Language learning is a topic close to my heart. Few things are more exciting than talking to someone in a language that was, until recently, incomprehensible to you. But as exhilarating as it is when you get it right, learning a language can also be full of frustration, misunderstandings and embarrassing mistakes.<\/p>\n
Most of my knowledge of learning languages comes from first-hand experience. I had a bumpy time learning French during a year abroad while in college. Later, I had a better experience learning four different languages in a year<\/a> while traveling with a friend.<\/p>\n Despite years of self-experimentation, I hadn\u2019t looked into what careful research has to say about what works\u2014and what doesn\u2019t\u2014in language learning. Recently, I decided to start to remedy that by reading a handful of books on the science of second language acquisition. The best was Patsy Lightbown and Nina Spada\u2019s How Languages are Learned<\/a>.<\/p>\nEvaluating Six Different Approaches to Language Learning<\/h2>\n
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