
Language is the bridge which connects people, it is the most directly way for people to communicate. With the development of human, language is also developing from fancy to easy, from difficult to understand to simplified. Nowadays, language is used in variety ways such as music, arts, science and also sports. It is not only used by people to communicate, but also allows people to sharing their thoughts. With the development of globalization, more and more people go abroad to work, study and find better places to live. Most of students learn more than one language at school and bilingualism has become a popular trend. However, it is hard for people to learn a foreign language because if they want to learn one foreign language, they should remember all of the alphabets and grammar. Even though people know the basic knowledge of one language, that’s not enough because they should know how to use the language in different situations and what kind of sentence structure they should use. So, it is important to figure out how can people learn a foreign language quickly and efficiently. After analyzing experiment reports of language studying and academic journals, I believe the most efficient way to learn foreign languages is using technology because technology can help people save time and people can learn conveniently, however, people also have to practice with great immersion and confidence basic on fundamental knowledge of language they have learned.

First of all , the basic language knowledge is the most important because without basic language skills, every method can not work at all. People should know the alphabets, grammar so that they have a good foundation and then, they can improve their language skills by using different methods such as technology. According to Matteo, she mentioned experiment by Professor Michael Ullman which contains two groups, one group is a traditional classroom which students are being taught in a classroom with a lot of grammar rules. The other one is by being with native speakers and absorbing the language that surrounds them, generally without a lot of explanation. The study found that those who had learned it with the immersion method had brain waves similar to those of native speakers of a language when speaking that language.(Matteo)  From this source, we can know that only have basic grammar lecture is not enough for people to improve their language skills quickly and efficient. 

A good example is my English teacher in high school, when she was in college, she has a chance to study with foreign students from England. Five of her classmates also had the chance with her and after 6 months, my teacher’s English had improved a lot because she had remembered hundred vocabulary per day and learned most grammar before the studying. However, her classmates did not because when they were trying to express themselves, they had no idea because of their poor vocabulary. Also from Jake’s article: “Best Way to Learn a Foreign Language”, the author mentions students should have strong basic language skills and go to places which have the language environment to improve them. They may make great progress because they have already known how to use the language before, the only thing they should do is to absorb new knowledge. Without a good foundation, it is hard for people to improve because they have nothing to improve.

Many people believe: “Technology changes lives.” With the popularize of Internet, more and more people have chances to communicate with people who are far from them, also the design of technology products such as smart phones and PC, it is much more convenient for people to get information quickly and at anytime. People rely on the Internet to work and study because the Internet helps a lot, especially in language studying. Professors use PowerPoint and Word to lecture and give students assignments on the Internet, students finish their assignments and communicate with their professors using emails. According to Davies, in his article:“Second-Language Acquisition and the Information Age: How Social Software has Created a New Mode of Learning.” He believes Internet-based technologies can be an extremely useful resource for not only people to learn a foreign but also for teachers to teach foreign languages. Also, new technologies such as Internet give students chances to become increasingly autonomousin learning foreign languages, as well as be familiar with more intercultural literacy.(Davies) The technology not only allow students learning the language more convenient but also more efficient. Another example is when I learned English 6 years before, at that time, the not everyone can use Internet because it was hard for people to get a personal computer and also we did not have the skills to use the Internet. So we use paper assignments and paper dictionary, it was really heavy for me to carry them to school everyday and I also massed them. Also it was had for the teachers to check our homework and exams, so both students and teachers are tired of using paper materials. However, with the development of technology, students can use online textbooks and dictionaries to look up vocabularies and notes, professors can use software to check students’ work and make their own lecture outline online and make them into a PowerPoint. With the help of the Internet, students can learn language online with their friends and other students such as using Quizlet, blog and blackboard. It is easier and more efficient for students to learn languages using the technology. According to Oxford’s book: “Second Language Teaching and Learning in the Net Generation.”, a research shows more than half of all of the teachers considered students’ media competence “very important”, and In the fall of 2006, 20% of college students were enrolled in online courses. After giving the research data, Raquel talks about a specific website called: Wimba, which allowed students share their study experiences on a discussion board. He believes discussion boards were used for writing and reading in the target language while connecting students outside of class. (Oxford p62) From this source, we can see the trend of students like using technology to help them study.

Another benefit of technology is speed. With the traditional paper packing studying material such as a dictionary, people have to search the first letter at first and then find the words one by one. If people write notes or make some marks on the dictionary, they may not see the words clearly the next time they look up the words, when they search a large amount of words, their hand will be tired and their eyes will be dizziness. While, with the help of the online dictionary, people can just type the word which they want to search and than, they will get the result in few seconds. People can not only get more information about the word they want to look up but also save their time on the process of searching. Furthermore, when people are studying the foreign language, the pronunciation is another big problem, it is hard to pronounce every word right with reading the phonetic symbol or sound marks. In English, there are many long words which have three or more syllables, even for a native speaker, sometimes it is also hard. However, with the help of the technology, people can use the dictionary online and the when people type the word into the blank, it will show how to read the word and people can also hear the pronunciation from a voice. People can repeat after the guide and practice, some of the latest technology provide people to check their pronunciation whether right or not by recording their voice, it is really helpful for people to improve their pronounce skills. 

