Learning languages is not a very difficult endeavor. Children and even adults can learn as many languages as they like provided the appropriate process is adopted.

It is a pity that languages such as French are taught in a way that would discourage even the most ambitious learners to carry out their plan successfully. A lot of the native language is used both in the textbooks and by teachers.

How would you expect students to learn a language when they don’t use much of it?

Can a person learn swimming by being given lessons on how to swim without ever being able to go in the water?

How come that vocabulary is still taught in isolation?

How can students be able to speak French if the grammar is still taught in the traditional grammar translation method?

How can students learn the language communicatively when they are not given the communicative tools to be able to get along in the foreign language?

How would it be possible to speak a foreign language if students are not challenged enough and are exposed on a daily basis to only very plain grammar and vocabulary lessons?

I think that any students would be able to speak any language; they need only the appropriate environment to do so. I don’t think that Americans don’t speak languages; I think that the approach to foreign language teaching in America should undergo a real change.