Earlier this year, the good people at Kaplan conducted a survey to find out how people learn English as their second language. Since I’m sure the raw data was only interesting to language professors and ESL teachers, they smashed it all into this beautiful infographic to make it accessible to all of us globally minded info sponges.
English is my native tongue, so technically I can’t relate to this infographic. However, I can honestly agree that watching Friends taught me more about the English language than any Hooked On Phonics lesson. I learned the meaning of the word “sentiment” when Ross yelled at Rachel for having none. I came to understand the term “closure” in the context of a relationship when Rachel drunk dialed Ross from her rebound date. And I learned that “transponster” is not the name of a profession, nor is it even a word, and yet I still use it on a near-daily basis. So I guess what I’m trying to say is that Rachel Green had a profound impact on my childhood.
What was I talking about again? Oh right, how people learn English. Sorry, I started playing a Friends episode in my head and got sidetracked. You should probably just direct your attention to the infographic:
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[…] Kaplan about how non-native speakers learn English. Soon after it was published (and I revealed my unhealthy obsession with Friends) I discovered another Kaplan infographic that took the second-language acquisition […]