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interviewing a large number of students at various competency levels, I came to the conclusion that the language-learning process is affected by both language-related and non-language-related factors. The former are often linked to insufficient language awareness. Colloquial expressions and phrases have to be integrated in language teaching, both to reflect accurately the target language and to make sure students are aware of language variants that could impede understanding. It is language awareness that helps learners to classify certain aspects of languages as problematic, comprehensible or easy. So which aspects do English learners consider to be most challenging? Problem areas Articles cause the most common issues, especially remembering whether the related noun is masculine, feminine or neuter, as well as the further declination of nouns and related adjectives, bearing in mind the German case system. Next is the German sentence structure and variable positioning of the verb, depending on the sentence type. Pronunciation is also problematic. Recent studies have shown that errors associated with native language interference can represent up to 15% of mistakes in the language-acquisition process. 3 The fact that English and German are typologically linked is the source of a different type of error: false friends. Differentiating formal and informal usage in everyday situations (e.g. referring to 'you' as Du or Sie) can also be tricky. Moving on to non-language related factors, geographical distance may have an impact (more institutions offer French exchange programmes, for instance). British people tend to be familiar with only a few phrases or words in German (Guten Morgen!, Lederhose(n), Bratwurst) and most adult beginners will have had little interaction with native German speakers either in the UK or abroad. Their feel of the language and culture is therefore limited. Some learners complain about the lack of German publications and TV programmes in the UK. Interviews with students brought me back to Demme's conclusion that two major 28 The Linguist Vol/54 No/4 2015 www.ciol.org.uk OPINION & COMMENT Dr Joanna Biernat MCIL is a German language tutor. TL It has been an emotionally difficult time: I have just weeks left as an au pair and the girls are becoming increasingly aware of my imminent departure. Both have asked me to stay another year and it is heartbreaking to disappoint them. However, after much deliberation, the family has chosen a new au pair, and it is a comfort to know that the girls (pictured on our last holiday together) will be left in great hands. I now face the daunting prospect of embarking on a long-term career. The decisions I make now will affect me for the rest of my life. My thirst to learn new languages remains undiminished, and I plan to take lessons in Spanish and Italian. As a historian, I would love to be able to read historical documents in the original Latin, and knowledge of that language – the ancestor of so many modern European languages – would prove invaluable should I choose to do a post-graduate degree in the future. In terms of a career, I have drawn up a list of criteria that should steer me in the right direction. Most importantly, the job should provide opportunities to use my French and German, preferably in both spoken and written conversation. I would also like to travel (the prospect of foreign travel is one of the things that first attracted me to Modern Languages). I will start to apply for positions when I return to the UK and can't wait to see what life has in store. The graduate LUCIANNA HARRISON Lucianna Harrison studied German and History at Exeter University. TL factors affect the language-learning process: biological and sociopolitical. 4 My students confirmed that starting language courses in later life was challenging because of their busy schedules, problems with memorizing words and structures, and because courses did not adapt to their preferred learning styles. Some course participants did not have a learning strategy at all while others expressed a preference for learning only phrases and simple expressions, rather than plunging into grammar. A few stated that they were not motivated strongly enough to learn German because of the assumption that it is difficult to acquire. A small number, in particular adult learners, found learning in a group challenging due to a lack of self-confidence in using a foreign language with fellow learners. Identifying these challenges should allow us to improve the learning process and help our students to overcome the difficulties they face. Notes 1 Twain, M, 1985, Bummel durch Europa. Gesammelte Werke in Zehn Bänden, Band 4, Insel, Frankfurt 2 Meißner, F J, 1998, 'Zielsprache Französisch - zum Unterricht einer "schweren" Schulsprache' in Französisch heute 29,2, 241-257 3 Grzega, J, 2005, 'Towards Global English via Basic Global English (BGE): Socioeconomic and pedagogic ideas for a European and Global Language (with Didactic Examples for Native Speakers)' in Journal for EuroLinguistiX, 2, 65-164 4 Demme, S, 1995, 'Fehlertherapie und Selbstkorrektur – Überlegungen zur Entwicklung von Lernstrategien' in Bredella, L, Verstehen und Verständigung durch Sprachlernen? Dokumentation des 15. Kongresses für Fremdsprachendidaktik, veranstaltet von der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Fremdsprachendidaktik (DGFF), Gießen, 4-6 Oktober 1993, Brockmeyer, Bochum, 195-224