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Problems In Learning New Language? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| ChrisVincent Bilingual Tetraglot Newbie Mauritius quicklearn.t35.com Joined 5437 days ago 23 posts - 33 votes Speaks: French*, English*, Italian, Spanish Studies: German | Message 1 of 13 29 January 2010 at 9:04am | IP Logged | ||
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I would be interested to know the problems that you encountered when learning a new language.
- Did you have problems motivating yourself? - Didn't you know where to start? - Were you discouraged by your lack of apparent progress? - Did you study a few chapters, thought you understood well, but then was confused by the later chapters? - Did you feel you were learning too slowly? - Did you have problems pronouncing well, no matter how hard you tried? - Did you have any other problems? It is said that every problem has a solution. So it follows that to find a suitable solution, first we have to know clearly what the problem is. I know people who have made substiantial progress in learning a new language by first understanding where they were stuck and why they were stuck. Thus they could deal with it. In NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming), they have found that there are 4 steps to achieve excellence in any field. 1. Unconscious Incompetence - where people don't know there is a problem 2. Conscious Incompetence - where people know there is a problem 3. Conscious Competence - where people tackle the problem and focus on the solution 4. Unconscious Competence - where people become so good that they do it with ease I read in one of Tony Robbins's (the Self-Development expert) book that the Chinese have the Same Word to describe both 'Crisis' and 'Opportunity'. It originated from the philosophy that a problem is an opportunity to find a better solution. I would be interested to hear your views about the problems that you may have had in tackling a new foreign language. Edited by ChrisVincent on 29 January 2010 at 3:28pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| ovaltined Tetraglot Newbie Portugal Joined 5417 days ago 6 posts - 8 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, English, Spanish, French Studies: Latin, Ancient Greek | Message 2 of 13 29 January 2010 at 10:23am | IP Logged | ||
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Hey there. My biggest issue with self-learning is that I'm terrible at motivating myself. Not knowing how to start or lack of apparent progress aren't so much the issues, because I either try starting with planned online lessons, and I *know* fluency doesn't come overnight (especially because I'm mostly into trying languages completely different from my spoken ones, such as Thai, or Hawaiian). I have trouble with motivation, and I have concentration issues, so obviously that tends to affect my self-learning of languages (as opposed to having an educator nudge me if I screw up because I didn't focus).
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| OlafP Triglot Senior Member Germany Joined 5437 days ago 261 posts - 667 votes  Speaks: German*, French, English | Message 3 of 13 29 January 2010 at 12:04pm | IP Logged | ||
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I can't imagine ever having problems with doing something new. The real works only starts when you reach the first serious plateau. There is nothing special about language learning here, because this applies to any other activity as well, like learning to play a musical intrument or chess, you name it. There is no question whether you will hit a wall at one point, but only when and how to overcome it. This is what separates the wheat from the chaff and where you make a decision to learn something or to just dabble around. Everyone can do everything as long as it's easy, but when the going gets tough, the tough gets going.
As for motivation at later stages, I like to prepare things in time, just like a cyclist in a race must eat before he feels any lack of energy. Since I'm a Dostoevsky fanatic, I'm already getting Russian audiobooks and preparing bilingual texts for "White Nights" and "Dream of a Ridiculous Man", even though this stuff still is too advanced for me. I also got all the Tarkovsky movies avialable on DVD (I especially like "Mirror" and "Stalker"), but still must use other than Russian subtitles most of the time. By the way, the DVDs sold by Artificial Eye come with subtitles in 10 or more languages.
This first point of the process can be a vicious circle, because in order to overcome it you must be aware of a problem already. That reminds me of the Dunning–Kruger effect: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning-Kruger_effect Edited by OlafP on 29 January 2010 at 12:06pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| GauchoBoaCepa Triglot Senior Member Brazil Joined 5421 days ago 172 posts - 199 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, English, Spanish | Message 4 of 13 29 January 2010 at 12:48pm | IP Logged | ||
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I have a silly habit of lying in bed while I'm studying....thus, I have a grip on my concentration.....
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| victor-osorio Diglot Groupie Venezuela Joined 5434 days ago 73 posts - 129 votes Speaks: Spanish*, English Studies: Italian | Message 5 of 13 29 January 2010 at 2:35pm | IP Logged | ||
I think one cure for the lack of motivation we all feel at some point might be the interaction with other people that speak your target language. Socialising is always a good way to practise a language, in my humble opinion. Get the Skype and go out of those books for a while. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| ChrisVincent Bilingual Tetraglot Newbie Mauritius quicklearn.t35.com Joined 5437 days ago 23 posts - 33 votes Speaks: French*, English*, Italian, Spanish Studies: German | Message 6 of 13 29 January 2010 at 4:23pm | IP Logged | ||
You are right. This why Self-Questioning is important from time to time. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| datsunking1 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5587 days ago 1014 posts - 1533 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: German, Russian, Dutch, French | Message 7 of 13 29 January 2010 at 5:54pm | IP Logged | ||
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I sometimes feel that I never progress fast enough, and I compare myself to my peers.
It's a terrible thing to do, because if I look back a couple months, I had NO knowledge of German or Portuguese other than "Hi, how are you? Good. You?" Now I can form and understand simple sentences, count, and read fairly well. I've taken up Italian too! I can't wait to start studying it. Forum members- Remember YOUR goals, and NEVER compare yourself to another person. Remember that if you learn ONE thing in a day you're making progress, no matter how small! The sky is the limit in language learning. You can do anything you want if you have the motivation to do so. If you're feeling discouraged, look back in the past where you didn't even know what the language was, or how to say anything. :) It should make you smile! -Jordan 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Reisender Triglot Newbie Italy Joined 5453 days ago 30 posts - 44 votes Speaks: German*, English, Italian Studies: Spanish, Latin, Ancient Greek, French | Message 8 of 13 29 January 2010 at 7:14pm | IP Logged | ||
No offense, but that's an aphorism i can't bear to hear anymore. The word crisis derives from the ancient greek κρίσις which in turn comes from the verb κρίνειν, meaning "to seperate". Κρίσις pretty much means "the point where a decisive choice has to be made", it's the turning point of an important development. What I'm trying to say is this: we don't have to turn to chinese expressions in order to make that particular (and, by now, rather dull) point. The idea is included in our own language as well. Sorry for being a smartass, but that bothered me for quite some time now. Edited by Reisender on 29 January 2010 at 7:15pm 4 persons have voted this message useful |
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