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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| Mooby Senior Member Scotland Joined 6102 days ago 707 posts - 1220 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Polish | Message 49 of 65 28 March 2011 at 9:52am | IP Logged | ||
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Merv wrote:
"I do not consider knowing a vast array of languages to be an achievement in and of itself. It only becomes an achievement when it has a particular utility." I'm very impressed by many foreign immigrants who have learnt English to a very high level (and often grammatically more accurate than many natives) AND have studied hard to succeed in a chosen profession. This was brought home to me by a recent visit to the dentist. The lady who examined me was a refugee from Iraq and spoke excellent English. And my teeth felt a lot better too! Does knowledge of a language have to be for purely utiliterian purposes before it can be judged 'worthy' of being called an 'achievement'? Even though my knowledge of Polish is not likely to be utilised in such a worthy manner, (although it's helping me be a better ESOL teacher) it still represents an achievement, at least to me. Perhaps PERSONAL achievement is of some value; afterall we can't all be doctors, scholars, spies or missionaries. Edited by Mooby on 28 March 2011 at 9:55am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Gollum87 Diglot Newbie Yugoslavia Joined 3934 days ago 31 posts - 46 votes Speaks: Serbian*, English Studies: Italian | Message 50 of 65 28 May 2014 at 4:13pm | IP Logged | ||
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Didn't want to open a new topic, so I'll ask here...
I'm thinking about age and learning languages.. I don't have an ambition to become a polyglot, I only want to improove my English and Italian, and learn few more European languages (Spanish, French, German and maybe Russian).. I think it is never too late if people are motivated, but still, some people tell me that learning new languages is a good idea when you are kid or at younger age.. and some people say that you can NEVER reach a fluency if you start from a zero at your 30s or 40s... I am 26 years old.. and I know many people of my age already speak so many different languages,.. sometimes it makes me feel bad and afraid I will never make it.. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Penelope Diglot Senior Member Greece Joined 3866 days ago 110 posts - 155 votes Speaks: English, French Studies: Russian, Turkish, Modern Hebrew | Message 51 of 65 28 May 2014 at 4:42pm | IP Logged | ||
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You don't start from zero at all, you already speak foreign languages. I think you are just a bit pessimistic, but you can definitely learn more. Don't listen to people who say that it's too late, simply because the opposite happens every day. Just look around this forum.
"Once upon a time... there was a country." I am surprised to see that name again! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| shk00design Triglot Senior Member Canada Joined 4441 days ago 747 posts - 1123 votes Speaks: Cantonese*, English, Mandarin Studies: French | Message 52 of 65 28 May 2014 at 5:10pm | IP Logged | ||
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When you're older, time is not on your side. You have a lot more responsibilities in life. The other is
interest. If you have the time and inclination you can commit yourself into anything. I know a man who became fluent in Japanese in his 40s. Being single he works 9-5 at the office and would go to Japanese class after work. Personally I won't become fluent in more than 5 languages because I spend a lot of time on the computer as a graphic designer. I also perform music with a local band so every week a lot of time is devoted to practicing music. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| eyðimörk Triglot Senior Member France goo.gl/aT4FY7 Joined 4096 days ago 490 posts - 1158 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English, French Studies: Breton, Italian | Message 53 of 65 28 May 2014 at 5:23pm | IP Logged | ||
People say a lot of stupid things that they have heard based on either very old information, very old assumptions, controversial findings, or nothing at all. Then they perpetuate these useless thoughts by taking them as truth, doing everything they can to verify them as true, and sharing their "knowledge" with others. People also say a lot of things that are true or at least plausible and in accordance with current research/thought, of course, but frankly, that's relatively rare in any subject. When it comes to languages, I just don't listen to "people" at all because while people who feel inclined to discuss, say, nutrition or running injuries with me have often read something on the topic, people who want to discuss language learning usually have little experience aside from "failing" to achieve fluency in a third language at school with terrible instruction and minimal hours. It's never the interpreter relatives or all of the archaeologists I studied with who had to pick up a few languages to read ancient texts or foreign scholarship who have a single thing to say about language, for some reason. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Gollum87 Diglot Newbie Yugoslavia Joined 3934 days ago 31 posts - 46 votes Speaks: Serbian*, English Studies: Italian | Message 54 of 65 28 May 2014 at 5:49pm | IP Logged | ||
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Thank you.. :)
Well, I try not to be pessimistic but since I have no big experience, people can say anything and I wouldn't know if they are right or not... 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| rdearman Senior Member United Kingdom rdearman.orgRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5233 days ago 881 posts - 1812 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Italian, French, Mandarin | Message 55 of 65 28 May 2014 at 5:54pm | IP Logged | ||
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If 26 is to old to learn a new language, I'm screwed. I'm 50 this year and contemplating starting Mandarin or Japanese. But given that Steve Kaufmann is learning Korean & Ukrainian and he is in his 70's, I think you'll be ok.
Edited by rdearman on 28 May 2014 at 5:56pm 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Lykeio Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4241 days ago 120 posts - 357 votes | Message 56 of 65 28 May 2014 at 9:11pm | IP Logged | ||
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Gollum do let us entertain ourselves with some logically grounded speculation on this:
Suppose for a moment people are right and it is much harder to learn a language when you're older. What does it entail? Perhaps it is harder to find study time, perhaps material requires more effort...your phonemic inventory takes a bit more effort to get down. In essence, it's slower. Well, so what? Just take longer then! If they're, on the other hand, wrong...well that's self evidently of no import. Language learning is a marathon with stops at inns along the way, not a sprint. People often forget that. Every step no matter how small is progress even it doesn't seem so at the time. Don't think in terms of "being a polyglot" just learn languages. Incidentally I am in my spare time teaching a professor of Physics Classical and Hellenistic Greek. He has several decades on you and no linguistic training (only a smattering of German and French) and it is going swimmingly enough. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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