Why does learning Dutch often go so slow? Good question indeed! The answer is simple. Whether you realize it or not, chances are high that while learning and speaking Dutch, you are walking the slow snail trail, where language progress is extremely slooooooooooow.
Do you like slow progress? Probabably not… So why would you stay on this path then? Well… there are many ‘good’ reasons… First of all, it is a very popular path. You will see most people there and then it is easy to assume that this must be the right way to travel to Dutch fluency…
The problem is often this…. most people do not even know that there is a second path that you could call the fast fun track. No wonder that they could stay on this path for ever…. But… here comes the amazing thing… some people that actually know about the fun fast track, deliberately choose to stay on the snail trail anyway… So, why would you be happy to stay on the track that leads to slow and low progress? What could be better than learning fast and speaking loads of Dutch with absolute ease? The answer is simple… somehow it really seems that there are many advantages if you keep following the snail… There is only one thought that does the trick. And therefore, this thought is extremely tricky…
Oops! Would you really believe that slow learning is somehow save and easy?
The secret is this: many people are afraid of fast learning. They somehow fear that if they learn fast, then everything must be too overwhelming. Somehow it seems that there is not enough time to absorb everything. Therefore the solution looks simple. Learn slowly, and you will have more time to learn and then you will learn so much more. No wonder that it also feels so much saver…. But… what if the contrary is true? What if slow learning is actually dangerous?
Believe it or not, another truth may also be this: the slower you learn, the less likely it is that you will succeed. Your risk to fail will also raise tremendously. Take a snail for example and imagine that it needs to cross a road with a lot of traffic. Would its pace be an advantage then? Imagine that there is a hare as well and that both animals want to cross this busy road. Who will be most likely to succeed? Would you still like to join the team of the snail?
Why not look at it this way? Whenever you learn something new, the first stage is extremely critical. It is that first stage where most frustrations come up and where it is so easy to quit. But, once you get out of this initial stage, you start to get the hang of something and then all of sudden everything is so much easier. Now, it is easy to practice and and it is easy to be unstoppable. Now that you came out of this risky initial state, your success is virtually guaranteed.
Learning and speaking Dutch is no exception…. The first challenge is to leave this first critical stage behind as soon as you can. Make sure that you get the hang of it, fast and then play, while having fun.
Therefore, if you like to speak fluent Dutch, you should have only one priority: go to that place where learning and speaking Dutch is easy. But… before you can get there, you will meet many challenges. It is like crossing a kind of road with a lot of traffic. Try to cross this road at a slow pace and you will have so much more to fear. Speed is good and on top of it will bring you so much faster to a certain place where you can relax and where it is easy to feel save. So if you like this place, then why not get there fast?
