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Learning a Language:Hard work? Essential! Excitement and adventure? Included!Learning a new language is not just listening and memorizing. Successful students learn much more than vocabulary and grammar. To communicate most effectively, they experience a new language through its culture and people. Idioms and intonations come naturally through conversations with native speakers and fluency thrives in frequent excursions to small villages, great cities and all points in between. How long will it take? Check your starting point, check your goals.Introductory level: No experience with a foreign language? Two weeks of intensive language training gives most students the ability to exchange courtesy phrases with new friends, to find their way around the country, and to make simple purchases. They move up from “tourist” to “visitor” and lay a good foundation for future study and more enjoyable travel. Basic proficiency: Many people with a language class background find that a month of intensive study abroad gives them the ability to communicate. Some students enjoy the language experience so much that they return year after year for short, intensive courses. Professional proficiency: Those starting fresh with a European language may need up to 36 weeks to meet the standard of proficiency required to work or study abroad. Languages such as Chinese, Arabic or Japanese will require longer for students without a background in the language. Full competence: Students with previous learning experience may just need a refresher course to meet their goals. For example, a retired Pennsylvania Romance language teacher travels to Italy or France for two weeks each year to maintain and enhance her professional skills. A second-generation Japanese American student spent three months in Japan to polish his heritage language abilities to advanced proficiency. Is it really so difficult? Not if you have a plan.Start by asking yourself a few questions:
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