|
 |
Rubbish at languages | ||
Tags: Talent | Difficulty | ||
Share with:
| ||
 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| Fuenf_Katzen Diglot Senior Member United States notjustajd.wordpress Joined 4366 days ago 337 posts - 476 votes  Speaks: English*, German Studies: Polish, Ukrainian, Afrikaans | Message 9 of 22 20 June 2014 at 4:03am | IP Logged | |||||
|
There would definitely be some people who really aren't able to learn languages easily (okay, maybe "rubbish" is a little too strong, but surely there are those who naturally have a much harder time). I'm sure it's very possible to have as difficult a time in languages as I do in math. I will say I'm terrible at math, and all of my standardized scores will back me up on that! I'm sure if I **really** wanted to get better at math, I could do it, but it would take a lot more time, and I have other priorities.
But probably most people do limit themselves or they underestimate how much work really goes into learning a language. If you're stuck in the beginner stage for several months, that probably leads to thinking there is no language talent. Even those who genuinely are "bad at languages," they would still be able to make some degree of progress, but it would take time, which most people who don't have a need for won't want to give. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| beano Diglot Senior Member United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4619 days ago 1049 posts - 2152 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Russian, Serbian, Hungarian | Message 10 of 22 20 June 2014 at 11:56am | IP Logged | |||||
|
Not many people have a solid grasp of calculus but the vast majority have a decent set of maths skills which equip them for everyday life. Not many people say that they just "can't do numbers"
Yet many othwerise intelligent people make this claim about languages. Are there significant amounts of people in Norway and The Netherlands who just don't understand English because they don't have a "language head"? Yet I'm sure a lot of Canadians would make precisely this claim about French, even though that language is firmly embedded in their society. I think it all comes down to needs and wants. 3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Jeffers Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4906 days ago 2151 posts - 3960 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Hindi, Ancient Greek, French, Sanskrit, German | Message 11 of 22 20 June 2014 at 12:03pm | IP Logged | |||||
At first I was going to disagree, then I realized you must have said this as a joke. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Elenia Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom lilyonlife.blog Joined 3853 days ago 239 posts - 327 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: German, Swedish, Esperanto | Message 12 of 22 20 June 2014 at 12:48pm | IP Logged | |||||
|
I'm sure that some people have a harder time learning languages, especially in formal and
group settings, as there's little room for adaptation to one students needs. All of my siblings are dyslexic, as well as quite a large number of my friends. Although they are all exception in certain areas, and I can think of at least one who would be far better suited to language learning than me, their confidence when it comes to language learning is much lower and so they rarely ever try. 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Stolan Senior Member United States Joined 4029 days ago 274 posts - 368 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Thai, Lowland Scots Studies: Arabic (classical), Cantonese | Message 13 of 22 20 June 2014 at 4:03pm | IP Logged | |||||
People think things and they are true for them. But actually wanting to learn something matters, English pop culture is an incentive, what is the one for French? 3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Jeffers Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4906 days ago 2151 posts - 3960 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Hindi, Ancient Greek, French, Sanskrit, German | Message 14 of 22 20 June 2014 at 4:47pm | IP Logged | |||||
That's an excellent point, Stolan. A lot of people do well with English because the TV shows they watch, the music they listen to, etc, are mostly in English. I too would like to know what incentives there are for French. There are BDs of course, but for most students that is too "geeky". For many adults there are classic films, but again that holds little appeal to most students. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| tarvos Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member China likeapolyglot.wordpr Joined 4704 days ago 5310 posts - 9399 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English, Swedish, French, Russian, German, Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Afrikaans Studies: Greek, Modern Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Korean, Esperanto, Finnish | Message 15 of 22 20 June 2014 at 8:41pm | IP Logged | |||||
|
After the polyglot gathering I feel rubbish at languages :D
6 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| mick33 Senior Member United States Joined 5921 days ago 1335 posts - 1632 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Finnish Studies: Thai, Polish, Afrikaans, Hindi, Hungarian, Italian, Spanish, Swedish | Message 16 of 22 21 June 2014 at 12:15am | IP Logged | |||||
|
If I hear anyone claim to be rubbish at learning languages, I hope this actually means something like, "I don't learn them as quickly as other people seem to" or, "I don't immediately get the results I would like to get when I try to learn languages". Both statements could mean that the person can learn languages, but may lack confidence or just not know how an effective way to do so. It could also mean, "I tried to learn language X (I could have used any language here) but gave up because it's just too hard. I can't see how anybody can speak or write in that language, it's impossible." and thus conclude that "I can't learn any language but the one I already learnt from birth." This last one is probably false and might mean that the failed learner quit too soon.
Having written that, I do believe that talent exists and that some people are more innately talented than the rest of us, although having innate talent in some area(s) doesn't automatically guarantee success, one still has to work (and work hard) to accomplish great things. If people can be innately talented in some things they could also be awful in other things, for example I have a good memory and therefore I can usually learn vocabulary words very quickly or read a passage from a book or website once and remember most of it, but I have always struggled a lot with mathematics because it seems to make little sense to me. Edited by mick33 on 21 June 2014 at 12:52am 1 person has voted this message useful |
|  | 
Printable version
|
| Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization. |
