Would you rather be taught a foreign language by a native speaker or by someone who learned it later in life?

Question

Why? What advantages do you think each would have?

Also, have you had different experiences learning from a native speaker or someone who had learned the language?

As for me, I've had 8 foreign language instructors throughout the years (well, 7 if you take out my Latin instructor, who I would consider an outlier in this category for a number of reasons). All but one of them had learned the language later in life. The one who was a native speaker had learned 3 other languages later in life, so he was familiar with the learning process. And every single one of them (again, except the Latin instructor...) was an excellent teacher. So, I can't really make a personal judgement on this based on my experiences.

Answer 1

Learning a language today is different than it was, say, twenty years ago. With the internet, you can watch TV in different languages and listen to the radio (and I don't mean shortwave!). You can chat online with native speakers. So whether or not your teacher is a native speaker is not as important as whether or not your teacher can teach. Just knowing a subject does not give you automatic teaching skills.

Answer 2

Definitely by a native speaker--but only one who knows how to teach languages!! There are some extremely subtle features of language that only a native speaker can tell you about. And hearing the correct accent (although you'll never get it perfect) helps, too.

Someone who learned the language later in life really has no advantages over the native speaker. Having learned the language doesn't give her/him a greater ability to teach it. There are terrible native-speaker-teachers and often even worse later-learner-teachers. At least with the native speaker, you can be assured that they know the material, even if not how to teach.

Answer 3

It depends. A native speaker would know the secrets and little things about the language that the books don't tell you, but then again so would a person who has spent a long time in the place where the language is spoken.

The advantage of a non-native speaker is that they have a more systematic and structural knowledge of the language, but then again, some people know their language very well.

So, I think it's not relevant to know where the person is from. I know one case is not statistically valid, but in my one case, I've learnt better from non-native teachers than from native teachers. But the native Brazilian teacher I had, was not particularly good, anyway.

In short, I'd value other things in a teacher, not their nationality.

Answer 4

It really depends...

People say that learning from a native speaker of the targer language is better than anything (which is a partially true) BUT if you're barely starting out with the language, you're not gonna be able to communicate with your teacher (unless s/he speaks YOUR language)...

But if you get a teacher that learned the language later in life (and trust me, there are individuals that can pass for native in other languages and really fluent) that can speak your language to help you out when necessary, just having someone native isn't ALWAYS better...

Answer 5

I think it would be easier to be taught by someone who learned the language later in life, because they've been through the learning process and can help with memory tricks, but a native speaker has the advantages of vernacular.

Answer 6

♡I would have to say a native speaker. I'm American and I moved to Japan 9 years ago and started taking classes from native speakers who volunteer to teach foreigners. I'm very glad I did! These people all speak English and that's an important point! They were able to explain what they were teaching me. Without it, it may have been difficult. I learned to speak Japanese naturally and with clear pronunciation. I've also learned extremely polite Japanese and different forms of Japanese to use in various situations. I think learning from a native speaker teaches you the language AND the intonation when they speak.
～My sister speaks Japanese very well also, she learned it later in life. She has often taught me things and although they are correct they somehow sounds a little different to me, maybe tone. Possibly because I live in Japan (she lives in the US) and hear the spoken language constantly. BUT, she is able to explain the WHY and HOW of the language easily because she had to learn it herself and remember it!
I would say BOTH are fine, but if given the choice, I would go with the native speaker first to get correct and clear pronunciation. It has helped me so much!♡
☆BTW, lots of interesting Q.s Cynthia!(*^o^*)

Answer 7

Native that way you get all the nuances and linguistic shortcuts.I was taught German by a German native and I am thankful for that.
I always feel if you learn a language from a non-native it`s usually a bit more stilted and formal ,the way that you interact with that language`s native speakers is a bit more strained.
Also learning from a native gives you a good chance to learn slang LOL

Answer 8

i´m a spanish native speaker, and i have studied english and french, when i had a native english speaker i learned very fast the pronunciation because u imitate the sounds and the advance grammar is perfectly explained, but sometimes it´s difficult for them to explain you some things, like the logic of the structures, in that part i think it´s better to receive that knowledge from a person who learned it in life, because he will know and understand the difficulties that the students have, like a personal conclution, i think at the beginning u should have a learned teacher and after a native speaker.

Answer 9

a native speaker would know more modern terms, and slang u should know, and would have better pronounciation. but because it's their first language, they didn't 'learn' it, they grew up with it. a person who learned it later would have been taught, thus knowing how to teach it better. they would know more about the ways to teach and remember. both would be very helpful, though, it's easier to learn from a person or a CD then a book, because it's better to hear than to read it. My French teacher says that u didn't learn ur first language by taking notes- u heard it spoken and learned it by hearing it all the time.

Answer 10

I think they both have advantages. The real key is to practice!!! My ex gf taught me Spanish, and I made it a point to speak, read, and write some of it every day. I lived in Miami so it was easy to practice. I was pretty fluent after 2 months, but only because I practised, practised, practised!!!

I am learning Chinese now from an instructor who is Swedish, and it makes it very easy to learn, since he knows what difficulties speakers of Gemanic languages have (and English is a Germanic language). But again, I practice everyday. Thats the key, to practise every day.