Many adults consider learning to speak a foreign language a desirable, but difficult goal to achieve. If you have already successfully learned a language, you probably don't consider learning another one too difficult a task. In fact, almost all adults can learn a foreign language without much difficulty. However, many adults in the U.S. might not agree.

Is Learning a Foreign Language Difficult?

The difficulty that many adult Americans associate with learning a new language arises partly from cultural factors related to immigration, assimilation, etc. And then there is the 'fact' that most adults have taken one or more years of Spanish, French or another language in elementary school, high school and even in college, yet cannot, today, carry on a simple conversation in that foreign language.

Typical school language courses are not very effective in teaching students to communicate in the new language. These courses are inadvertently focused on short-term memory. Most students achieve some passive knowledge of the new language, but don't feel confident to actively use it in everyday life.

And virtually any skill, including the skill of speaking a language, gets rusty with disuse. It's not surprising, then, that learning a foreign language is often considered difficult.

What are the Conditions that Make Learning a Language Easy?

The ideal conditions for learning a language seem to be those that existed when each of us learned our own native language:

• We were babies, with brains ideally suited to language acquisition
  
  
• We we surrounded by people who were speaking our native language and with whom we wanted to communicate

As adults, having the desire to learn a new language, the situation is quite different:

• We now have adult brains that are much better at logical reasoning and complex mental tasks than our baby brains - but not so well suited to language acquisition (due to biological changes taking place primarily from the onset of puberty)
  
  
• We are now experts in communicating in our native language (and perhaps reticent to leave this comfortable place to "begin again anew")
  
  
• We often have to go out of our way to find opportunities to practice the new language

Adults require an approach that is well suited to these conditions. The typical school language course relies heavily on the adult brain's capacity to read and memorize. The Pars Omni® program includes these, but employs the full spectrum of mental and emotional functioning in the learning process. This approach accomplishes three related things: motivation (enjoyment) increases dramatically, the rate of learning accelerates, and the results are more durable.

In fact, under such conditions, an adult can learn to speak and understand a new language faster than a child learning his native language (though, usually, pronunciation will not be as good). This comparison is a little misleading: a child learns a significant amount of her native language by the age of 5 - it took 5 years, but she spent no time studying the language. An adult could achieve a better level of fluency in only a few hundred hours of study, but these few hundred hours of study, spread over some months, must be carved out of the daily schedule.

Can Every Adult Learn Using the Pars Omni® Approach?

The simple answer to this question is 'yes.' However there are some conditions which can interfere with the process:

• Uncorrected hearing problems: if a hearing problem is not corrected, the results are usually lower. If you have any kind of hearing loss, we recommend that you talk with the Academic Director so that we can determine the effect of this issue in your particular case.
  
  
• Drug use: either perscription medicine or recreational drugs can inhibit normal brain functioning and slow down the learning process. We recommend you discuss this with the Academic Director if you feel it might be an issue.
  
  
• Brain injuries or illnesses that affect mental functioning: these must be considered on a case by case basis.
  
  
• Members of the same family attending the same course: sometimes (probably not in the majority of cases), members of the same family may 'bring their relationship' into the class. The effectiveness of the Pars Omni® class is partially dependent on the dynamics of the group (guided by the teacher). If the family relationships are negative or destructive, they can interfere with the learning process. This is an issue we always discuss with participants before they enter a course.

People sometimes ask us, "is age a factor?' We have not found age to be a factor influencing the ability to learn; this corresponds to recent research that shows people continuing to learn their own language into their 70s and 80s (without necessarily even realizing it).

If you are an adult who wants to learn Spanish, and who is willing to contribute the required class time and tuition, it is very likely that you are a candidate for a Pars Omni® program. If you have any doubts, we suggest you contact the Academic Director.