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Alpha-males and linguaphiles | ||
Tags: Psychology | Gender | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion | ( Topic Closed) |  |
| Retinend Triglot Senior Member SpainRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4308 days ago 283 posts - 557 votes  Speaks: English*, German, Spanish Studies: Arabic (Written), French | Message 1 of 19 01 May 2014 at 10:22pm | IP Logged | ||
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The topic is sketchy. Today I read some articles from a blog of a kind I don't normally read,
called "returnofkings", which is mainly about gender politics from an anti-Feminism point of view. To my surprise, I found this article in a large section of "language"-tagged posts: "15 Language Learning Tips for Self Study" link It would be insightful enough for the uninitiated. It also uncannily accords with the general wisdom here at HTLAL, and this reminded me that the polyglot Stuart Jay Raj is well into "The Game"-like analysis of gender behaviour (I'm leaving this vague so as not to misrepresent him) and that the notorious, but presumably experienced language learner Cristoph Clugston is a self-regarding "alpha male" if I've ever seen one. Is this culture of gym-attending "alpha males" one that regularly crosses over with the "linguaphile" (I'll hold off from saying "polyglot" to cast a wider net). Are there many of this type on this very forum? 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
 DavidStyles Octoglot Pro Member United Kingdom Joined 3941 days ago 82 posts - 179 votes Speaks: English*, German, Italian, Spanish, Latin, French, Portuguese, Norwegian Studies: Mandarin, Russian, Swedish, Danish, Serbian, Arabic (Egyptian) Personal Language Map | Message 2 of 19 01 May 2014 at 10:30pm | IP Logged | ||
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People who like to impress people and conquer things that interest them, may do so in various areas of life. I know I do.
Languages interest me intrinsically as well as culturally, and I prefer to be able to speak someone's language, partly as that helps me maintain my comfortable position of social dominance. To be clear, I'm not a must-have-dominance-at-all-costs sort; I just tend to naturally end up with people giving me respect, so I often have to work quite hard to then be actually worthy of the respect I'm given. Also, narcissistic sorts in general will tend to want to engage in self-improvement. Being happy with oneself, but not content. This fuels the fire of language learning, I think :) 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6597 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 3 of 19 01 May 2014 at 11:41pm | IP Logged | ||
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Yeah guys, that's how (some of) you come across when you compare language learning to sports.
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| tastyonions Triglot Senior Member United States goo.gl/UIdChYRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4665 days ago 1044 posts - 1823 votes Speaks: English*, French, Spanish Studies: Italian | Message 4 of 19 01 May 2014 at 11:50pm | IP Logged | ||
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When I see "self-proclaimed alpha male who moved to Asia" I think: www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=LBH
Anyway, the article is sound advice, though that is hard to say for other stuff there. Edited by tastyonions on 01 May 2014 at 11:51pm 6 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Solfrid Cristin Heptaglot Winner TAC 2011 & 2012 Senior Member Norway Joined 5334 days ago 4143 posts - 8864 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, Spanish, Swedish, French, English, German, Italian Studies: Russian | Message 5 of 19 01 May 2014 at 11:55pm | IP Logged | ||
It is of course hard to tell, since most of the people here have no pictures or videos of themselves to show whether they are butch Clugston types, but I think we would have noticed "the Alpha Male" just from his texts. As for respect, that is something people get from me based on their insight, kindness, humour and intellect. Typical examples would be emk, Iversen, Chung, Ogrim, Iguanamon and many others. I have no idea of their gym attendance or six packs, nor do I care. I know nothing of Stuart Jay Raj, so I can make no comments about him. As for Clugston I have just found videos of him speaking badly about other polyglots, but never any of himself speaking foreign languages. He may of course fill my four criteria for people I respect, but so far I have found no evidence of that. So to conclude: I have seen no general trend of the most impressive males here being anti feminist muscle men, but it is possible - though improbable. And I need to add that I find it difficult to treat someone with such extreme views intellectually. Making broad statements about half the population of the planet makes little sense to me. Edited by Solfrid Cristin on 02 May 2014 at 12:13am 8 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| tastyonions Triglot Senior Member United States goo.gl/UIdChYRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4665 days ago 1044 posts - 1823 votes Speaks: English*, French, Spanish Studies: Italian | Message 6 of 19 02 May 2014 at 12:02am | IP Logged | ||
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He mutters a few half-sentences in Spanish occasionally, though his videos are normally long enough that it would be an ordeal trying to find them. :-)
3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Retinend Triglot Senior Member SpainRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4308 days ago 283 posts - 557 votes Speaks: English*, German, Spanish Studies: Arabic (Written), French | Message 7 of 19 02 May 2014 at 12:02am | IP Logged | ||
I've been hunting for the really objectionable stuff but that's the worst example. All these things are just as moronic as any typical male backpacker. The majority of people are looking to buy an experience, there's nothing essentially feminine about being a clueless anglophone backpacker. 5 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Lykeio Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4244 days ago 120 posts - 357 votes | Message 8 of 19 02 May 2014 at 12:15am | IP Logged | ||
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Oh my I just clicked on that. What the hell? I've never understood the kind of person
who finds it permissible to stereotype an entire gender (race, religion etc). Not just for any ethical reasons but because it's really, really, awful. Also, the fact that these boys are discussing women as if they're some whole other species really tells you how much experience they must have with them... Anyway I'm sure evolutionary biologists would be appalled and bemused if such character ever represented the "alpha male" lol. However if you're describing it here as a generic "gym goer" then...well, yeah, me. I'm quite physically fit, always have been, enjoy the gym. I've played several sports for years, even competed in some at various levels, and have a predilection for combat sports. I also love languages and culture and while I'm not the nicest guy I'm not an arsehole. Or rather I deliberately try not to be. So while I love physical exertion I do hope I'm a world away from that set of people and I suspect many others here are from the same mould. 4 persons have voted this message useful |
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