Man who chases two hares catches neither (General discussion) Language Learning Forum

Man who chases two hares catches neither
Tags: Simultaneous study \| Difficulty
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Language Learning Forum : General discussion

31 messages over 4 pages: 1 2 3 4 Next >>

Serpent
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Russian Federation
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Message 9 of 31

27 September 2012 at 7:30pm | IP Logged

For me it's a lifestyle choice. The limit can be stretched by doing EVERYTHING in foreign languages. Not to show off, but what for me sorta counts as "sacrificing" or "neglecting" is more than what many people do in their ONLY foreign language.
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jeff_lindqvist
Diglot
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Message 10 of 31

27 September 2012 at 7:53pm | IP Logged

IronFist wrote:

Has anyone wanted to learn more than one language and had difficulty picking which one to fully commit to such that you ended up not getting as far as you wanted in any?

Yes and no. I've had both good and bad experiences from studying several languages at the same time, but also from studying just one. Motivation is unpredictable.
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IronFist
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United States
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Message 11 of 31

27 September 2012 at 10:49pm | IP Logged

montmorency wrote:

IronFist wrote:

It's actually "man who chases two rabbits..." but that wouldn't all fit in the subject box.

I half-hoped this was going to be one of those threads about obscure and slightly amusing Russian proverbs which don't quite cross the translation barrier. (If anyone has a source of particularly amusing or odd ones, I'd like to see it. Thanks!).

This is the best I can do:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_jokes

This one was funny:

Quote:

(L) The genitive plural of a noun (used with a numeral to indicate five or more of something, as opposed to the dual, used for two, three, or four, see Russian nouns) is a rather unpredictable form of the Russian noun, and there are a handful of words which even native speakers have trouble producing this form of (either due to rarity or an actual lexical gap). A common example of this is kocherga (fireplace poker). The joke is set in a Soviet factory. Five pokers are to be requisitioned. The correct forms are acquired, but as they are being filled out, a debate arises: what is the genitive plural of kocherga? Is it Kocherg? Kocherieg? Kochergov?... One thing is clear: a form with the wrong genitive plural of kocherga will bring disaster from the typically pedantic bureaucrats. Finally, an old janitor overhears the commotion, and tells them to send in two separate requisitions: one for two kochergi and another for three kochergi. In some versions, they send in a request for 4 kochergi and one extra to find out the correct word, only to receive back "here are your 4 kochergi and one extra." (In reality, a bureaucrat would likely resort to a trick like "Kocherga: 5 items"; a similar story by Mikhail Zoshchenko involves yet another answer.)

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patuco
Diglot
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Message 12 of 31

27 September 2012 at 11:46pm | IP Logged

Man who chases two hares catches neither...

...unless man has cleverly-placed traps and good hunting dog.
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freakyaye
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Australia
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Message 13 of 31

28 September 2012 at 5:18pm | IP Logged

Or:

Jack of all trades, master of none.
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William Camden
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United Kingdom
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Message 14 of 31

29 September 2012 at 9:27pm | IP Logged

I think this is one of those statements that is neither totally true nor totally false. You can certainly spread yourself too thin if you study too many languages at the same time, but I don't think you are doomed to failure if you study two or more.
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jeff_lindqvist
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Message 15 of 31

30 September 2012 at 12:15am | IP Logged

The "Jack of all trades (and master of none)" is a myth.

Whether one can learn several things at the same time is highly individual (in my opinion). Some people can't avoid studying several languages at the same time (for beneficial and/or necessity reasons), while others find it difficult to devote enough time for even one language.

And while we're at it, it's a big difference between chasing two hares and ten hares, if you're a beginner in all of them or just a few (and which ones), the possible relatedness etc.

The right approach can do wonders. Some find it helpful if two languages are related - some have the opposite opinion.
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Jeffers
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United Kingdom
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Message 16 of 31

30 September 2012 at 10:11pm | IP Logged

It seems to me that language learning is more like raising an animal: it takes time,
care, feeding, cleaning up messes, etc. If your language learning is as random as
chasing a rabbit, you're probably running in circles. But if you are organised, you can
raise as many rabbits as you have space for (or learn as many languages as you have time
for).

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