting.
    I have found, however, that classic books are usually famous because they are written simply, and clearly, and because they express something that is true. This is what enables them to survive for hundreds, or thousands of years. Foreign language classics are just the same. Believe it or not, it is often much easier to read a classic in another language than it is to read a magazine, newspaper or a modern novel. It is also much more rewarding.

How to read

    It is possible to buy a book in a foreign language that you have never learnt and, with the aid of a dictionary, to read and enjoy it. Obviously this requires a lot of determination, and can be VERY slow-going, but it is amazing how much one can understand without understanding tenses or grammar.
    Don't listen to books or teachers who tell you that you have to understand the grammar of a language before you read it. A book can be extremely enjoyable even if you are never quite sure whether something is, was, would be, had been or will be - it is usually possible to get a rough idea of what's happening, and carry on enjoying the story.
     The way I read foreign language books is to look up the words I don't understand in the dictionary as I go along, and write them down in a little book When I get caught up in the story  I usually stop bothering with this and charge along until I get completely stuck, at which point I go back, looking up all the words I didn't understand. If you come to a particularly tricky passage, it is often a good idea to write it out in English; having to translate it can help one to understand it better.
    I do not enjoy learning lists of vocabulary, so I hardly ever learn the words I have written down. This does mean that I look the same word up more than once, but I find that writing new words down helps me to remember them. Of course, some people enjoy learning vocabulary, and if you do that's fine, but I think that it is reassuring to know that it is possible to build up a knowledge of a great many words, without ever having had to sit down and learn them.

Languages I have learnt
  
    Since I left school when I was nine ( I am now twenty-five) I have tried to learn a few different languages.
   You can read what I have written about French and German if you click the following heading, I will add sections on the other languages soon:

• French
• German

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