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Ones ego as a burden | ||
Tags: Loss of confidence | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| hombre gordo Triglot Senior Member Japan Joined 5585 days ago 184 posts - 247 votes  Speaks: English*, Spanish, Japanese Studies: Portuguese, Korean | Message 1 of 12 02 February 2010 at 4:39pm | IP Logged | ||
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Right now I am in Japan and Japanese is my main priority. It is my favorite language and the one I want to perfect at all costs.
However, sometimes I suffer from the inferiority complex that I dont know enough languages and get the urge to add another. I am really mad about languages. But falling into a state of wanderlust would only divert attention away from my Japanese. I feel I have to perfect my Japanese. No matter how big improvements I get, I always want to improve it more and more. I feel that I would like to add another language (thinking just one more wont hurt), but at the same time if I did, I would feeling guilty that I should be putting more time and effort into Japanese. Is this a case of my own ego acting as an impediment towards my language learning? With this was of thinking, will my ego ultimately destroy my language progress? Will I be the Jack of all trades, master of none so to speak? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Captain Haddock Diglot Senior Member Japan kanjicabinet.tumblr. Joined 6770 days ago 2282 posts - 2814 votes Speaks: English*, Japanese Studies: French, Korean, Ancient Greek | Message 2 of 12 02 February 2010 at 5:11pm | IP Logged | ||
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I don't really see how your thirst for language counts as ego. Where I see ego interfering with people's language
learning, it's usually because they're too proud to go through the "speaking like a moron" stage of language acquisition or are afraid to enrol in classes that will compare their progress to that of other students. 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 3 of 12 02 February 2010 at 5:37pm | IP Logged | ||
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I know exactly where you're coming from. I always think I don't know enough, or compare myself to my peers or whatever. I plan to study 6 languages to fluency, compared to some members here, that is elementary!
Remember YOUR goals and never compare yourself to others. Japanese is a language that isn't very common to hear spoken fluently by westerners. BE PROUD! Pursue one or two languages at a time, and when you're comfortable, add another. :) I plan to study German for the next six months, by that time I should be at a high B2 or low C1. I'll be finishing German without Toil and FSI German by summer or so. I should have a pretty good grasp of the language. By the time I go to college I will be doing assimil Italian as a "spare time" thing, or Russian. I could probably grasp Italian easier than Russian. Maybe both at the same time? :D Be happy with where you are. Remember that a large majority of people in the world are monolingual or bilingual. No where even close to the members of this forum. Edited by datsunking1 on 02 February 2010 at 5:38pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Splog Diglot Senior Member Czech Republic anthonylauder.c Joined 5671 days ago 1062 posts - 3263 votes Speaks: English*, Czech Studies: Mandarin | Message 4 of 12 02 February 2010 at 8:00pm | IP Logged | ||
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Ego seems to be related to how much you worry about what other people think of you. For most people, this seems to go through three stages:
Stage 1: In your teens and twenties you always worring what other people think about you Stage 2: In your thirties and forties you learn not to care what other people think about you Stage 3: In your fifties, sixties, and beyond you realise that most people where never thinking about you anyway So, the whole problem of ego, and comparing your self with others, does tend to fade away as you get older. When the pressure to compete isn't there, you can start to delight in the process of learning, and recognise with personal satisfaction that you are making slow and steady gains. It becomes a marathon, rather than a sprint. Or, at least for me, it feels more like a long ramble in the countryside, where you can delight in the journey, and take time to enjoy the sights along the way. It is very liberating. 5 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Katie Diglot Senior Member Australia Joined 6720 days ago 495 posts - 599 votes Speaks: English*, Hungarian Studies: French, German | Message 6 of 12 03 February 2010 at 2:56am | IP Logged | ||
Have no fear! I think there are a number of people in this situation.. including myself! Only mine is also fuelled by being in a more 'passive' sort of learning phase with my current TL - I just need to listen/watch native materials, read, speak and I'll improve... not so much 'study' anymore. But just as with you, I fear that adding another language may take away from time in my Hungarian studies - and I don't want to do that! I desperately want to reach fluency in Hungarian. Desperately! And no, nothing I ever do is good enough - there's always so much more I need to do! Alas, I don't have any answers yet... perhaps in time I will, but I will keep a close eye on the advice you get on this thread! :) 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Johntm Senior Member United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5424 days ago 616 posts - 725 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 7 of 12 03 February 2010 at 6:04am | IP Logged | ||
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| The Blaz Senior Member Canada theblazblog.blogspotRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5602 days ago 120 posts - 176 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Swahili, French, Sign Language, Esperanto | Message 8 of 12 04 February 2010 at 10:08am | IP Logged | ||
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I can definitely relate to this... a couple days ago I realized that I'm afraid of the
French! I've been studying French for several years now and outside of a couple teachers, pretty all the conversations I've had have been with second-language learners. I looked at that and realized I'm quite intimidated to speak with native French speakers, especially from France. Part of this is I'm afraid I just won't understand the quick cadence and accent, and another is part is fear that they'll laugh at me! But it's funny, I do recognize it as part of the romantic French myth of French exceptionalism. I don't have the same reservations for Spanish or Swahili, I'm fine with being imperfect with those. I will just have to face my fears and talk with some true francophones soon! Edited by The Blaz on 04 February 2010 at 10:10am 1 person has voted this message useful |
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