Large amount of reading is a key point of language studying, however, it is hard for people to get all types of article that they are interested in because they have to check different sources such as newspaper, books, magazines. According to Pritchchard, in his article: “What is the Impact of technology on Learning” he believed technology provide people comprehensive readings, help people with language acquisition, give people motivation.( Pritchchard) When I was in middle school, my English teacher gave me an assignment about finding the words which have the same spelling of past tense and present perfect tense, I was confused because it was pretty hard for me to search all of them. I could not search it from my textbook or find all of them in the dictionary. Finally, I asked my brother for help, he got a notebook from high school and I got the answer. Even though I knew the answer at last, it was a hard and complicated experience. With the help of the Internet, people can share their knowledge online and people can search the information online in a short time. People can get many articles and download or read them online to practice their language skills. People can find some practice questions to do and check their answers and read the e-book. The online database provide enough information and knowledge for language learners.

 Beside helping people study foreign languages faster, technology can also help people improve their studies’ quality. Years later, people studied language by reading books and listened to the radio. People may improve their foreign language skills by using these material, however, these ways are boring and simple. With the supplement of technology, many smart software have been made and allow people to use them improve their language skill level. A good example is the translation software on smart phones. When people meet a new vocabulary, they can look up them on their smart phone using the translation software. As they know the meaning of the word, they can remember it immediately and it’s much better than just look up it in the paper pack dictionary because they have a good studying condition which is called “learning by using.” Another example is a software which allows people put their vocabularies into a database. It is very convenient because people can check the vocabularies anytime and any places they want, they can use their smart phone instead of carrying a notebook or flashcard. In Davies’s article “Second-Language Acquisition and the Information Age: How Social Software has Created a New Mode of Learning”, he not only researches how social learning through the use of technology can help learners improve their skills, but also investigated the implications of learning and technology for course development. At first, he believes social learning can give benefits to people because the main use of language is to communicate and people can improve their languages skills faster if they tried to speak to other people. During the communicating, people can learn more structures of expressing and new vocabularies. Then, Nadeem talks about the benefits of software, he believes software is a good tool for learners. Traditional face to face group learning is difficult to organize because of the location and the time, however, online coach is much more convenient because both students and teachers can use their computer and have an appointment whenever they want. What’s more, teachers can provide a large amount of information to students online and also online blog is a great way for students to talks about their own study experiences and share with other students. (Davies) From his opinion, we can see the benefits of technology software, it only connects learners and teachers with a simple network but causes a miraculous effect. 

What’s more, more and more students and teachers prefer using technology to study not only to learn languages but also learn any kinds of subjects because they have already got benefits. In Richtel’s article: “Technology Changing How Students Learn, Teachers Say” she mentioned a survey about 75 percent of 2,462 teachers surveyed said that the Internet and search engines had a “mostly positive” impact on student research skills. And they said such tools had made students more self-sufficient researchers. (Richtel) From this source, we can clearly see that most of the students and teachers thought technology is useful and they can improve their study skills by using the technology. Professors in universities use online study website to give their students assignments and course documents. Students use electronic dictionaries and online translators to study instead of using paper materials. So, learning using technology has already became a trend because it helps people save time and study conveniently. 

Even though the technology can help people absorb language skills easier and faster, practicing with great confidence and immersion is also extremely important. One fun fact is if people just continue using some vocabularies in their daily lives, they will remember them without repeating the spellings many times. In Nielson’s article: “The Best Way to Learn a Foreign Language Is the Opposite of the Usual Way”, he gave an example of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the officers were required to use the foreign they have to know in daily works and they have made great progress in a short period of time by using this method. (Nielson) My brother had an experience of studying in Italy three years ago, before he went to Italy, he could only speak his native language, English. After a few weeks learning of some Italian grammar, he went to Italy himself. At first, he was so upset because whenever he wanted to buy something or ate in the restaurant, the local people did not understand him. However, he tried to point what he wanted and the server told him how to read and after a few times of purchasing, he knew most of the products he had bought. These two examples are similar which emphasize if people want to improve their foreign language skills, they should practice with immersion in order to be familiar with the language.

Although many people especially children’s parents are worried about if people overuse the technology and rely on them too much, it will have bad effects. According to Klaus, “Many students learn best by physically and mentally interacting with what they are studying. If most of the teaching is done using a computer, these students' needs are not being met. Technology should be used to supplement the classroom curriculum, but should not be used as the sole source of learning.”(Klaus) In her words, we can see she is worried about students will not have face to face studies if they use technology to study. However, it’s not too serious because student can discuss their assignments and project after class, only use the technology in class or just as supplement tools. If students like to meet with their classmate or friends, they can do it whenever they want, not because rely on the technology stop them meet with each other. Students will be affected unless they do not want to study at all in their minds. We should not worry about technology can make bad effects just because some students do not want to study and use technology to play. 

Finally, whatever language level people have, as long as working hard with great confidence, they will improve one day. Language learning is not like remembering formulas or doing a lot of exercises, learners should use not be afraid to use them. People should have great confidence and forget their native language to use the new language, even though they will make a lot of mistakes, they can remember the mistakes and never use them wrong, that’s why some people say: “Failure is the mother of success”, it’s impossible to make any mistakes, so just speak again and again until something has changed. According to Budden: “The biggest barrier in the beginning is the lack of confidence” and “A lot of people don't make progress if they don't open their mouths” (Budden) Many teacher blame students when they make mistakes, is is absolutely wrong, teachers can destroy their students’ confidence by doing this and they have to encourage their students in order to give them enough confidence to try again and again until they got the right answer.

Foreign language learning is difficult, it requires people have no-limit knowledge and different choice of grammar and vocabularies. However, with the development of technology, people have more easier ways to learn foreign languages faster and more efficient. If people have great confidence and would like to practice the knowledge they have learned with the help of technology, they will make great progress and improve their language skills quickly. People are living in a globalization world, it is important for them to learn a second language in order to give themselves more opportunities, such as a new work or a new place to live. With the help of technology, they will make their dreams come true.
