Why it’s easier for foreigners to learn English

We English speakers are at a great disadvantage when trying to learn another language.

For example, if a Swedish person learns English, they can practice by enjoying thousands of Hollywood movies, millions of English-language songs, and millions of English-language books and comics. Further, English is everywhere in Sweden, on products in the supermarket, on advertising billboards, and most music on the radio is sung in English. And if you get stuck with an English question, you can just ask a friend for help, because everyone has studied it!

Now compare that to an English person learning Swedish…

You’ll likely know nobody else learning it, so you can’t ask for help. You’ll never encounter Swedish by accident (unless you visit Ikea). You won’t see it on billboards or hear it sung on the radio. And how can you find Swedish TV shows, movies, books, or comics? It’s difficult. You can access online streaming services, but some of it is locked to viewers in Sweden only, and the catalog is much smaller than we’re used to with English shows. And even if you travel to Sweden for a holiday, the locals will likely jump at the chance to practice their skills by speaking to you in English!

Therefore foreigners learning English have distinct advantages that we don’t enjoy when it’s the other way around.

The only exception to this is probably Japanese; it has a staggeringly large library of media, such as Anime (cartoons), Manga (comics), and J-pop (pop music). A friend of mine learned conversational Japanese just from consuming Japanese entertainment as a child. However, Japanese is already so different from European languages, that the advantages of Japan’s massive media output probably don’t make up for the extra difficulties.

So what’s the solution if we want to learn another tongue? Well, if we acknowledge that we have a disadvantage, then at least it’s a start! It means we can focus our minds on seeking out the very best methods. I (obviously) would argue that a great method to use is language mixing.

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