Cloze: The easiest language to learn

Students are often intimidated ___________________________(1) the list of language course offerings, afraid of ___________________________(2) the wrong choice.“Which is the best language to learn? Which is the easiest?” are two questions they ask, often uttering them in the same breath. But that's okay, because there will be ___________________________(3) one answer. Whichever language you wholeheartedly choose to study will be ___________________________(4) the best and the easiest. To be a successful learner you need the chance to hear, read and speak the language in a natural ___________________________(5) . Language learning requires an enormous amount of concentration and repetition, which cannot be done entirely in the classroom. Will you have access to the language ___________________________(6) you live, work and travel?

The most important factor is personal motivation. The ___________________________(7) motivated to learn a particular language you ___________________________(8) , the easier the language will become. The easiest language to learn is the ___________________________(9) with the culture that inspires you and the history that touches you spiritually. There is no point ___________________________(10) learning a language if you are not interested in the people ___________________________(11) speak it.

The bad news is that ___________________________(12) language is really easy to learn, but the good news is that we humans are hard wired for a great ___________________________(13) of linguistic flexibility, as ___________________________(14) as we know how to turn on the learning process. If the rewards and benefits of the language are clear to you, you will be ___________________________(15) to get those rusty language synapses sparking in your head and start the words rolling. Good luck!

Adapted from an article by Dominic Ambrose