The other day I typed in “Language Schools” into Google and came up with a whopping 95 million hits. After popping my eyes back into my head, I wondered just how many public schools, junior colleges, and universities are offering second language learning opportunities in the United States. That must be an equally mind-boggling yet mysterious figure.
The ultimate mystery in all of this is really why, with all the opportunities to learn a second language, are so few Americans bilingual? The truth of the matter is that about 9% of Americans have a true bilingual ability. Yet, there are so many public and private schools offering second language instruction not to mention the booming business in the foreign countries offering Americans the chance of “becoming fluent” in another language.
With all of these opportunities, Americans remain at about 9% with Europeans at a 52% bilingual rate. Have you ever wondered why? I have.
For the past five years, I have been approaching my second language-learning odyssey using non-traditional approaches. I did not start with grammar first courses. You know what those are. If you took any sort of second...