In schools all over the world boys and girls are learning foreign languages. Many adults are doing so in their spare time. Everybody knows his own language, but to know another is very useful.
Which is the best way to learn a language? We should remember we all learnt our own language well when we were children. If we could learn a second language in the same way, it would not seem so difficult. Think what a small child does. It listens to what people say and tries to imitate what it hears. When it wants something, it has to ask for it. It is using the language. It is talking and thinking in it all the time. If one has to use a second language all the time, he would learn it quickly.
It is important to remember, also, that we learn our own language by hearing people speaking it not by seeing what they write. We imitate what we hear. In school, though you learn to read and write as well as to hear and speak, it is best to learn all new words through the ear. Of course you also learn to read them, spell them and write them.
世界各地的学校中孩子们都在学习外语。很多成年人在业余时间也在学习外语。每人都懂自己的母语，但知道另一门语言也非常有用。
学习外语最好的方法是什么呢?我们应当记得我们是孩子的时候，自己的母语都学得非常好。如果我们能以同样的方式学习第二种语言，那看起来就不会这么难了。想想小孩是怎样做的。孩子听人们说话然后设法模仿听到的东西。当他需要什么东西的时候，必须去要。他是在使用语言。他一直在用语言说话和思考。如果一个人必须始终使用第二语言，他就会学得很快。
而且，记住我们学习母语时是通过听别人说话而不是看别人写字，这也很重要。我们模仿我们听到的。 学校中，虽然你除了学习听说，还学习读写，但学习所有新单词最好是通过耳朵。当然你也要学会阅读、拼写和写作。