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Most annoying: beginning, middle or end? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| Jinx Triglot Senior Member Germany reverbnation.co Joined 5701 days ago 1085 posts - 1879 votes  Speaks: English*, German, French Studies: Catalan, Dutch, Esperanto, Croatian, Serbian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Italian, Spanish, Yiddish | Message 9 of 49 05 February 2012 at 12:35am | IP Logged | ||
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For me, the beginning is the most fun. You're increasing your knowledge SO fast! With some languages, you can start learning them from scratch on Saturday and be writing a paragraph in the language about yourself on Monday. Wow! :)
Advanced, however, is really irritating. I no longer get a kick out of the things I can do right, and conversely, I am constantly noticing things I do wrong. And the worst part is that natives tell me "You speak our language perfectly!" while I am metaphorically staring at the huge difference in fluidity and idiom between their speech and mine. People seem less eager to help you when you're advanced, and it's really easy to stagnate. 12 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| hjordis Senior Member United States snapshotsoftheworld. Joined 5194 days ago 209 posts - 264 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, German, Spanish, Japanese | Message 10 of 49 05 February 2012 at 1:33am | IP Logged | ||
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The very beginning when you know all of 5 words, nothing is sticking, and you're having trouble picking up inertia(I go through this stage with some languages and not others though.) I generally like the beginning, just not the VERY beginning.
However, I think I find the stage where, as druckfehler put it "the newness has worn off, but you're still at a level where you're extremely restricted by your lack of knowledge." the worst. I haven't gotten anything completely advanced yet, so I'm not sure how I'll feel about it. Maybe I'll get bored! 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6605 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 11 of 49 05 February 2012 at 1:43am | IP Logged | ||
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Now that I've got addicted to AJATT-style learning, the beginning is the least fun part, except for languages where I understand a lot - previously Italian and Spanish, now Dutch.
I suppose I just need to learn how to begin without getting a textbook and going to lesson one. pre-AJATT, the intermediate level was the most annoying one, but not anymore. especially after I admitted to myself I was too keen on this forum's criteria - it's quite a lame reason to learn to speak if you just want to switch the language to "basic fluency" asap. Edited by Serpent on 05 February 2012 at 1:45am 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Icaria909 Senior Member United States Joined 5599 days ago 201 posts - 346 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 12 of 49 05 February 2012 at 1:59am | IP Logged | ||
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I hate the middle. I think learning a language is like trying to walk through a forest.
In the beginning, I can trace my steps back to where I began and I always feel like I'm making giant leaps of progress. Intermediate is like being in the middle of the forest. You're disoriented because you cannot remember everything you've learned, so you try and retrace your steps or walk around in circles trying to eventually make it to the other side of the forest. After a long time being lost, you see the light at the end of the path and are advanced. For me, the dark intermediate portion of learning a language can be the most disheartening part of learning. But I'm sure becoming advanced makes it all worth it :) 10 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Brun Ugle Diglot Senior Member Norway brunugle.wordpress.c Joined 6628 days ago 1292 posts - 1766 votes Speaks: English*, NorwegianC1 Studies: Japanese, Esperanto, Spanish, Finnish | Message 13 of 49 05 February 2012 at 10:25am | IP Logged | ||
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I think the middle is the worst. In the beginning, it's new and exciting. Also the learning curve is very steep. Everything you learn is a huge leap forward. Going from knowing one word to knowing two is doubling your knowledge. The language is like a new romance. Everything is exciting and new.
It the middle, you don't have that feeling. You study and study, but it doesn't seem like you're making any progress. Also, there are usually few books for learners at this level. There are often books calling themselves advanced, but in my opinion, they rarely are. So you come to a point where you are too advanced for learner's materials, but still not able to use native materials with an feeling of comfort. You get a feeling of "I'm never going to know this language." That is frustrating. Though at some point it all comes together at once and it's like jumping up a cliff. You go from feeling you can't do anything worthwhile in the language, to feeling like you are really starting to "know" it. It's a wonderful feeling when you can start to read books or what movies and it's actually comfortable and fun rather than hard work. I'm starting to get to this level in Japanese, at least in reading, and it's great! At the advanced level, most of the romance seems to wear off. The language now longer has that exotic feel. It becomes as common and ordinary as your native language. It's still nice to know it and be able to use it, but you no longer see it or hear it in the same way. It's just a comfortable old shoe. This is where I am in Norwegian. I rarely feel that I'm speaking a foreign language. I hardly even notice the language at all. I'm just communicating and there is no excitement. However, there is no longer any pain either. 7 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| tractor Tetraglot Senior Member Norway Joined 5461 days ago 1349 posts - 2292 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, English, Spanish, Catalan Studies: French, German, Latin | Message 14 of 49 05 February 2012 at 11:54am | IP Logged | ||
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I have to agree with Icaria909 and Brun Ugle: The middle is the worst.
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| pesahson Diglot Senior Member Poland Joined 5736 days ago 448 posts - 840 votes Speaks: Polish*, English Studies: French, Portuguese, Norwegian | Message 15 of 49 05 February 2012 at 7:03pm | IP Logged | ||
That's interesting, because I always found intermediate frustrating too, like most people in this thread. So is it solely because of getting materials, figuering it all by yourself? I guess by the time you're intermediate you have some experience how to learn so that would make sense. After getting the basics, you just have to keep going. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6605 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 16 of 49 05 February 2012 at 8:18pm | IP Logged | ||
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Yeah, because I enjoy every minute of my learning :)
It's not like I totally avoid materials for learners, but I choose those that are interesting for me. Good examples are the GLOSS site and specialized textbooks, such as those for medical students (I'm not even one, I'm just interested) or economists, lawyers, opera singers or what have you (the rest are examples. medical textbooks are very much enough for me). I do enjoy what I'm now doing as a beginner though, LR etc. I just wish I could benefit more from things like watching football or reading twitter. 4 persons have voted this message useful |
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