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My bestfriend doesn't like learning languages because, well, a lot of it doesn't make sense to her. I've been occasionally sneaking in little mini-lessons to subtly teach her, but she doesn't quite see a reason to learn, on top of the fact that she finds it difficult.

This may belong in another community, but I figured I would try here first.

My question is (however possibly broad):

What is the most effect method to encouraging my bestfriend that she can do this? and what teaching methods should I use?

Dieter Johann
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  • How old is your friend? Is the (or any) local majority language the native language of one of you? – Tommi Feb 13 '18 at 08:11
  • I feel like not only is this question broad and opinion based but also off-topic. This is not about the acquisition of a language (the learning part) but rather the encouragement to start learning in the first place. It's like the difference from encouraging someone to do math and asking about how to learn the math – Anthony Pham Feb 13 '18 at 23:51
  • From your profile, you are German and live in Germany. Where lives your friend? Presumably NOT in Germany? What is her native (L1) language? Does she come to visit you in Germany? How she communicates with your friends? If she and all your friends speak English, there is little incentive for her to learn German (which is hard to learn, I tried it myself). You might try to ask on Interpersonal Skills exchange. – Peter M. - stands for Monica Feb 14 '18 at 14:13

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I assume that you and your friend speak German. It is difficult to teach a language to someone who is not interested. Often one's personal motivation comes from a need to talk to people; read books, news; watch movies; understand songs, etc.

From the list of foreign languages the easiest to learn would be in the West Germanic family e.g. English, Dutch, Yiddish. If she has any interest in American culture then it could become a motivation for learning English.

A trip to Italy, or France, or Spain could become a motivation to learn Italian, or French, or Spanish. Or English, since it's defacto inteligua in today's world.

On the other hand, learning another German dialect could be just as interesting and much easier than a foreign language. Swiss German, Swabian, even practicing extensive Bayerisch instead of High German could be a lot of fun.

Vitaly
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