This paper describes a project in Scotland that investigated what factors were perceived by adult, university students as helpful or detrimental to their language learning. Questionnaires were completed by a sample of 120 modern language students of French, German, Italian, and Spanish language speakers. In-depth interviews, focusing on homework, teaching, and group learning and based on the questionnaire, were conducted with a much smaller sample of 20 students. Respondents seemed highly positive about their classes, especially the friendly atmosphere and use of homework. Most felt that the teacher knew what was best, that the classroom should be "teacher-centered," and that homework was a good learning tool. Comments usually told more about the students themselves than about their perceptions of their own learning abilities. Most preferred learning with other students, while classroom pace was seen as impossible to define due to the lack of definition of the "average" student. The classroom situation was seen as a social situation, although few students associated with classmates outside of class; most kept the learning versus the social aspects of the class as separate entities. Negative comments referred to earlier learning, especially school learning. Appendixes include the questionnaire, the skeleton interview script, and summary listings of helpful and detrimental factors for learning. (Contains 12 references.) (NAV)