Abstract

Adults often are hesitant about learning new things, especially in the case of learning a new language. Undertaking learning a new language is very intimate because of the embarrassment associated with the likelihood of misspeaking. It is hard for us as adults to open ourselves up to such vulnerability. Because of this, it is necessary for us to find ways that make learning a foreign language easier. This paper examines the author’s experience while attending a four-week complete immersion language study course in Mexico. It can be said that learning a foreign language cannot be accomplished solely by memorizing scores of words and phrases and piecing them together at random. Learning a second language must involve certain practices and behaviors that reinforce and complement this rote memorization. This behaviorist analysis provides for adults a means of understanding how to more easily and efficiently learn a foreign language. The three basic assumptions of the behaviorist orientation to adult learning as outlined by Merriam and Caffarella (1999) will serve as the framework for the analysis.