1 Speaking foreign languages like a native - how to do it Kjell Kühne, 21.12.2007 Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg, Psychologisches Institut Seminar: Sprachverarbeitung, WS 04/05, Dozentin: Lisa Irmen This essay comes in two parts. The first one aims at answering the question "Is it possible to speak like a native?" If you are not among the skeptics who have a hard time believing that it is actually possible, you can skip that part. If you are still in doubt or are interested in the different hurdles that are to overcome, please read it. The second part is about how to do it. In the scientific and popular literature contributions to the topic are plentiful. Nevertheless the answers do not seem to be clear. If they were, people would easily learn many languages and not think of someone who speaks more than five languages as extraordinary. I believe that the failure to popularize successful language learning has to do with a failure to grasp the dynamics of systems on two different levels: the language learner as a system and the education system as a system. I will only deal with the first of these two sides of successful language learning which falls into the realm of educational psychology. But I will briefly mention the second in the last section where I argue that understanding how individuals learn is not enough and a deeper understanding of the workings of our educational systems is needed as well. Part One: I s it possible? “Tú no eres Cubano, verdad?” several people asked me when I was in Cuba. And it made me very proud. After only three weeks of traveling the island I had picked up the accent in a way that local people started wondering whether I was actually Cuban or not. So for me the issue was clear: you just need to connect to the vibe of the people and you can be perfect at their language. But then again I come across people saying “You’ll never learn to speak like a native”. Saying there is a critical period and when it’s over it’s over, and all kinds of other things that discourage people from learning a language. So this is an attempt at dismantling the myth about the impossibility of learning a foreign language perfectly. There are some scientific studies, but they do not cover all possible aspects. In order to kill the myth for good, I need to try and look at the issue from many sides. I will cite the scientific evidence where available and use my personal