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Motivational problems | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Learning Techniques, Methods & Strategies |  | |
| frenkeld Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 6945 days ago 2042 posts - 2719 votes  Speaks: Russian*, English Studies: German | Message 33 of 36 12 July 2006 at 5:12pm | IP Logged | |||||
It's a very good reader, and probably the best among the commonly available ones, but there are many others. I gave a link in an earlier post to an online store in the US (www.continentalbook.com), which has quite a few. Their listings contain ISBN numbers, so you can track the books down elseswhere.
There are readers which are not in the bilingual format. Instead, they just have footnotes and maybe a glossary at the end. Overall, if your goal is precise understanding and good intuitive discrimination of subtle shades of meaning, focusing too much on precise translation in the beginning is the wrong way to get there. Doing so is seeking certainty in the situation where it is imperative to live with uncertainty for a while. Instead, one should try to think directly in the target language, and accept that it will feel like a gradually lifting fog of incomprehension, and it is in this process that an exquisite feel for the nuances is developed. Sure, if one likes to be certain of translating most of the idioms one encounters, one should have access to a good comprehensive dictionary which has a lot of idiomatic examples (Unabridged Collins/HarperCollins is excellent). Nor does it hurt to take a stroll through a grammar book periodically (1001 Pitfalls in Spanish; a good intermediate reference grammar; and, of course, Butt & Benjamin's grammar for all the "why's" one may have). Still, a lot of one's reading must be done "cowboy" style, and without translating. Edited by frenkeld on 12 July 2006 at 5:20pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| CaitO'Ceallaigh Triglot Senior Member United States katiekelly.wordpress Joined 6859 days ago 795 posts - 829 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Russian Studies: Czech, German | Message 34 of 36 13 July 2006 at 12:59pm | IP Logged | |||||
Actually, I can relate to everything that you're saying, but it boils down to perspective and attitude. Unfortunately, I don't think any of us can get you to see things "our" way. Your mind's made up, this is impossible, you have a "learning disability", it's not going to happen. This is a choice you've made. You and you alone have put up these obstacles. It's not that no one here can't relate to the frustrations that you encounter. It's that we all attach different meanings to it. Where you see failure we see success. That's the difference. It's a personal choice. It's not that you have a learning disability. It's that you say you have a learning disability. There is an easy way around this, which is to just take twenty minutes of your day, and just do something focused around the language. This twenty minutes could be ANYTHING. But you have to remove all judgement and all expectations, because those are what are holding you back. Why twenty minutes? Because I think you can survive twenty minutes. Don't expect miracles. Just commit to twenty minutes. You can read, do a grammar exercise, do an audio lesson, just ANYTHING. No judgements, no expectations. The minute you find yourself saying, "This isn't working!" you have to force yourself to stop thinking that. I think that's going to be the biggest challenge for you. How can you let go of the expectations? Do you think you can do that? Your mind is so powerful that you have talked yourself out of this. Well, you can take that same energy and talk yourself INTO it. There is no one here, however, that can do this for you. There is not a single language program that's going to make a difference. This is a decision that YOU have to make. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Tjerk Bilingual Pentaglot Groupie Belgium Joined 6759 days ago 54 posts - 59 votes Speaks: Dutch*, Flemish*, English, Spanish, French Studies: Swedish | Message 35 of 36 13 July 2006 at 1:22pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I couldn't agree more. Just make a switch and DO something for twenty minutes every day, stop complaining, blaming yourself, accusing yourself, expecting tons of stuff and all other stuff that distracts you, or with other words shut up your inner voice and just DO something, 20 minutes, every day again..
If you fall back in thinking about it in stead of doing it, i can assure you you'll never gonna know any second language. If you'll succeed and make the switch you'll do it. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| CaitO'Ceallaigh Triglot Senior Member United States katiekelly.wordpress Joined 6859 days ago 795 posts - 829 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Russian Studies: Czech, German | Message 36 of 36 13 July 2006 at 1:31pm | IP Logged | |||||
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What's really scaring me is I'm starting to sound like my mother.
I am glad that this is not a "How to keep your house spotlessly clean" forum, or I would have no room to talk! :) 1 person has voted this message useful |
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