Languages have always been a love or hate issue. If you pay attention, you will realize that here are those who are extremely passionate about the topic and jump at the opportunity, or even, at the requirement of learning a new language. For them, it`s interesting and exciting to put themselves to the test, face their fears and start from the bottom just to work their tush off to the top and say: “I conquered yet another goal. I didn´t know a word, and now, I´m a fluent speaker.”

On the other hand, there are those who perceive learning a new language as a boring, dreadful, time consuming or absolutely impossible and unattainable chore. There are people that live in a constant battle against speaking other languages. They know in some aspects it is necessary, they realize their future could be positively shaped by this new knowledge and they are aware that if they acquired and mastered this ability, a lot of wonderful changes will come their way. However, either for past bad experiences, misconceived ideas or plane laziness, they have already convinced themselves that achieving such goal is not possible.

Although stating that there are no people born with a natural ability for languages would be wrong, the fact is, there is much more to learning a language than flat talent. Dedication, hard work, discipline and practice are necessary ingredients for success, and they will surely get you further along than just having a natural “gift” for the spoken word. Hand in hand with these traits, come two determining factors that a lot of people chose to ignore and, in the long run, they will be the ones tipping the scale either towards success or failure. These traits are motivation and self confidence, and you can assess their level simply by constantly listening to your words.

Words and expressions of highly motivated and self-confident people:

– “I want to learn new languages in order to travel, get a new and better job, study and/or live abroad, get to know other cultures” (They have a clear purpose and goal. They express this with energy and enthusiasm)

– “I enjoy the language”

– “I include new languages in my free time” (Either with music, TV shows, movies, radio, songs, books, magazines, or even conversations)

– “I wish to acquire more vocabulary”

– “I am aware and proud of my process and growth”

-“I wish to continue my process and give it my full attention”

-“I want to take risks with this new language and put it into practice on real life situations”

Words and expressions of highly unmotivated and insecure people:

– “I haven`t had time to study”

– “Learning a new language at my age is impossible”

– “It doesn´t matter how many times I try I always seem to fail”

-“I hate this language”

-“If I didn´t need it for my job I would never chose to learn it“