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"I can’t learn foreign languages" | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| guesto Groupie Australia Joined 5743 days ago 76 posts - 118 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Italian, Spanish | Message 9 of 47 16 March 2010 at 9:02am | IP Logged | ||
Well, if you don't have enough time, effort, exposure or motivation then that means you really "can't" learn a language, right? "Can't" doesn't just mean theoretical physical ability. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| numerodix Trilingual Hexaglot Senior Member Netherlands Joined 6785 days ago 856 posts - 1226 votes Speaks: EnglishC2*, Norwegian*, Polish*, Italian, Dutch, French Studies: Portuguese, Mandarin | Message 10 of 47 16 March 2010 at 9:43am | IP Logged | ||
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I think you have to start them out with a story like "I was just the same as you, I never thought I could do it, but then". And it probably helps if it's genuine too.
Above all, people want to be understood. If you can convince them that you understand their situation and aren't just telling them something that works for you "but will never work for me", they won't believe you. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| abr Groupie Russian FederationRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5482 days ago 40 posts - 62 votes Speaks: Russian* Studies: English, Spanish | Message 11 of 47 16 March 2010 at 3:32pm | IP Logged | ||
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What is the reason you would want to explain a posibility of learning a language? I just do not get it. If someone wants to learn he eventually find the way to do it. And if one year of formal studies of 2 hours per week makes a person believe that languages aren't his thing, then he just don't really want it. What is the point of trying to convince him he can if he simply don't want? Only for the sake of discuss itself? Edited by abr on 16 March 2010 at 3:33pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Paskwc Pentaglot Senior Member Canada Joined 5679 days ago 450 posts - 624 votes Speaks: Hindi, Urdu*, Arabic (Levantine), French, English Studies: Persian, Spanish | Message 12 of 47 16 March 2010 at 4:48pm | IP Logged | ||
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I agree with numerodix, you have to convince them that you understand their problems. If
you simply give them a prescription for their problem, they won't take it. Give them a first hand referral and they just might. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| josht Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 6448 days ago 635 posts - 857 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: French, Spanish, Russian, Dutch | Message 13 of 47 16 March 2010 at 5:09pm | IP Logged | ||
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I think many modern language courses are at least partially to blame for this type of attitude. With their flashy logos and high-in-the-sky promises, they make it sound like if you use such and such course, why, you'll be speaking like a native in just three weeks!
Of course, people who have really learned a language to a high level know otherwise. We know that after you've learned those 50 words, there's countless others to learn. That, while you've just mastered the present tense for one verb paradigm, there's half a dozen other tenses, not to mention 2 other types of verbs which conjugate differently. Etc. Basically, people approach newer courses with the idea that with 10 minutes a day, over 3 weeks, they're going to be confused with a native. When that doesn't happen, they decide that they "can't learn languages." 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Volte Tetraglot Senior Member Switzerland Joined 6441 days ago 4474 posts - 6726 votes Speaks: English*, Esperanto, German, Italian Studies: French, Finnish, Mandarin, Japanese | Message 14 of 47 16 March 2010 at 5:17pm | IP Logged | ||
Really? None of the people I know who think they're bad at/can't learn languages have attitudes nearly that unrealistic about what can be expected. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| josht Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 6448 days ago 635 posts - 857 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: French, Spanish, Russian, Dutch | Message 15 of 47 16 March 2010 at 5:56pm | IP Logged | ||
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Volte: I was exaggerating; alas, text doesn't carry sarcasm very well sometimes.
I was just trying to get across the idea that some modern courses - Rosetta Stone and Pimsleur, for example - tend to make it sound like learning a foreign language will be something that doesn't take much time and effort, and this really is more or less a lie. If people go in with wholly unrealistic expectations, they're likely to give up when those expectations aren't fulfilled. I think the claims of many modern courses help build up those unrealistic expectations. Edit: I wanted to add that I think that when some people say "I can't learn a language", what they're really saying is "I can't learn it as easily as I thought I could, so I'm not going to." I, at least, had some rude awakenings when I really delved into learning foreign languages. The first course I bought, as a naïve 16 year old, was Teach Yourself Gaelic. Having no experience, I thought that with that book and those cassettes, I would be conversing with natives within a few months. When I discovered how monumental a task it is to really learn a language to any decent level, I obviously had to alter my expectations. I think that when some people really find out how much work languages are, they back out. Edited by josht on 16 March 2010 at 6:05pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Snowflake Senior Member United States Joined 5961 days ago 1032 posts - 1233 votes Studies: Mandarin | Message 16 of 47 16 March 2010 at 6:12pm | IP Logged | ||
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One of my friends tends to say that she cannot learn languages. In part, she says this because her husband seems to be somewhat gifted at learning new languages. I've talked with her about this. She acknowledges that she cannot spend the time needed to learn another language reasonably well. So I now accept that this phrase is basically a sound bite that she uses. When other friends have said this sort of thing, we've talked about how typical school classes are not really conductive to functionally learning a language....all of us have gone through the American school system and had to take foreign language classes. They become intrigued with the ideas that I mention, like listening to their favorite movie on their iPod in whatever language that they're interested in. They've stopped saying that they cannot learn a language and now say that they don't have the time to devote to learning it.
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