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The "right way" to choose languages | ||
Tags: Choosing a Language | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| Solfrid Cristin Heptaglot Winner TAC 2011 & 2012 Senior Member Norway Joined 5338 days ago 4143 posts - 8864 votes  Speaks: Norwegian*, Spanish, Swedish, French, English, German, Italian Studies: Russian | Message 1 of 6 11 March 2011 at 2:46pm | IP Logged | ||
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One reflection I make after having been on the forum for a while, is that there seem to be "the right" way, and "the wrong way" in choosing languages, and the depth to which they are studied - even though the definition of right and wrong differ from person to person. Some seem to think that it is only worth to study languages if you reach near native levels in a few (and no, we will not discuss the defenition of native level:-), others seem to think that hoarding as many languages as possible is the thing.
Personally I would of course love nothing more than to be fluent in 20 languages, but I am realistic enough to know that due to time constraints, I will probably not become fluent in any other languages that the ones I know allready. I am therefore willing to settle for basic fluency in the languages I do from now on, and whether that will include Russian only, or I decide to dip into some of my previous linguistic love affairs (Arabic, Hebrew, Dutch) I do not know. Please tell me that we are capable of respecting the choice of other members when it comes to the level and the amounts of languages we study! 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| ReneeMona Diglot Senior Member Netherlands Joined 5339 days ago 864 posts - 1274 votes Speaks: Dutch*, EnglishC2 Studies: French | Message 2 of 6 11 March 2011 at 3:09pm | IP Logged | ||
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As far as I know there is no Bible of language learning that tells us we must choose one and forsake all others. My personal goal is to be fluent in 4-6 languages and to know smatterings of at least a dozen others. For me this seems like an acceptable compromise between the fulfilling feeling of knowing a language and the fun of dabbling. Not to mention I think it's good to have a broad range of languages that you're to some extend familiar with, especially since I'm a student of linguistics.
Now of course, this is just my personal objective. I really enjoy reading about people's opinions on language learning and I equally respect someone who toils on endlessly at a C2 level and someone who is willing to go through the same annoying beginner's stage 20 times over. All in all, I think I can honestly say that I've never come across a different opinion on depth in language learning that I really could not understand or respect. And even if I had, who am I to throw around words like "right" and "wrong"? 8 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Arekkusu Hexaglot Senior Member Canada bit.ly/qc_10_lec Joined 5385 days ago 3971 posts - 7747 votes Speaks: English, French*, GermanC1, Spanish, Japanese, Esperanto Studies: Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Estonian | Message 3 of 6 11 March 2011 at 3:18pm | IP Logged | ||
I've been through both approaches and I definitely respect my choices ;) 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| jdmoncada Tetraglot Senior Member United States Joined 5038 days ago 470 posts - 741 votes Speaks: English*, German, Spanish, Finnish Studies: Russian, Japanese | Message 4 of 6 11 March 2011 at 5:47pm | IP Logged | ||
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Yes, I think we can be respectful of others' choices, but I am also of the opinion that we already know what we want to do. Because we think we know what we'd like to do, our opinions of that are seldom changed. Changes do happen, but not often.
Now for myself, I have 6 languages that I care about, and one of those is my native language. I don't want to know any more. Being someone who knows 20 languages is not what I am after, but to do well in what I have does interest me. Other learners will not have this opinion, and I am fine with that. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| portunhol Triglot Senior Member United States thelinguistblogger.w Joined 6256 days ago 198 posts - 299 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: German, Arabic (classical) | Message 5 of 6 11 March 2011 at 10:50pm | IP Logged | ||
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This sounds a lot like what I tried to cover in my posts about lectoglots, dispersoglots and perfectoglots. When it comes to language learning, before I can establish what is good and bad I feel it necessary to first identify my objective or objectives.
Do you want to be like Prof. Arguelles and focus a little more on reading? Do you want to be like Moses McCormick and become basically conversant and literate in a few dozen languages? Do you want to be more like the UN interpreters who speak at a very high, educated level in three to five languages? Do you want to do a combination of all of that? Before you can establish which languages and how well you need to establish what it is your end goal is. ReneeMona's 4-6 fluent languages with a smattering of a dozen others sounds good to me. I see myself doing something like that as well. I would like to incorporate more languages into my daily life but there are other things that are more important to me (gasp!). 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Gorgoll2 Senior Member Brazil veritassword.blogspo Joined 5150 days ago 159 posts - 192 votes Speaks: Portuguese* | Message 6 of 6 12 March 2011 at 2:52pm | IP Logged | ||
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It´s a painful choice. To get speak perfectly, love to choosen language is needed. Few
people are able to keep the interest after six months. They´re the polyglots. Dear Mrs. Cristin, you just are in the road. It´s easier to you than us. Good luck. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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