I am taking the class called Second Language Acquision in this semester, and I have been thinking about the causes and effects when studying the second language. I have studied English for more than ten years, but I still have difficulty studying it efficiently. Many students in Korea seem to have the same problems. Even though they have spent a lot more time and money on English than any other subjects, they are not even sure whether they are doing it well.
Learning the second language would be very difficult for an adult because of language ego. Once language ego establishes in the certain age, people start to care about many things. For example, when a university student who has language ego talks to foreigner, the student might get nervous and be shyer than usual. The problem is he is a very active person with his Korean friends. What makes him uncomfortable is that his being afraid of making mistakes and made fun of by other poeple, and it absolutely disturbs him to study the second language. On the ther hand, if a child meets a person speaking English, the child can act just like himself because he doesn’t have language ego yet. He doesn’t care about dignity or reputation, and it would help him have more confident. What I want to tell you is making yourself comfortable and pleasant is very important when you study the second language. You could be threatned by making mistakes unless you are relaxed.