The teaching of foreign languages for adult beginners in their native country

Resumo

The problem of how to approach the teaching of foreign languages has always concerned educators all over the world. A long time ago, to know a foreign language was almost a luxury, a privilege to the wealthy, an indicative of social and educational status. Parents would spend fortunes to send their children abroad, or to bring a foreign governess into their homes to initiate their children in the acquisition of a foreign language. Along with progress, however, what used to be an optional extravagance turned out to be a necessity. The teaching of foreign languages was introduced in the schools, as the world became "smaller" through the development of modes of communication. People now learn foreign languages for several different reasons, and in many different ways. As the number of learners increased, the number of teachers also raised significantly, as well as the interest in the field. A new science emerged — Linguistics — with the specific purpose of studying the phenomenon language, namely, what language is and how it is acquired.