DaraghM Diglot Senior Member Ireland Joined 6151 days ago 1947 posts - 2923 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French, Russian, Hungarian
| Message 1 of 7 30 March 2012 at 11:13am | IP Logged |
Most of the time, I try to vary my language study between languages on a daily or weekly basis. However, when I increase the time I spend with one particular language, the time of year seems to dictate the preference. If it's winter, I find myself veering towards Hungarian and Russian. The winter language could also be some other Slavic, Finno-Ugric or Baltic language. In summer, the tendency is towards the Romance languages.
Why is this ? I'm not sure. I used to think I was forming incorrect associations between the countries, their climates and their languages. Most of the countries in the winter category are actually much warmer than Ireland in the summer. Now I think it's to do with their case systems. I find it easier to concentrate when the weather is cooler, and the languages in the winter category require more concentration as an English speaker.
Does anyone else have seasonal preferences for their languages ?
1 person has 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 2 of 7 30 March 2012 at 2:00pm | IP Logged |
And yet most people appear to think this is bullshit... :S
For me the weather itself doesn't matter, but what happens at this time does. For example, what football (soccer) matches are on - I normally do far less Romanian, Danish, Ukrainian when these countries' leagues have a winter break (longer than say Italy's). I also love long rides by bus/tram/trolleybus, and when it's not cold I don't mind waiting and I usually read (so I read more in warm weather). In general, for me the phase of the cycle affects things way more. (and the various phases are actually referred to as the winter, spring, summer, autumn phases - my personal seasons are more important for me)
Though what exactly I perceive as romantic/calm/exciting/etc also varies a lot.
Edited by Serpent on 30 March 2012 at 2:00pm
1 person has voted this message useful
|
Chung Diglot Senior Member Joined 7156 days ago 4228 posts - 8259 votes 20 sounds Speaks: English*, French Studies: Polish, Slovak, Uzbek, Turkish, Korean, Finnish
| Message 3 of 7 30 March 2012 at 6:57pm | IP Logged |
DaraghM wrote:
Most of the time, I try to vary my language study between languages on a daily or weekly basis. However, when I increase the time I spend with one particular language, the time of year seems to dictate the preference. If it's winter, I find myself veering towards Hungarian and Russian. The winter language could also be some other Slavic, Finno-Ugric or Baltic language. In summer, the tendency is towards the Romance languages.
Why is this ? I'm not sure. I used to think I was forming incorrect associations between the countries, their climates and their languages. Most of the countries in the winter category are actually much warmer than Ireland in the summer. Now I think it's to do with their case systems. I find it easier to concentrate when the weather is cooler, and the languages in the winter category require more concentration as an English speaker.
Does anyone else have seasonal preferences for their languages ?
|
|
|
It doesn't seem like it. I've been an Uralic-Balto-Slavonic "perennial" for several years now.
1 person has voted this message useful
|
arturs Triglot Senior Member Latvia Joined 5271 days ago 278 posts - 408 votes Speaks: Latvian*, Russian, English
| Message 4 of 7 31 March 2012 at 8:16am | IP Logged |
Winter - German, French
Spring - Swedish, Dutch
Summer - Arabic
Autumn - German
That is how it seems to be for me. Not that I learn German only in autumn and winter, but at that time I somehow have more motivation for it.
1 person has voted this message useful
|
Mae Trilingual Octoglot Pro Member Germany Joined 4991 days ago 299 posts - 499 votes Speaks: German*, SpanishC2*, Swiss-German*, FrenchC2, EnglishC2, ItalianB2, Dutch, Portuguese Studies: Russian, Swedish Personal Language Map
| Message 5 of 7 31 March 2012 at 1:00pm | IP Logged |
Spring & summer: Go for Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French, etc. - You'll be
able to sing to the beat of the latest hits and to understand what Jessy Matador says in
"Allez, Ola, Ole" or what Michel Telo sings about in "Ai Se Eu Te Pego"!
Autumn & winter: Go for German, Scandinavian Languages, Slavic Languages, etc. -
You'll be able to say something more thank just "Prost", "Skal" or "Na zdorovje" when
drinking Beer, Vodka or Slivo at the Christmas Market. :-)
1 person has voted this message useful
|
hrhenry Octoglot Senior Member United States languagehopper.blogs Joined 5130 days ago 1871 posts - 3642 votes Speaks: English*, SpanishC2, ItalianC2, Norwegian, Catalan, Galician, Turkish, Portuguese Studies: Polish, Indonesian, Ojibwe
| Message 6 of 7 31 March 2012 at 4:28pm | IP Logged |
Maybe it has to do with your own seasons, not any particular season associated with a language.
I would definitely consider Hungarian or Russian much more difficult than a romance language, requiring more concentrated time and effort. Maybe you subconsciously are thinking you'll be indoors more in the winter and therefore can dedicate more time to a more difficult language, whereas in summer you want to be outdoors and choose "easier" languages.
I know I set up my study time differently depending on the seasons and my ability to enjoy the outdoors more.
Just a thought.
R.
==
Edited by hrhenry on 31 March 2012 at 4:47pm
1 person has voted this message useful
|
iguanamon Pentaglot Senior Member Virgin Islands Speaks: Ladino Joined 5262 days ago 2241 posts - 6731 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Creole (French)
| Message 7 of 7 31 March 2012 at 4:43pm | IP Logged |
Seasons? What are seasons?
3 persons have voted this message useful
|