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What makes some people good at languages? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| Wings Senior Member Ireland n/a Joined 6352 days ago 130 posts - 131 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 25 of 91 01 August 2007 at 6:31am | IP Logged | ||
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You are right.
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| Raincrowlee Tetraglot Senior Member United States Joined 6700 days ago 621 posts - 808 votes Speaks: English*, Mandarin, Korean, French Studies: Indonesian, Japanese | Message 26 of 91 01 August 2007 at 6:54am | IP Logged | ||
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I have a few different points to add:
I think the most important thing is to be engaged in the language you're learning. Whether it's a real motivated intellectual interest that leads you to read books about grammar and etymology, or living in the environment and exposing yourself without trying over a long period of time, or having a secret language with your girlfriend/boyfriend/relatives. You have to have enough interest to spend time on it. A learner also has to be willing to spend time on the language and accept improvement by increments. They have to feel a victory at every new word that they recognize in the real world around them after they have studied. They should also be people who are comfortable with ambiguity, or at least a willingness to work through ambiguity. The people who get the most confused are the ones who think they have it all figured out, and then run into something new that doesn't fit with the rules they're digested. The best learners probably like a lot of mental games like sudoku and crosswords, though the exact flavor would vary according to personalities. It also helps a lot if you have a good ear for sounds and a good memory as well. It helps to not be easily embarrassed and take a delight in talking with people, but there are a lot of people who get good at languages whose primary contact is reading. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Felixelus Senior Member United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6836 days ago 237 posts - 244 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 27 of 91 01 August 2007 at 9:41am | IP Logged | ||
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I think there is a very important point that makes people say that I'm better at languages than them. Self confidence! I was chatting to a physics secondary school teacher who said he was rubbish at learning languages. I asked him why he thought that and he didnt have an answer! I was suprised to be honest! I've never had a reason to think that I couldnt learn another language...so it never even crossed my mind!! I just bought the books/cds and started working. I dont think I've ever had someone tell me that I couldnt do something...I think thats quite important when it comes to self motivated study.
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| Zhuangzi Nonaglot Language Program Publisher Senior Member Canada lingq.com Joined 7026 days ago 646 posts - 688 votes Speaks: English*, French, Japanese, Swedish, Mandarin, Cantonese, German, Italian, Spanish Studies: Russian | Message 28 of 91 01 August 2007 at 9:50am | IP Logged | ||
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Heartily agree Felixelus.
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| Wings Senior Member Ireland n/a Joined 6352 days ago 130 posts - 131 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 29 of 91 01 August 2007 at 11:01am | IP Logged | ||
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Confidence is the number one reason why you will succeed in learning a new language. I know all about fear, it’s how I ended up learning Spanish. I used to work in a hotel and most of my work mates were from Poland. I suddenly, out of nowhere developed a fascination for the polish language, I like the sound, and I liked the Polish people’s attitude towards life. I learnt a few phrases and was told I had a good accent, but this wasn’t encouragement enough for me to lose my fear. You see, I just couldn’t put my hand up and say, hey, I want to learn Polish. I was afraid I would be laughed at and that I would fail. I no longer work in that hotel and since I have lost contact with most of my work mates, so I gave up on the idea of learning Polish. But, during my time in the hotel and after, I still hadn’t lost the desire to learn a new language, which I found Strange; I always hated languages in school. It took contact with another culture to spark an interest. In school I didn’t realise learning another language meant experiencing another culture.
I became interested in Spanish because I liked the sound of the language, and the fact that it was phonetic, making it easy to read - - always looking for the easy way. Another reason why people fail, they want it to be easy! I started learning Spanish in secret about this time last year. I remember at first I couldn’t even whisper a phrase, for fear of been heard. It took up until recently for me to stop…………….. and stand up and say, I want to learn Spanish. You don't think you can, because you haven't got the confidence? Edited by Wings on 09 August 2007 at 4:20am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| audiolang Diglot Senior Member Romania Joined 6318 days ago 108 posts - 109 votes 2 sounds Speaks: Romanian*, English | Message 30 of 91 11 August 2007 at 12:13am | IP Logged | ||
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I realize this is an old topic,I just wanted to devize a formula before I go on a long trip,so I'm not sure when I meet you guys.It's based on what you wrote so far.I read it all..
Language mastery : Memory "yeah I remember that perche means something" Confidence "I WILL master French and I WILL triumph!!!!" Perseverance " Get out of my way or I'll hurt you" Courage of speaking "Oui j'as fete un erreur,quoi veut-tu de moi?" Great imitation skills "Je ne sais RRRRien de Frrrrancais mais tu parrrrles trrres drrrrole hahaha, Sacrrre bleuuuu!" Motivation "Gotta get my drugs today,feeling high wooohoo" Imagination "Flying high,take me on your fly" These are the lyrics to bird of prey,gotta listen to it. A good approach "My way rulz!!" Habit "Wtf is discipline,I do what I do man" Ok maybe you need it at first. Interest " Why am I listening to this insane babbling again? Oh yea,cuz I like it, I bohemian like it, wohoo hoooo" Another song to listen to. Connection "What use of learning it if you can't connect to it and practice it? Excuse me sir,will you be my friend?" Openness "I have a tight schedule Ramadhan is at ten,Comedy show at eleven,Opera at twelve and my girlfriend is just gonna have to wait." Patience Who has any time for patience when I have all these thing going on for me? Memory,Confidence,Perseverance,Courage,Imitation,Motivation, Imagination, Approach,Interest,Habit,Connection,Openness. I salute these traits. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Wings Senior Member Ireland n/a Joined 6352 days ago 130 posts - 131 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 31 of 91 11 August 2007 at 6:54am | IP Logged | ||
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It’s never too late. Thank you for your input, audiolang, very interesting.
Here’s what Mr. Barry Faber had to say:“Nobody who hears me translating, for instance, Spanish into Norwegian simultaneously, believes me when I tell them I am NOT a good language student. I've accomplished what I have by being born with an almost supernaturally supercharged motivation that overcomes my lack of raw ability. I grew up festering for the chance to learn other languages, and I couldn't believe everybody else didn't share my passion." If you were to take one word from this Quote to describe what makes one person better than another it’s PASSION. Passion for language-learning. Edited by Wings on 11 August 2007 at 6:54am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
 Jiwon Triglot Moderator Korea, South Joined 6434 days ago 1417 posts - 1500 votes Speaks: EnglishC2, Korean*, GermanC1 Studies: Hindi, Spanish Personal Language Map | Message 32 of 91 11 August 2007 at 7:52am | IP Logged | ||
Aren't Confidence and Courage pretty much the same thing here? You have the courage to speak to native speakers because you are confident that you are good. Interest and Connection are just two ways of keeping yourself Motivated. And you need Motivation to Persevere, and make language learning a Habit. You have to be quite Open-minded to Imagine and Imitate a lot, and also to have the Courage to keep studying after another person points out you are wrong. What I'm saying is that most of these traits are connected somehow. To me this discussion suggests that there is a such person who is "suited" to study languages. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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