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Weird Things Language Learning Teaches | ||
Tags: Foreign Languages | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| JiEunNinja Diglot Groupie United States Joined 4202 days ago 64 posts - 115 votes  Speaks: English*, Korean Studies: Spanish, Japanese | Message 1 of 13 19 August 2013 at 2:24am | IP Logged |
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I was thinking over my experience learning Korean and realized it has made me a
completely different person. Obviously, language learning exercises patience and perseverance in addition to learning about a new culture. But I realized studying Korean taught me a lot more than just that. For instance, I've become a lot more tolerant of other dialects in my native English. At first I was definitely one of those people who cringed when others used the word "ain't." But after awhile, I realized other languages had those little things too. Substandard usage isn't wrong, just different, and it's wrong to judge someone because they speak with an accent. I think it's a hard concept to understand if you don't study another language and see the situation from the outside looking in. Also, I used to have this amazing ability to go on and on about a topic. (This was mainly when writing, say an essay.) This came in handy during high school, but when I got into college, I realized (subconsciously, I suppose) that I didn't need as many words to express myself. I think because in Korean, my vocabulary was so limited, I realized I could say what I needed to in simpler, less wordy ways. I used to repeat myself a lot in essays (without even realizing.) The problem cleared up with out me even realizing or trying. But I can barely meet page minimums anymore. I can say so much so concisely. Darn. Haha. I've also become A LOT more understanding with non-native English speakers. I was one of those jerks who would get impatient and treat them rudely. I'm glad I realized how hard it can be to try speaking another language. Those people need kindness, not judgment. I became a lot better at helping them communicate with me. I can't remember anymore things in my own life, but I wanted to know if anyone else had the same experience. Has learning other languages changed your outlook/personality in ways you didn't expect? Has the experience shown you things you might not have noticed otherwise? 16 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Hekje Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 4701 days ago 842 posts - 1330 votes Speaks: English*, Dutch Studies: French, Indonesian | Message 2 of 13 19 August 2013 at 5:07am | IP Logged |
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All of the above, plus massive respect for language learners.
I have a friend who, for as long as I can remember, dabbled in languages. She speaks Egyptian Arabic and Mandarin fluently and speaks a little bit of Russian, Italian, and German. When we were 11 and 12 I thought, "Oh, that's nice, Michelle has a hobby." Now when I think about all the work she's put in, my jaw drops. I can't overemphasize how much respect I have for people who put in the hours. 8 persons have voted this message useful | |
| JiEunNinja Diglot Groupie United States Joined 4202 days ago 64 posts - 115 votes Speaks: English*, Korean Studies: Spanish, Japanese | Message 3 of 13 19 August 2013 at 5:49am | IP Logged |
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Seriously though. It takes so much patience. Especially for a kid that young. I studied
some a bit when I was a kid, but I really didn't work hard enough to actually learn anything useful. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Chung Diglot Senior Member Joined 7154 days ago 4228 posts - 8259 votes 20 sounds Speaks: English*, French Studies: Polish, Slovak, Uzbek, Turkish, Korean, Finnish | Message 4 of 13 19 August 2013 at 5:27pm | IP Logged |
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See "What have you learned about language learning?" for related discussion.
1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Cristianoo Triglot Senior Member Brazil https://projetopoligRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4119 days ago 175 posts - 289 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, FrenchB2, English Studies: Russian | Message 5 of 13 19 August 2013 at 7:35pm | IP Logged |
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Well, English was the first foreigner language I learned. To be honest, for a non-english
speaker, learning English is like opening the world for you. There are so much books, movies, newspapers, ... pretty much everything is in English. Not to mention travelling. Now I'm studying French. I'm just a beginner, but I'm seeing a whole new francophone world opening in front of my eyes (again), and I just wonder if for every language you learn this is going to happen. If so, I want to learn then all! 11 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Theycalme_Jane Diglot Newbie United Kingdom theafrikaanschalleng Joined 4123 days ago 28 posts - 48 votes Speaks: German*, English | Message 6 of 13 20 August 2013 at 3:25pm | IP Logged |
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Learning Afrikaans and Arabic I learned how languages can be so closely related to
religion. In Afrikaans, I've been told, you wouldn't say "Oh my God" as that would not be polite. In Arabic you use "inshallah" and "Salamu alaykum", which are inherently Islamic, on an everyday basis, whether you're a Muslim or not. Arabic doesn't just have a plural, but also a dural, that is used only for two things/people. Learning Japanese I found that they had weird concepts of counting, having particular counter words to mark any specific amounts, e.g. of human beings, pens, papers,...each category being based on common attributes. The Japanese also have an amazing repertoire of onomatopoeia, which they use as everyday language. I heard of languages that have a grammatical case of lions or more words for snow or more shades of green than others. Edited by Theycalme_Jane on 20 August 2013 at 3:27pm 3 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Cavesa Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 5007 days ago 3277 posts - 6779 votes Speaks: Czech*, FrenchC2, EnglishC1 Studies: Spanish, German, Italian | Message 7 of 13 20 August 2013 at 4:04pm | IP Logged |
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I hoped to see some really weird things :-(
So, let me rectify this. The Weird Things languages (or sometimes just the courses) taght me: 1.Doesn't matter how good you are. Most French will never think you actually speak French. 2.You should learn words like campanile before you can order a pizza. After all, Italy is a religious country whose inhabitants spend a lot of time in churches with campaniles. 3.Most usual verbs are irregular. 4.Most people suddenly consider you to be a genious. How else could you learn another language? Hard work? What a crazy idea. 5.EU is not one market and foreigners are still discriminated. Don't believe the politicians, look at the amazon.fr delivery fees or try to subscribe to lovefilm site. Or to watch Doctor Who on the BBC website. 6.People who have never learnt a language always know the best what and how you should learn. 7.The more colourful a textbook is and the more pictures there are, the more useless it is. Contrary to textbooks of natural sciences. Edited by Cavesa on 20 August 2013 at 4:05pm 5 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Theycalme_Jane Diglot Newbie United Kingdom theafrikaanschalleng Joined 4123 days ago 28 posts - 48 votes Speaks: German*, English | Message 8 of 13 20 August 2013 at 4:41pm | IP Logged |
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I am sorry "really weird things" just really hasn't been defined beforehand and what
makes your statements more "weird" than those that'd been brought up by others here. I admit what I brought up were things I was fascinated by. That doesn't mean they're weird, but at least the counters for Japanese seemed odd to me. And everyone is entitled to an opinion of what they find weird, right? As for your enumeration: 1. seemed rather obvious, though not verifiable, to me, I don't get what 4. is all about, 5. discrimination is a pretty strong word. I'm also not sure how much is discrimination and how much is mere practicability and accordance with the legal system. 3. and 6. would be cool to have your sources for those statements, but 3. seemed pretty obvious, at least in English. The irregular verbs haven't changed historically from Anglo-Saxon times, merely because they've been so constantly used. 7. what does that have got to do with learning a language? Useless being defined as "useless" for the purpose of learning a language? Because... it really depends what you need the pictures for in the first place. Edited by Theycalme_Jane on 20 August 2013 at 4:44pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
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