Why do adults find learning a new language so difficult? How is bilingual education beneficial or detrimental to a child’s education? Is learning a language different than learning other information? Do online language programs work? Taking a light, interactive approach to a complicated subject, we will explore language acquisition theories that help explain the challenges of learning additional languages. Ultimately, we will identify how various linguistic theories shape language learning methodologies. Topics include what we know when we know a language, bilingualism myths, academic versus conversational language, whether languages are learned or acquired, universalities of language, and how theories map to teaching and learning methods. This class is generously discounted by the Anonymous Fund of the Marin Community Foundation.