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Finding the courage to continue | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| ihoop Newbie United States Joined 4611 days ago 29 posts - 66 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Mandarin | Message 1 of 37 02 March 2013 at 4:26pm | IP Logged | ||
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Hey all,
I just thought I would write a short post about something I now consider quite important in language learning. That is, the ability to continue on the path of study even when it feels like you are not progressing at all. I guess part of this is just me writing down some thoughts I have been having after something that happened to me tonight (I will explain later). As some of you may know, I arrived in Taiwan around 6 months ago. At the time, I spoke no Chinese at all. I had a pretty ambitious study plan and was hoping to make relatively quick progress. I grew up in a monolingual society and have never developed anything close to conversation ability in a second language. The truth is, my ambitious study plan did not hold up once I got here. I work full time as an English teacher (8 hours a day, Monday to Friday) and find it really difficult to study Chinese for 3-4 hours a day consistently after work (what can I say, I am tired when I finish work). Of course, being in an almost all English environment all day does not help. I would say that I have realistically studied Chinese for an average of 1.5 hours on most days. 1.5 hours a day of study is really nothing for Chinese.....When you break that up into comprehension, speaking, etc. it really does not amount to a great amount of time. One can only expect relatively slow progress (especially with a language like Chinese). Tonight I was having dinner with some Taiwanese friends at an outdoor restaurant. There were about 6 of us, me being the only foreigner. Of course, they were all speaking Chinese. I don't know why, but I was having a really off night, as far as language goes. Sometimes whole sentences or short exchanges would fly by and I would not catch a single word. I could not even get the "gist" of the conversation. One the inside, I felt so horrible....Here I was, someone who has studied Chinese for 6 months, and I did not even know what was going on. It was extremely demoralizing and left me feeling really bad. But, after the dinner, I tried to take a step back and reflect on my own thoughts. I realized that I am not even conversational in Chinese yet, but I am a world away from the guy who stepped off a plane six months ago. Once in a while I can make a couple sentences of small talk, I can function in most aspects of daily life, and I can occasionally joke around with my friends in Chinese. What else can I expect with only minimal amounts of daily study and a job that keeps me in the English world? I guess what I learned is, don't be too hard on yourself, and just keep going. To me, the idea of comprehending Chinese is still a distant dream, but I have to keep trying. Nothing will be gained by giving up. All my Taiwanese friends who speak conversational English have been studying the language since they were children.... I hope that one day I will look back at this part of my language journey and find it amusing. So, has anyone else had any similar experiences while studying languages? Any positive outcomes? Thanks for reading -Ian Edited by ihoop on 02 March 2013 at 4:29pm 15 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| schoenewaelder Diglot Senior Member Germany Joined 5561 days ago 759 posts - 1197 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: German, Spanish, Dutch | Message 2 of 37 02 March 2013 at 5:17pm | IP Logged | ||
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Obviously language learning is sometimes really hard work. I try not to post anything too demoralising on this forum, as I don't wish to discourage anyone, but as you mentioned it first :) I think one thing that is often underestimated is how difficult immersion is, and especially in relationship to the high anticipations people have beforehand. It is just a bit demoralising everyday to struggle with the language and not have the crutch and/or comfort of your mother tongue, or to feel like a failure when you have to use it. I think I am often happier with my studying when I am back in England. Even choosing cheese in the supermarket is hard work, let alone anything more complicated.
I'm not really a very sociable person, but I really think that all the people I have met in classes were struggling a little bit, even the ones who seemed most confident and at ease. BTW it's seems to me actually amazing that you have learned so much in 6 months based on so little study time. I have met a couple of people who have learned French and German to "functional" (B1-ish) in 6 months by full time immersion, but that seems incredible for Chinese. Edited by schoenewaelder on 02 March 2013 at 5:52pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| htdavidht Diglot Groupie United States Joined 4624 days ago 68 posts - 121 votes Speaks: Spanish*, English Studies: French | Message 3 of 37 02 March 2013 at 10:55pm | IP Logged | ||
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I got immerse in English, coming from Spanish (south America).
