No, you're not bad at languages (or why some things are harder to remember)
We are often unnecessarily harsh on ourselves. Struggling to learn new things and forgetting what we thought we should have learned by now can be very frustrating. But please don't jump to conclusions about your abilities, because there are certain types of information that tend to slip away, even when you try really, really, really hard to learn them. Meet these baddies:
1. Meaningless information
You know you're dealing with one when a native speaker (or even your language teacher) responds to your perplexed look with “I don't know why it's like that. You just have to remember it.” Why is it hard to remember? For several reasons: it's harder to predict, has fewer obvious connections to what you already know and therefore offers fewer mental cues to help you recall it when you need it.
Some examples from foreign-language learning:
New vocabulary: In most cases, there's nothing particularly obvious about the connection between a word's meaning and how it sounds or is spelled. For an English speaker, the Italian word famiglia is relatively easy to recognise. The Finnish word perhe? Not so much. One comes with a ready-made connection; for the other, you need to create one. Especially when you're just starting out, it can feel completely arbitrary. So, in your language, X is called Y and spelled Z? Well, if you say so.
Gender of nouns: Some languages are simply an endless source of material for stand-up comedians! Take French, where grammatical gender can seem almost random. A glass (le verre) and a cup (la tasse) both end in -e and serve similar purposes, but one is a “he” and the other is a “she”. Who decided it? And sometimes things get downright counterintuitive. If you've watched Emily in Paris, you probably remember Emily's outrage at discovering that vagin is masculine.
Grammatical exceptions and irregular forms: In Spanish, ir means “to go,” but “I go” is voy, and “I went” is fui. Where did ir go?
2. Abstract information
Try picturing an apple. Now try picturing a possibility. See the problem? Concrete things are easier to imagine and connect to sensory experiences. Abstract concepts are harder to visualise and often require more mental effort to process.
Examples:
Linguistic jargon: Words like adverbs, adjectives, prefixes, suffixes, circumfixes and whatnot inevitably keep popping up when you're learning a language. I'm a linguist, and even I get dizzy!
Tense and aspect: Sometimes, before you can even choose the right verb form, you have to answer a whole bunch of questions. When did the action happen? Was it just beginning, still going on, or already finished? How long did it last? Did it happen once or repeatedly? Did it happen before, after, or at the same time as something else? Why can't we just keep things simple?
Modality and conditionals: Similar story here. You basically have to become a mind reader. Is the speaker certain, doubtful, expressing a wish, or imagining a completely hypothetical situation? Are they making a prediction or just being polite? Anyone got a crystal ball?
Unfamiliar categories: Take articles: Russian doesn't have them, so a book and the book are both just книга (kniga) to me. Sure, I can figure out which book we're talking about from context. But now I have to develop a new mental checklist, remember to go through it every time I speak, and practise until it finally becomes automatic.
3. Similar information
Remember how I said that prior knowledge is your friend because it helped with famiglia? Well, it can also work against you and really mess things up. When two pieces of information are very similar, remembering one can partly activate the other. The mind then has to choose between competing candidates, which can slow recall and make it easier to mix them up.
Examples:
False friends: Spanish embarazada means “pregnant,” not “embarrassed.” Oops.
Tiny marks, big decisions: Let me confess: in Italian, I still have to stop and think when writing. Do I need e (“and”) or è (“is”)? And if I need an accent, which way should it point? Perché (“why/because”) but caffè (“coffee”). Should I just send a voice message and be done with it?
Pronunciation: Take the classic Mandarin Chinese example: mā (mother), má (hemp), mǎ (horse), and mà (to scold). Same consonant and vowel sounds, four different tones. Especially tricky if your native language doesn't use lexical tones. Or consider Russian: писа́ть (pisát') means “to write,” while пи́сать (písat') means “to pee.” Brilliant! On top of all that mental gymnastics, there's the fear of accidentally saying something ridiculous or downright inappropriate. As if your brain didn't have enough to deal with already!
So what can we do about it?
In my next post, I'll show you how to handle these types of information and convince your brain to cooperate.
For now, I hope I've convinced you that you're not bad at languages. If you want to return the favour, go to the comments and (please!) try to convince me that I'm not bad at driving.
The research behind this post
Craik, F. I. M., & Lockhart, R. S. (1972). Levels of processing: A framework for memory research. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 11(6), 671–684. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-5371(72)80001-X
Fliessbach, K., Weis, S., Klaver, P., Elger, C. E., & Weber, B. (2006). The effect of word concreteness on recognition memory. NeuroImage, 32(3), 1413–1421. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2006.06.007
Kliegl, O., & Bäuml, K.-H. T. (2021). Buildup and release from proactive interference – Cognitive and neural mechanisms. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 120, 264–278. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2020.10.028
Tulving, E., & Thomson, D. M. (1973). Encoding specificity and retrieval processes in episodic memory. Psychological Review, 80(5), 352–373. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0020071
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