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What achievements are you proud of? | ||
Tags: Success Story | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| 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 1 of 34 01 April 2014 at 12:03pm | IP Logged |
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We've talked about strengths, weaknesses, fluency, phonology, and many other subjects
here at HTLAL. We've been modest about who we are and what we do, and modesty is an undervalued trait, but here's the real thing that interests me: What concrete events requiring the use of your TL are you proud of? They can be cultural, grammatical, and so on and so forth, but what do you feel you have achieved using your TL that made you go "wow, didn't know I could do that?" For me, it was doing an interview for a Breton radio station entirely in Breton (though it was pre-rehearsed beforehand because my spoken Breton leaves something to be desired). 9 persons have voted this message useful | |
| sillygoose1 Tetraglot Senior Member United States Joined 4633 days ago 566 posts - 814 votes Speaks: English*, Italian, Spanish, French Studies: German, Latin | Message 2 of 34 01 April 2014 at 1:47pm | IP Logged |
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I'm proud that I haven't given up on French & Spanish for the last two years, that I've gotten myself to a level where I can watch tv/movies comfortably without subs, that I didn't suffer too much to wanderlust, and that because of language learning I gained a new hobby in reading novels/philosophy for pleasure.
6 persons have voted this message useful | |
| luke Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 7202 days ago 3133 posts - 4351 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Esperanto, French | Message 3 of 34 01 April 2014 at 2:46pm | IP Logged |
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The thing I feel best about is learning how to learn French and Spanish. Early on, I tried various popular books, courses, and approaches. Through the process of experimentation, as well as getting and sharing ideas on this site, I've found a way. I still use a multi-track approach, but today it's more because I know what works for me. That is 1/2 the battle. The other 1/2 is to keep going. With the right approach, the 2nd 1/2 isn't an issue.
3 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Radioclare Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom timeofftakeoff.com Joined 4580 days ago 689 posts - 1119 votes Speaks: English*, German, Esperanto Studies: Croatian, Serbian, Macedonian | Message 4 of 34 01 April 2014 at 3:36pm | IP Logged |
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For me the proudest moment when I read my first novel ('Der Vorleser') in German. It took about two months and with hindsight I probably didn't understand about 50% of the content, but it was the first time I'd read something in a foreign language so I was extremely excited.
In Esperanto it would be in 2009 when I was invited to be a guest speaker at the annual meeting of a local group. Public speaking is really not my thing and I was given a 90-minute slot to fill. I was absolutely terrified to start with but started to relax as I got further into it and people actually laughed at my (rather weak!) jokes. When I'd finished I was very proud to have got through it without keeling over or talking gibberish. In Croatian it would be last summer when I managed to have my first conversation with a person with whom I had no other common language (the landlady at an apartment where I was staying). It was far from an inspiring performance grammatically but it was a really good feeling just to be able to understand what another person was saying and reply in a way that made sense. She was amazed that a foreigner had tried to learn the language and came round with fresh burek for us the next day. I remember thinking that all the studying seemed worth it for free burek! 3 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6594 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 5 of 34 01 April 2014 at 3:44pm | IP Logged |
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The ones listed here, for example.
Also the concept of passing for a native is kinda meaningless to me, since I'm an introvert, I speak quite little, and I prefer deep conversations. (ie I can't imagine speaking to someone for more than two minutes and not mentioning my name and where I'm from) So for me the relevant concept is "fitting in", which includes sounding native-like enough when I do speak, along with the appropriate behaviour. I've done it in Finland and Poland so far. My looks are probably suitable enough for anywhere in Europe. I also love using the ticket machines and online timetable search engines. Apart from Finnish and Polish, I've interacted with machines in Swedish and used sites in Italian and Croatian too (though I still haven't been there). And this January my grandma broke a leg when we were in Finland. I accompanied her at the hospital for a whole day. Edited by Serpent on 01 April 2014 at 8:40pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| garyb Triglot Senior Member ScotlandRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5204 days ago 1468 posts - 2413 votes Speaks: English*, Italian, French Studies: Spanish | Message 6 of 34 01 April 2014 at 4:42pm | IP Logged |
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It's a bit clichéd, and not even particularly difficult in terms of the language ability required, but simple things like buying train/bus tickets or doing a transaction in a shop in the country often feel like achievements, just because I'm using the language to successfully get something done and the tickets or purchases are hard evidence that I did it correctly. And if I can fit in a few other questions about timetables or even some small talk or a little joke during the process, then all the better. Similarly, the first proper conversation in a new language is hard to forget, even when I've had hundreds of much better ones since.
5 persons have voted this message useful | |
| sctroyenne Diglot Senior Member United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5388 days ago 739 posts - 1312 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: Spanish, Irish | Message 7 of 34 01 April 2014 at 5:52pm | IP Logged |
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I'm proud of doing four seperate job interviews in French (or half French/half English)
and getting offers from each one. I'm also proud of getting second place in a dictée for French learners (only one mistake away from first). I'm proud of finally sticking with Irish after a few false starts, completing two whole courses so far (the short Pimsleur one and the beginning level of Gaeilge gan Stró as well as a full Memrise course based it). And I'm proud of actually completing the Spanish Pimsleur and Michel Thomas courses and reading through MAdrigal's Magical Key to Spanish rather than leaving them all half finished (like I have with other methods). 3 persons have voted this message useful | |
| montmorency Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4825 days ago 2371 posts - 3676 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Danish, Welsh | Message 8 of 34 01 April 2014 at 6:50pm | IP Logged |
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Not throwing my teddy bear out of the pram every time the HTLAL forum goes for another of its interminable walks around the block, or spits at me in the eye with a database error. 5 persons have voted this message useful |
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