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So you want to learn... 1 or 2? | ||
Tags: Hit List | Number of Languages | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| Delaunay Pentaglot Newbie Hungary Joined 4990 days ago 16 posts - 27 votes Speaks: German, Hungarian*, English, Japanese, Dutch Studies: Russian | Message 17 of 27 17 April 2011 at 12:39pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I must say, while I'm already past two foreign languages, I'm still not satisfied with the number of languages I speak. I'm not dissatisfied per se, or not in the strictest sense of the word, but I have motivation, enthusiasm and time so as far as I'm concerned, I have everything I need to further my knowledge.
It's not that I want to speak 8 or 9 or 10 languages or more, I just want to speak Russian and Cantonese and Italian, just to name a few. Even when I speak a language, the studying never really ends for me. Hell, one can always learn new words in their own mother tongue! But that's just me. In my opinion, do what you want and what makes you happy. Be it learning 2 or 10 foreign languages. :) 2 persons have 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 18 of 27 17 April 2011 at 9:17pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Yeah, I don't think in terms of numbers at all. I'm in this for the studying, not the knowing. How many
languages do I plan to learn? That's just not a very relevant question to me. It's like asking me how many meals I want to have before I die. I just plan on eating them until I die. I don't have any plan to eat as many as I can or anything. Same with languages. I enjoy studying them and will continue to do so. I'm in no rush. When I feel I want to start studying a new language I do so. I like getting really engrossed in my studies, so I don't like studying many at the same time. I keep studying until I get bored and then I stop. I got bored with French a couple of years ago and stopped studying it, but now I'm starting to get into it again (although my new favorite is Spanish). A lot of people learn languages in order to do something with them. They want to engage the culture, live in the country, read the books or whatever. If you have a reason like that it makes sense to learn fewer languages and then stop, as you'll have reached your goal. I talk with people and read books in order to learn the language, not the other way around. 5 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Alexander86 Tetraglot Senior Member United Kingdom alanguagediary.blogs Joined 4982 days ago 224 posts - 323 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, German, Catalan Studies: Swedish | Message 19 of 27 18 April 2011 at 4:55pm | IP Logged | |||||
I started with Spanish, I met a girl, studied like crazy and learnt it. And looking back, I would have been happy with that, I am happy with that!! But then I went to Berlin for a week and I thought... Well I want to speak the language a bit to enjoy it... And then that developed into my second foreign language. And now I've got Spanish and to a lesser extent German I'm suddenly going to a Catalan course. And yet, how could I call myself a Welshman, and not speak Welsh, when I speak Spanish and German and Catalan... So then it's five... And you know? I hate the fact that I didn't learn French well in school (six), and Swedish (seven) is just so so pretty... It's not the forum's fault, but the forum certainly helps me keep going! Here's to all you language lovers! Iechyd da! =) 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| LanguageSponge Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5767 days ago 1197 posts - 1487 votes Speaks: English*, German, French Studies: Welsh, Russian, Japanese, Slovenian, Greek, Italian | Message 20 of 27 18 April 2011 at 6:57pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I started life with English and Welsh - I have always, from a very young age, been fascinated by languages and I attibute my fascination to beginning life with learning two languages. I remember asking my mum at some quite young age why my dad didn't, and still doesn't, understand Welsh. When I was a bit younger than I am now, I used to assume that everyone who was brought up bilingually would remain interested in languages in later life. Then I met someone who was brought up with English and French (my girlfriend's sister) who is not interested at all. She has lost a lot of the French she grew up with and I am able to speak to her Belgian relatives in French better than she can - and that doesn't bother her at all. I always thought that people who were bilingual from a young age would always want to expand their language horizons. Apparently not.
So, with languages that I've had to learn in later life, I would be happy to get to a very advanced level in just two or three - namely German, French and Italian. I will play around with others, the most advanced of which will probably be Greek, but they won't be taken as seriously. Jack 3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Emily232 Newbie Ireland Joined 5052 days ago 19 posts - 29 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Spanish | Message 21 of 27 20 April 2011 at 3:02pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Id be happy if I could speak two foreign languages fluently and maybe pick up the basics of a few others just for fun. That would still be an achievement, even if there are other people who can speak 10. On an optimistic note the more you speak the easier it gets learning new ones though.
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| portunhol Triglot Senior Member United States thelinguistblogger.w Joined 6253 days ago 198 posts - 299 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: German, Arabic (classical) | Message 22 of 27 20 April 2011 at 5:17pm | IP Logged | |||||
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On one end of the spectrum you've got people who only know one language well -usually English- other than their native tongue. On the other end of the spectrum you've got Dr. Carlos Freire who has been studying one or two new languages a year for over forty years.
I can't be on either end of the spectrum. The "one language wonder" misses out on some absolutely amazing cultural insight, among other things. The serial language learner will eventually reach a point to where he simply can't use all of his languages often enough to maintain them. Effective language learning requires so much effort that I simply can't stand the idea of forgetting a language, or practically forgetting it. I think that will put me somewhere between seven and ten languages by the time I'm in my fifties. I also know that I need to develop a lifestyle that will allow me to and benefit from knowing seven to ten languages. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| lichtrausch Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 5961 days ago 525 posts - 1072 votes Speaks: English*, German, Japanese Studies: Korean, Mandarin | Message 23 of 27 26 April 2011 at 7:28pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I will be quite satisfied once I become proficient in Mandarin. After that, all other
languages will just be bonuses. I've tried thinking about a hypothetical threshold at which I would no longer wish to learn any more languages, but I couldn't come up with anything meaningful. I suppose I'll keep learning new languages as long as my curiosity remains. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Squalido Triglot Newbie Venezuela Joined 4962 days ago 7 posts - 11 votes Speaks: Spanish*, French, English Studies: Italian | Message 24 of 27 26 April 2011 at 8:36pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Hello! I am new in this forum, and this is my first message.
Last year I learned French, studying it in a school. Right now, I want to learn Italian. I am able to read basic texts in this language because it is so similar to Spanish. I would also like to improve my English and French; I can read difficult novels written in those languages, but I don't have experience writing or speaking them. I think that the learning of a language never ends. But you could say that right now I am learning only one. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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