Ended up in a situation where I was working in a factory from 7 to 7 (Spanish speaking people all the way down the ensemble line, English speaking supervisors) and English classes from 7 to 11. Yes, I had to run from the job to the classroom. Always get late to class, barely cleaning the oil out my arms and smelling like a sick goat. I could see it on the face of some of the teachers how disgusted they where to see me, some of the teachers where nice though. Finally I get a grip of the English and was able to get a better pay job. Witch allow me to reach better education, and so. Now I am learning French for intellectual/cultural reasons. The point is: I know it is hard, but if you really want/need it, do that sacrifice. It totally worth it and will pay out on the future. I mean if you plan to spend there more than 5 years. 13 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| hrhenry Octoglot Senior Member United States languagehopper.blogs Joined 5131 days ago 1871 posts - 3642 votes Speaks: English*, SpanishC2, ItalianC2, Norwegian, Catalan, Galician, Turkish, Portuguese Studies: Polish, Indonesian, Ojibwe | Message 4 of 37 02 March 2013 at 11:51pm | IP Logged | ||
That "off night" feeling is completely normal. Don't worry about it. If you think about it, you probably have "off" moments in your native language too, although they're different in nature, but off nonetheless. Trust me, you will be able to look back on it all and find it amusing. It'll even be a source of fond memories. R. == 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| tanya b Senior Member United States Joined 4779 days ago 159 posts - 518 votes Speaks: Russian | Message 5 of 37 03 March 2013 at 2:48am | IP Logged | ||
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First of all, don't doubt your courage, you are anything but a wimp when it comes to languages. You have chosen to study a language that is beyond the reach of most mortals, and not only that you have immersed yourself in the language without any prior formal study. It's like jumping out of an airplane and not knowing whether your parachute is going to open.
Because Mandarin is a tonal language, the learning curve is much steeper. Because I am not a good listener and easily distracted, I don't know if I could ever discern the subtle differences between the tones, especially when they are spoken at lightning speed. Taiwan could be the ideal place for you to cultivate those special listening skills. But at six months, it is too early to tell whether you will succeed or fail, so don't panic. I am a patient plodder and for me, reaching fluency is like pushing a heavy stone up a hill and it took me 2 1/2-3 years before I reached a plateau where I could understand Russian and Armenian TV shows and I consider TV watching to be the gateway to true fluency especially for those who don't live in the TL country. If its possible, it might make more sense to study Mandarin in the morning when your mind is clear and have a one hour language devotional consisting mainly of reviews. Forget the flashy stuff. Just the basics--a grammar book, a dictionary and some CDs may be the only tools you need. 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| ling Diglot Groupie Taiwan Joined 4587 days ago 61 posts - 94 votes Speaks: English*, Mandarin Studies: Indonesian, Thai | Message 6 of 37 03 March 2013 at 1:11pm | IP Logged | ||
Keep in mind that some Taiwanese (rather than Mandarin) might have been mixed into the conversations, especially if you live outside of Taipei. It can be frustrating, and we all have off days. Still, try to engage people one on one if you can. Use what you learn from your study materials (keep in mind that most published Chinese study materials teach you Beijing Mandarin), and try to stretch your limits. You will improve, and the experience is rewarding. Are you in Taipei? It's been cold these last two days! 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| tarvos Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member China likeapolyglot.wordpr Joined 4708 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 7 of 37 03 March 2013 at 1:31pm | IP Logged | ||
Ironic, given that it's the most spoken language on earth natively. If anything, feel consoled that it is possible to learn it. Chinese is not impossible. You've probably made great strides, so keep going. Edited by tarvos on 03 March 2013 at 1:32pm 6 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| beano Diglot Senior Member United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4623 days ago 1049 posts - 2152 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Russian, Serbian, Hungarian | Message 8 of 37 03 March 2013 at 4:32pm | IP Logged | ||
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It sounds to me as if you're actually doing alright. Six months is not a long time in terms of learning a
language, especially when you are dealing with one completely unrelated to your own and it's the first language you have seriously tried to learn. Moreover, it uses a complex writing system. As you have discovered, being in a country where your target language is spoken does not necessarily equal total immersion. You work long hours in an English-speaking position and you have to fit your Chinese studies around that. But imagine a similar situation in reverse, a Chinese immigrant arrives in Spain with no Spanish and finds work within the Chinese community where he can speak Mandarin. At what level do you think his Spanish would be after 6 months? Edited by beano on 04 March 2013 at 11:19am 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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