Learning Other Languages with Dyslexia

Learning another language can be incredibly rewarding. Not only can you show off to your family and friends, but you can also use your skills to communicate with people from all over the world. This is especially important in the age of global interconnectedness that we currently live in, as many businesses and social forums operate on an international basis.  

What do specialists tend to think? 

Learning other languages with dyslexia, however, can sometimes be a little bit tricker than just settling down with DuoLingo or a phrase dictionary. The British Dyslexia Association reports dyslexia specialists generally agree that children should be given the opportunity to learn another language, and many will enjoy it. They also highlight, however, that some languages might be harder than others and the learning process could take more time. 

The International Dyslexia Association also appreciate that whilst some students with written or language-learning difficulties in the mother tongue might struggle with learning another language, with appropriate instruction they can achieve success. They also point out that what’s often key to this is appropriate, adapted teaching that puts the student’s personal learning journey at the centre of the language-learning experience. 

The Studying With Dyslexia blog also has some great tips from an MFL teacher when it comes to teaching and learning languages, and actually offers us the idea that people with dyslexia can actually be very well-suited to language learning due to their particular strengths - it’s just a case of getting the methodology right and giving them the right support.  

Could learning some languages be harder than others? 

Yes and no – it all depends on the individual, what their first language is and what language they're trying to learn. There are some extra steps in taking on some languages that can complicate the process, and make it feel a little more arduous for somebody who has literacy differences already- but some languages share common internal systems that can help create a touchstone and make things easier to learn and remember.

Spanish, Italian, and German are languages that have a clear sound-letter correspondence. This means you’ll often say it phonetically when it comes to the words on the page, which could potentially be helpful for people with dyslexia. Languages like French and Danish are less easy to highlight similarities between a word’s on-page form and what it sounds like, which people with dyslexia can find a little more complicated. The same is true of languages that use alternative alphabets like Russian, Arabic, and Mandarin. It definitely doesn’t mean that they’re impossible to learn if you’re dyslexic, but it adds another step to what’s already quite a long and complex process. 

Complicating matters further, many other languages have gendered nouns and cases. These can be difficult to remember when it’s not your native tongue as there are few to no parallels in the English language. This leads to even accomplished speakers of a language getting confused sometimes. 

What learning changes can we make? 

Thankfully, there are plenty of ways to adapt language learning to make it easier for somebody with dyslexia. 

Indeed, some teaching strategies commonly employed in studying an additional language can really speak to the ways that people with dyslexia find it easiest to learn. Role-playing, structured conversations, and the use of rhymes or songs can all help change the learning experience and focus on skill areas where people with dyslexia can really shine.  

It’s helpful if new words can be introduced to students in an audio capacity—vocab lists are handy, but hearing these words said aloud can really help students remember them and pronounce them correctly next time. Visual aids can help a lot too: having an image prompt on a worksheet or online quiz can really help students with dyslexia make the right language connections early on and retain them going forwards.  

It’s all a case of communication, making sure that language learners are comfortable with the speed at which they’re taking on the challenge. It’s also about taking feedback from learners, finding out how they learn and retain best, and making sure that those appropriate adaptions are made.   

What resources can help someone with dyslexia ? 

There are tons of helpful resources out there! Dybuster has a great set of strategies for parents and educators to better understand how to help someone with dyslexia get to grips with another language. There’s also a wide range of books and comics you can try that are designed to make learning another language easier for young people as they come in an easy-to-read format and have lots of visual prompts in the form of illustrations.  

Although they’re mainly marketed at older language learners, apps like DuoLingo could help some people with dyslexia retain their knowledge as they combine lots of mini reading, writing, listening, and speech assessments. When it comes to taking on something as challenging as learning another language, it’s all about finding the individual way that works for you, and there are plenty of ways to make language learning just as accessible as any other subject on the curriculum.  

If you want to find out more about how dyslexia interacts with multilingualism and orthography, the International Dyslexia Association also have an academic deep dive into the idea available on their website.