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So you want to learn... 1 or 2?

 Language Learning Forum : General discussion Post Reply
27 messages over 4 pages: 1 2 3 4  Next >>
JasonE
Groupie
Canada
Joined 5071 days ago

54 posts - 78 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: French

 
 Message 1 of 27
15 April 2011 at 12:21am | IP Logged 
So it seems like a lot of people here want to learn a whole handful of languages, and also flirt with several more.
Anyone feel like they would be more or less satisfied with learning only one or two languages? I'm currently learning
my first foreign language and I'm confident that I will go on for one more afterwards, but at that point I'm thinking
that I will have had enough.

I know that this forum is specifically for language enthusiasts, but I was wondering how many here think they will
be satisfied once they learn only a couple of languages. I think that I'd personally rather try to become as
comfortable as I can at using the languages that I learn. Anyone else feel the same way?

Edited by Fasulye on 15 April 2011 at 7:52pm

1 person has voted this message useful



Sanghee
Groupie
United States
Joined 5069 days ago

60 posts - 98 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: Mandarin, Korean

 
 Message 2 of 27
15 April 2011 at 12:46am | IP Logged 
I'm also on my first second language, and I feel like if I can accomplish learning Korean and Mandarin (though, of course, the learning would never end), I'd be immensely satisfied. Any further language is simply bonus, so I don't really have plans after these two and at this moment in time it doesn't matter whether or not I continue learning languages afterward. However, those views could change once I have reached an advanced level in both languages, or if I develop a strong interest in another language besides these two.
1 person has voted this message useful



Darklight1216
Diglot
Senior Member
United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 5101 days ago

411 posts - 639 votes 
Speaks: English*, French
Studies: German

 
 Message 4 of 27
15 April 2011 at 3:36am | IP Logged 
I'd like to learn a few languages, but I'd be just fine if I just learned French and Russian.

Even my maximum hit list doesn't come close to double digits. I just don't care about most languages in the world.
1 person has voted this message useful



djc463
Heptaglot
Groupie
United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 5802 days ago

51 posts - 74 votes 
Speaks: English*, French, Spanish, Russian, Portuguese, German, Italian
Studies: Mandarin

 
 Message 5 of 27
15 April 2011 at 4:14am | IP Logged 
I originally only thought I would study French, and then I added Spanish and got both of them to a good level. I
thought I'd never learn another language but then the opportunity presented itself to study Russian. Now I'm
hooked on language learning.

However, every language I start, I want to learn to a high level. Once I start something, I want to keep it and try to
master it (a never-ending process of improvement towards an ever-raising bar). So I personally would never "flirt"
with a language, just to learn a bit about it. On the downside, it takes me a long time to pick my next language
because I'm so careful before embarking on another commitment. I don't want to take on anything I can't handle
and spread myself to thin!
2 persons have voted this message useful



PonyGirl
Groupie
United States
Joined 5020 days ago

54 posts - 70 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: German

 
 Message 6 of 27
15 April 2011 at 4:14am | IP Logged 
I would like to think that I will be alright with it if I only master German, Dutch & Afrikaans. I really don't care about being fluent in Dutch, just proficient enough to understand Afrikaans & get by in Dutch.

After that I would love to move on to something more complicated. Probably Hebrew and/or Arabic... or Russian.

In reality.... I'll be happy with fluency in German xD
1 person has voted this message useful



zerothinking
Senior Member
Australia
Joined 6373 days ago

528 posts - 772 votes 
Speaks: English*

 
 Message 7 of 27
15 April 2011 at 10:50am | IP Logged 
I'd be happy to learn four languages well... but I've already got two more on my radar
that I feel I will just have to learn.

I think partly the reason why people continue learning more and more languages is that
once you learn one language in a language family it becomes easier to learn the next. The
common route is romance languages. After learning, say, Spanish to fluency, someone
realizes how easy it is now to learn Italian, they do it because it's fun and easy. They
learn Italian and then French and Portuguese become even easier. Plus, it's fun and you
get better at it as time goes on. The same is true even for any language within the
Indo-European language family even if they aren't in the same sub-family.

Edited by zerothinking on 15 April 2011 at 10:53am

1 person has 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 8 of 27
15 April 2011 at 4:57pm | IP Logged 
I recommend you don't spend too much time reading this forum. It's dangerous. Once upon a time I was only interested in learning one language. When you start to realise the possibilities, you start to go a bit crazy. All it requires is a lot of hard work, and a lot of time.

Edited by schoenewaelder on 15 April 2011 at 4:59pm



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