|
 |
Being single and learning languages | ||
Tags: Relationship | Time to learn | ||
Share with:
| ||
 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| Ari Heptaglot Senior Member Norway Joined 6583 days ago 2314 posts - 5695 votes  Speaks: Swedish*, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin, Cantonese Studies: Czech, Latin, German | Message 33 of 43 06 April 2011 at 10:26am | IP Logged | |||||
|
The solution is long-distance relationships!
Also, yes, being in a relationship takes time away from everything. And I see nothing strange about feeling that you don't want to give up that much of your time and freedom. There is nothing self-evident about family and children (or sex) being more important than self-realization. Or the other way around, for that matter. For me personally, while language learning is not the be-all end-all of my existance, I have several hobbies that are really important to me and collectively they take up a lot of time. Whenever I'm in a (short-distance) relationship, I feel I have less time to devote to these things that I love doing. 3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| patuco Diglot Moderator Gibraltar Joined 7016 days ago 3795 posts - 4268 votes Speaks: Spanish, English* Personal Language Map | Message 34 of 43 07 April 2011 at 12:35am | IP Logged | |||||
...and, at the risk of being labelled a traitor, can I mention "other hobbies" too? Although...
Me neither! 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Delaunay Pentaglot Newbie Hungary Joined 4990 days ago 16 posts - 27 votes Speaks: German, Hungarian*, English, Japanese, Dutch Studies: Russian | Message 35 of 43 11 April 2011 at 4:44pm | IP Logged | |||||
|
I think it depends on your relationship, your general attitude, and that of your partner's. I think it's crucial to have a little alone time and not be interrupted when you do something that's important to you or whenever you just feel like it. Being single can help with your self-realization, but so can an understanding partner.
2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Miegamice Bilingual Pentaglot Newbie Latvia Joined 4987 days ago 32 posts - 27 votes Speaks: Polish*, Latvian*, English, German, Danish Studies: Norwegian, Swedish | Message 36 of 43 11 April 2011 at 5:34pm | IP Logged | |||||
|
Right! But I am afraid it is like a lottery. Of course, there are lucky winners, and I cannot but envy them :)
1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Ari Heptaglot Senior Member Norway Joined 6583 days ago 2314 posts - 5695 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin, Cantonese Studies: Czech, Latin, German | Message 37 of 43 11 April 2011 at 9:22pm | IP Logged | |||||
|
An understanding partner is certainly preferable to a non-understanding one, but if we're just counting free time,
no matter how understanding your partner is, if you've got a marriage and kids you're not gonna get three hours a day to spend on conjugating verbs. I'm not, of course, denying that there are amazing things about being in a relationship that many people wouldn't trade for all the spare time in the world. I'm just talking cold, hard facts here. And, as others have pointed out, a partner who speaks a language foreign to you will be of immense help for that particular language. But, of course, when you want to move on to the next language all (s)he's good for (except life- changing eternal love and all that) is free mantenance. 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| leosmith Senior Member United States Joined 6551 days ago 2365 posts - 3804 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Tagalog | Message 38 of 43 23 April 2011 at 10:48pm | IP Logged | |||||
|
I'm single. One of the reasons is that I value my free time. I will probably stay single for a while. But if/when I do
get married, I will probably be retired. This will allow me to have as much free time as I want, as well as be a good spouse. I admire people who choose to have a family while struggling financially, but wouldn't want to do it myself. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Abrown Diglot Newbie United States Joined 4994 days ago 12 posts - 15 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish | Message 39 of 43 26 April 2011 at 8:13am | IP Logged | |||||
|
Yes and no. Advice from my bilingual friends - Get a girlfriend that speaks your target language. If you're learning Spanish, find a girlfriend from Mexico, Spain, or any other Spanish-speaking Latin American country.
Also, if you integrate you can actually flourish a bit. For example, with my fiancee I will say things in Spanish first, and then say it in English. I will tell her what I did that day. There's a guy a know who knows Spanish and does this with his kids. I'm not sure how bilingual they actually are, but he does this not only for his practice but for their learning experience as well. For me it's hard to say. When I was single I had more time, but I was less focused. However, now I am incredibly focused and strongly intend to learn Spanish and I am much more successful than I was in the past. However, this time around I am definitely integrating. I switched my phone over to Spanish as well as my PS3. For some reason, I'm reluctant to switch my laptop over to Spanish as I am still in grad school and I really don't want to screw up such as accidently deleting important notes for a class. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Haukilahti Triglot Groupie Finland Joined 4965 days ago 94 posts - 126 votes Speaks: Finnish*, English, Polish | Message 40 of 43 26 April 2011 at 9:22am | IP Logged | |||||
|
My few experiences:
A foreign language girlfriend's main contribution to your language learning is the motivation and focus she provides to you. She is also a living teacher, mainly in the sense that she corrects your mistakes and can be a living dictionary as well. She can also provide you materials that you can't find in your place. On the other hand, conversation in her language with her is *not* the same as conversation with a (another) native speaker. Conversation with a gf, whatever the language, is "too" easy, as you soon develop your favourite sentences and expressions and fossilize on them. "I love you, I miss you, how are you?, how's the weather?" won't get you far in a conversation with other people. You also get to know by heart her voice, pronunciation, intonation - so that when other people talk to you, you just hear fast mumbling sounds. Besides, with her you are very relaxed - when talking to others you suddenly find yourself nervous, which affects both comprehension and production. Also "formal" teaching and learning with a gf is not so easy, even if one or both of you were language teachers. Exercise correction and exam-like conversation on a specific theme (bank, post, shop) are the ones that work best. 2 persons have voted this message useful |
|  | 
Printable version
|
| Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization. |
