| The propensity of our ancestors to group up, go off in | | | | anyone can easily carry Gigabytes of text, audio and |
| different directions and each develop their own | | | | video files around in his or her briefcase, purse or |
| languages has played a large part in most of the | | | | pocket. |
| major wars of our times. Different languages mean | | | | Learning methods. Interactive audio learning methods |
| that one group of people cannot understand another | | | | have been developed that follow the natural way to |
| group. What we don't understand, we mistrust. What | | | | learn languages. You start with basic conversation, |
| we mistrust we dislike. What we don't understand, | | | | then expand and go on from there. Sound bites that |
| mistrust and dislike we come to fear. What we fear | | | | can be replayed at will mean that students can repeat |
| we come to hate. And that mistrust, fear and hate are | | | | the exact words, accent and expressions of native |
| all too easily used as the justification for doing | | | | speakers over and over again until they get it just right. |
| something violent against the hated group. | | | | These innovations mean that it is actually faster and |
| All this has been recognized by thinking people for a | | | | easier to learn to speak another language than it ever |
| long time. Attempts have been made to find a | | | | was in traditional classrooms. |
| common language. But every existing language has its | | | | Lifestyles. Today's society is such that people are |
| group of nationalistic advocates, who generally want | | | | constantly on the move, and they carry their iPods, CD |
| the world to learn and use their particular language. | | | | players and other handheld electronic devices with |
| There are emotional ties to one's mother tongue and | | | | them. So anyone can study or brushup on language |
| learning another language has always required a major | | | | skills at almost any time and place. |
| effort. | | | | Cost factors. One of the effects of technological |
| But a quiet revolution has been taking place in language | | | | advance is that costs of delivery of information |
| learning. A revolution based on technology, learning | | | | materials has gone down drastically. The Internet has |
| methods and lifestyles that is making it easy to be | | | | meant that you can download text and audio files in a |
| multilingual. | | | | few seconds, maybe minutes. The cost for the |
| Traditionally we have learned by sitting, face-to-face | | | | producer to make another copy is practically zero. |
| with our teacher, and listening to what the teacher said. | | | | There are almost no inventory or delivery costs, so |
| This the same way that the students of Plato and | | | | complicated intellectual products can be sold at |
| Socrates learned, sitting under an olive tree in Greece, | | | | extremely low prices. |
| some 3,500 years ago. | | | | Result? Today you can buy a language learning |
| Technology, learning methods and lifestyle changes | | | | course for $100, download it in less than 10 minutes, |
| are changing all that, and building a new reality in | | | | then learn to speak another language in a few weeks, |
| language learning. | | | | working at times and places, and at a pace of your |
| Technology. The development of high-fidelity sound | | | | own choosing. And you can emerge from this training |
| recording, manipulation and playback media and | | | | speaking the language perfectly, like a native, and do |
| devices have removed the necessity of the teacher | | | | your part to increase world understanding and avoid |
| and student being face-to-face, in the same time and | | | | future international conflicts... |
| place. Miniaturization and portability have meant that | | | | |