Successful LanguageLearners

Some people seemto have a knack for learning languages.They can pick up new vocabulary, masterrules or grammar,and learn to write in the new language more quickly

than others.They donot seem to be any more intelligent than others,so what makes language learningso much eas- ier for them?Perhaps if we take a close look at these

successful languagelearners,we may dis- cover a few of the techniques which make language learningeasier for them.

2. First ofall,successful language learners are independent learners.They do not depend onthe book or the teacher;they discover their own way to learn thelanguage.Instead

of waiting for theteacher to explain,they try to find the patterns and the rules forthemselves.They are good guess-ers who look for clues and form their own

conclusions.Whenthey guess wrong,they guess again. They try to learn from mistakes.

3. Successfullanguage learning is active learning. Therefore,successful learners do not waitfor a chance to use the language;they look for such a chance.They find people

who speak thelan-guage and they ask these people to correct them when they make amistake.They will try anything to communicate .They are not afraid to repeatwhat they

hear or to saystrange things;they are willing to make mistakes and try again .Whencommunication is difficult,they can accept information that is inexact orincomplete.It is

more important forthem to learn to think in the language than to know the meaning of every word.

4. Finally,successfullanguage learners are learners with a purpose.They want to learn the languagebecause they are interested in the language and the people who speak it.It

is necessary forthem to learn the language in order to communicate with these people and to learnfrom them. They find it easy to practice using the language regularly

because they want tolearn with it.

5. What kind oflanguage learner are you?If you are a successful language learner,you haveprobably been learning independently,actively,and purposefully. On the other

hand,if yourlanguage learning has been less than successful,you might as well try some ofthe techniques outlined above.Paragraph 1______

A.Ways to Learn a Language Successfully.

B. Learning a language Purposefully.

C. Learning a Language Actively.

D. Learning a Language Independently.

E. Learning from Mistakes.