CapitalistImperialistPig

I have concluded that learning a foreign language is actually impossible. I base this theory on the fact that I have repeatedly failed, and I used to consider myself smart. This hypothesis has a number of easily testable conclusions, so it has the key attribute of a proper Kuhnian theory, unlike some others I could mention. One clear implication should be there aren't actually any people who speak multiple languages. Of course there do appear to be such people, and I even know a few, some of whom appear to read this blog. At this point I need to become a Diracian, and not let a beautiful theory be slain by a few inconvenient facts. One possible explanation is that those who actually appear to speak two languages, or more, are actually multiple people, perhaps identical siblings separated at birth. Or perhaps they hold a ring of power, and hence have the power to understand the thoughts of others. Just in case, while my theory awaits scientific confirmation, I'm going to ...

I may have mentioned that I'm studying Spanish, and that I have a demonstrated anti-talent for languages. For what it's worth, here are some of my experiences to date. I started off with Rosetta Stone Latin American Spanish. It's expensive, so I only bought levels I and II. Probably un error , since when I later bought all five it was cheaper to buy I-V than III-V, or nearly so. Rosetta Stone calls their method dynamic immersion, and essentially all instruction is in Spanish. The idea is to learn as a child does, by a combination of context and point and say. For example, they will show a picture of an apple and display una manzana , while a native speaker is heard pronouncing it. You are confronted with a series of choices to pick, speak, or write, and correct answers get a more or less pleasing sound while wrong ones get an less pleasant one. You need to learn pronunciation by imitation, a task that was difficult for me. There are some sonograms which I found very unhelpf...