Native Language Vs English Second Language Acquisition

Acquisition of English as a second language is a great bonus for anyone whose native language is not English. Learning English as a second language is neither easy nor impossible. English as an International language is widely used all over the world. The acquisition of English language is not only for learning a new language out of interest but also for having an easy access into the global village. To keep pace with the current world knowing English is a must. In this age of social networking and freelance writing there is no alternative of learning English. So, English as a second language acquisition has become an integral part of the education of many non-English speaking countries.

English language acquisition is a slow and steady process. The native language that we listen, speak and write from our very early age of life creates a far reaching effect on our mind and thinking process. We spontaneously learn and use the mother tongue as we grow up. But when we learn a second language we can’t use it spontaneously from the very beginning as your brain is not habituated to think and react in this new language. The hardest part of a second language acquisition is making the brain prepared for responding in the language without having the help of native language. Most of the second language speakers try to think in their native language and then translate the thoughts into the second language. This is a wrong and unsuccessful process of using English or any other new language. Given that the second language learner has learnt the basics of the second language first effective step of using it successfully would be trying to think in the language even if it take more time.

So, thought process is very important for second language learners. If the mind is set, ears are prepared and the learner is enthusiastic a second language acquisition especially acquisition of English second language is only a matter of time. With continuous practice, proper guidelines and regular application anyone can turn into a decent user of any second language.