Road blocks to Language Learning
When learning any foreign language, there are many aspects that could cause hindrance to the already difficult path. As with everything, there is within and without. Our environment can make or break us just as we ourselves can be our own undoing.
In terms of language learning, our environment could include our cultural one as well as the one in the classroom. In many of the countries of which reside English language students, the language its self is not widespread. Therefore, the students lack exposure to English, making it harder to retain and experience different lexical faces. Even if they were simply in an English environment, they would automatically learn without trying. I experienced this personally when studying a foreign language in my country and then again in its mother country. My momentum of comprehension rapidly increased.
There are other countries whose education system are not well funded or perhaps non-existent. In Vietnam, grade schools have not the money to hire native speakers, and it is not uncommon for teachers to withhold information and only exchange for a fee. It is fair to say here, that there are many victims of their environments, as there may be students with all the desire but no or incorrect access.
On the other hand, there may be people living in countries foreign to their own, and manage to learn zero to none of the other cultures tongue. I have met people who have lived in Tokyo for over ten years and can speak nothing but the simplest of phrases. However the blame cannot rest solely on these surely unmotivated beings. There is also a block of the convenience of having sub-cultures within a foreign country, making it possible to survive as an expat with no comprehension of the language of the country you live in. But let’s not stretch it any further than that.
The most common barricade in language learning is the learner himself. It could be a matter of self esteem or...