What's getting in the way of language learning?

Many people say they want to learn another language.  Fewer people ever reach the second language proficiency goal they are dreaming of.  I realize that "there's many a slip twixt the cup and the lip," but what does that slip look like in language learning?

Working diligently on Portuguese and Spanish on Duolingo, I've been thinking about one of the main hazards on the road to mastery of another language--overly lofty goals. Here are three of those high-flying goals that you may want to reconsider.

(1) Achieving native language speaking proficiency  Are we ever going to speak another language with a completely native accent?  Only a lucky few of us with special talent and opportunity will probably ever pass for a native speaker.  I think it would be a great lark to fool someone into thinking I come from Mexico or Brazil, but the chances of that happening for more than a sentence or two are (as they say in West Texas), slim and none.

A more practical approach is to be content with communicating well.  If native speakers can understand you speaking and writing in their language, shouldn't that be enough?  Isn't the fact that you, as a non-native speaker, have taken the time and effort necessary to learn another language something to earn you a few gold stars?

(2) Always using correct grammar  Yes, I know that we all want to communicate correctly in our second language.  There is a strong human desire to get things RIGHT.    But if we wait to communicate until we have mastered every nuance of the new language (an impossibility), we will be tongue-tied forever.

For example, I know that in Spanish there are two words that mean 'for', por  and para. I have read the long list of rules for use of each and have done grammar exercises to practice the rules.  And I still choose the wrong form fairly frequently.  As a non-native speaker, can I live with that problem? Probably.

(3)  Thinking language learning happens quickly  There are some life skills that we can imagine mastering, like cooking a great pot of pinto beans, posting a blog, or packing light for an international trip. But trying to acquire another language is a lifelong commitment, somewhat like feeding the stray cat that has adopted you at the back door. 

There will always be more of the language to learn, more words, more sounds, and more grammar. And just when you think you may know it all, language will be shifting under your feet.  The word for 'great' in both English and other languages will probably change every few years.  If you don't track the changes, you may be saying the equivalent of  'groovy' in your new language.

Language learning is not for the faint-hearted, the short-hitters, or the fast-trackers.  But it can be a heck of a lot of fun.