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Being single and learning languages

 Language Learning Forum : General discussion Post Reply
43 messages over 6 pages: 1 2 3 4 5
Marc Frisch
Heptaglot
Senior Member
Germany
Joined 6669 days ago

1001 posts - 1169 votes 
Speaks: German*, French, English, Spanish, Portuguese, Turkish, Italian
Studies: Persian, Tamil

 
 Message 41 of 43
26 April 2011 at 10:14pm | IP Logged 
Being in a relationship is one of the main obstacles to getting somewhere in life. So are sleeping and working.
3 persons have voted this message useful



tracker465
Senior Member
United States
Joined 5356 days ago

355 posts - 496 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: German, Spanish, Dutch

 
 Message 42 of 43
27 April 2011 at 4:35am | IP Logged 
I’ve been single for quite awhile now, going on three ½ years, but I can’t say that it has added much to my language studies. If anything, I feel that being in a relationship *could* help one with their studies better.

As a few other people have mentioned, if you are in a relationship with someone who speaks a language which you are learning or do not already know, the relationship could really help your language studies. I remember one point during my university career when a gay friend of mine, who was also a language fanatic, confided in me that he did not want to date a man unless he was bilingual. At this point in time I told him that one of my prerequisites for dating a woman was that she be bilingual, and we both agreed that we had perhaps set our standards too high, as the university we had attended did not have a plethora of bilingual students. I’ve always thought that this would help one learn quicker though, if one could practice with his or her partner.
Another thing I have noticed about myself is that the busier I am, the more I get done. Simply put, I need to utilize my time better and being in a relationship would force me to keep a more rigid schedule. In my case, that would lead to more language-learning time, and less time surfing the net mindlessly.

Finally, that special someone can be great motivation. Not all partners are like that, and I have dated women who encouraged me to pursue my own ambitions in at a variety of levels. On the other hand, I believe, that if someone else is encouraging you with your activity, that you will work on it even harder than before. When my friend and excellent guitarist was still around my area, I noticed that I practiced and played much harder than since he’s moved away. Likewise, if I am trying to lose weight and tell people about it, I work that much harder to stay on task ;) Encouragement can go a long way, and give one the kick in the pants to work harder than he or she normally would.

With all of that said, I believe that any extra time gained from being single does not necessarily give the single folks an advantage over those who aren’t single, when it comes to learning other languages. Now if we talk about the single person moving half way across the world on the spur of the moment to learn another tongue, that is a different story altogether.     

2 persons have voted this message useful



Ari
Heptaglot
Senior Member
Norway
Joined 6586 days ago

2314 posts - 5695 votes 
Speaks: Swedish*, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin, Cantonese
Studies: Czech, Latin, German

 
 Message 43 of 43
27 April 2011 at 7:35am | IP Logged 
tracker465 wrote:
Now if we talk about the single person moving half way across the world on the spur of the moment to learn another tongue, that is a different story altogether.

I did that! No way I could have done that if I was in a relationship at the time.

Also, I have experienced staying in a relationship I might not otherwise have stayed in just because of the language of my partner.


1 person has voted this message useful



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