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Language Learning and Grit | ||
Tags: Personality | Motivation | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| jsteph Newbie United Kingdom Joined 4035 days ago 7 posts - 15 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Mandarin | Message 17 of 34 22 November 2014 at 12:52pm | IP Logged | ||
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I agree with what a lot of people here have said about grit being important. I feel that
I can have grit - for about 9 months, then I start to waver. The more grit you have for studying languages the better. Also I've personally found that the more I push myself each time I study a language the further I'm able to push myself the next time. Grit can be learnt! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| smallwhite Pentaglot Senior Member Australia Joined 5307 days ago 537 posts - 1045 votes  Speaks: Cantonese*, English, Mandarin, French, Spanish | Message 18 of 34 22 November 2014 at 1:25pm | IP Logged | ||
That means grit is a personality thing and would reflect consistently in all endeavours of the person, such that a person with grit would persevere in both language-learning and other endeavours, and a person without grit would give up easilty both language-learning and other endeavours. But I don't think that's the case. I'm of the impression that anyone could become attracted to the language-learning world and start learning, and those who drop out are those who never liked studying or reading in the first place. Eg. sporty and energetic people, people who can't stand reading off computer screens, people with back pain, people who fall asleep reading. Btw, does a person who flirts with 10 language and reaches A1-A2 in all of them have or not have grit?? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Xenops Senior Member United States thexenops.deviantart Joined 3824 days ago 112 posts - 158 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Japanese | Message 19 of 34 22 November 2014 at 6:35pm | IP Logged | ||
Originally I would think a resounding "No!", but the more I thought it, I decided: it depends on the language. If it is a very different language from the learner's native tongue, or the learning resources are scarce, then I can see getting to A2 as requiring some grit. But I would say in general getting to a C2 in any language requires more grit than A2 in several. Grit to me means commitment; sampling several languages to a low level does not indicate commitment to me. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6596 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 20 of 34 22 November 2014 at 9:58pm | IP Logged | ||
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But the opposite is also possible. Learning the basics of several languages as a linguist or for a job (market, tourism etc) requires grit, especially if you would rather learn only your favourite language. Also, sticking with several languages takes effort. Dropping all but one language is often a very tempting option. Edited by Serpent on 22 November 2014 at 10:01pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| holly heels Groupie United States Joined 3885 days ago 47 posts - 107 votes Studies: Mandarin | Message 21 of 34 22 November 2014 at 11:50pm | IP Logged | ||
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I believe passion is essential for language learning if it is only a hobby, but if language learning is a requirement for school or work, a motivated learner with grit can reach fluency in a language that they have no passion for, and that to me is more admirable.
Sometimes I wonder how some children of immigrants to the USA who don't hear a word of English at home can far surpass native English monoglot classmates in speaking and writing ability. I doubt that all of them are passionate about English or language learning in general, but besides basic intelligence, there must be an element of grit involved to get where they are. And it's probably just a coincidence that the word "integrity" has the word "grit" in it, but to me the ability to succeed in an endeavor you don't even especially like is an attribute of integrity more than anything else--making an honest commitment to do something--not because you want to, but because you have to. And to me language learning is too boring and too time-consuming a hobby for the crash and burn personality types. The guy you see backslapping his buddies at the bar just wouldn't be into it. It takes me about 2 weeks to learn to play a video game well, but no grit is required. I am just an average yahoo, but to study Mandarin for 4 years and reach a level where I understand most native TV and radio could mean that it's only "grit" that propels me forward. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| smallwhite Pentaglot Senior Member Australia Joined 5307 days ago 537 posts - 1045 votes Speaks: Cantonese*, English, Mandarin, French, Spanish | Message 22 of 34 23 November 2014 at 7:56am | IP Logged | ||
That seems to imply that grit is persevering in something you don't like, regardless of whether that thing is considered fun or boring by the general public. Which means, we can't really say that a person has grit just because s/he reached C2 - we have to look also at whether s/he enjoyed the process - if s/he hated the process, s/he has grit; if s/he enjoyed the process, we don't say s/he has grit. Hmm... I don't like the thought but it does make sense. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Xenops Senior Member United States thexenops.deviantart Joined 3824 days ago 112 posts - 158 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Japanese | Message 23 of 34 23 November 2014 at 8:30am | IP Logged | ||
I guess we could also consider the ease of which the C2 was obtained: is someone is the absolute language mastermind and can remember any given structure or word after one exposure, then he/she does not need nor use grit; the average person that achieves C2, whether he/she enjoys the language or not, will use some amount of grit because of the massive workload. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| cpnlsn88 Triglot Groupie United Kingdom Joined 5036 days ago 63 posts - 112 votes Speaks: English*, German, French Studies: Spanish, Esperanto, Latin | Message 24 of 34 23 November 2014 at 1:12pm | IP Logged | ||
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Maybe a better way of putting it is to talk about dedication. Anyone who achieves
excellence in a field will have to dedicate themselves over a long period to make a big achievement be it playing a musical instrument, being good at a sport, dancing or singing (or for that matter any human endeavour). The person who does this demonstrates commitment over a long term with the belief that the results will be good and a certain amount of enjoyment along the way as well as important milestones that can be enjoyed as well. Where a polyglot has the advantage is (presumably) you know how to do it and know which false avenues to avoid (like listening to non-stop radio you don't understand in the hope it rubs off or reading from the dictionary). Where someone starting out might drop off the way is either that person doesn't have follow through (grit) or is trying methods which are unlikely to work or has a false expectation of how long term an endeavour it is. 'Fluent in x hours, days, weeks' can be a hindrance here, with the risk of disappointment and demotivation setting in. Being connected to a community like HTLAL can be an enormous help in a)seeing people who have done it and are doing it b)getting advice on how to do it and c)getting a more realistic assessment of the time frame involved. And of course the encouragement that comes from meeting (albeit virtually) with others doing the same thing at different stages. 4 persons have voted this message useful |
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