rlf1810 Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 6345 days ago 122 posts - 173 votes Speaks: English*, German, Slovak
| Message 1 of 16 26 January 2011 at 11:59pm | IP Logged |
Fellow language learners,
Over the past too many months I had been severely lacking motivation to learn and maintain my languages. Despite all the vigor and effort I put into learning German over these years, I had let my knowledge of it wither into a shell of what it once was. It wasn't until recently that I kicked myself in the mental ass and recovered what I had lost, and then some. It was sweat and tears, as you all know, and at times I wondered why I bothered doing it all over again. Then I stumbled into German poetry. More than ever before I realized that all of this effort was worth it. I shared in the human experience with a long-dead writer of words I once could not comprehend, and it was an incredible feeling.
So I ask you, what is it that keeps you going with your languages? What makes you bring them back from the brink and revive them? In what moment did you realize that it was all worth it?
-Robert
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P0nd3r Bilingual Diglot Newbie United States Joined 5209 days ago 30 posts - 35 votes Speaks: English*, Persian* Studies: Swedish, Japanese
| Message 2 of 16 27 January 2011 at 1:24am | IP Logged |
I haven't let go of japanese, but the beauty in japanese is in itself. I just love the language, I love the writing system,I love the pop culture in Japan, and I love speaking the language.
I've never tried to look an Asian language, but I think it's nice to do so, its just really cool.
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The Real CZ Senior Member United States Joined 5654 days ago 1069 posts - 1495 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese, Korean
| Message 3 of 16 27 January 2011 at 1:41am | IP Logged |
Hot chicks. And pop culture. But the hot chicks are very important.
7 persons have voted this message useful
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Ari Heptaglot Senior Member Norway Joined 6587 days ago 2314 posts - 5695 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin, Cantonese Studies: Czech, Latin, German
| Message 4 of 16 27 January 2011 at 4:06am | IP Logged |
For me the enjoyment is in learning the language. I don't need any motivation to study as it's pretty much entertainment to me. It's like watching TV. On the other hand it becomes hard to maintain it. What the hell am I going to do with my knowledge of Mandarin and Cantonese once I'm back in Sweden? They'll probably just fall into disuse. I'll need some motivation to actually use the languages once I've learned them.
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Bao Diglot Senior Member Germany tinyurl.com/pe4kqe5 Joined 5771 days ago 2256 posts - 4046 votes Speaks: German*, English Studies: French, Spanish, Japanese, Mandarin
| Message 5 of 16 27 January 2011 at 6:02am | IP Logged |
The Real CZ wrote:
Hot chicks. And pop culture. But the hot chicks are very important. |
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Agreed.
Wait ... I don't even like Japanese chicks. I should learn Chinese.
Sometimes, I understand something or express an idea, and the next moment I feel shocked about how natural it felt. How to properly explain it? Those are moments when I can use a bit of language and am not hindered by my second thoughts and all the rules and memories and thoughts and everything that accompanies the process of learning it. It's like the moment when I first managed to juggle three balls at once*, or any other skill I practiced hard for. More than that, those moments are quite frequent for my languages, and they're accompanied by quite a nice little endorphin rush.
Of course it's not bad when I can congratulate myself for having persevered for some time and achieved some goal but honestly? My main motivation is the excitement I feel in those moments when I can't even yet believe that what I'm doing can be real. And my secondary motivation is the pleasure I gain directly from the activity in question.
*never managed to do four at a time, sadly.
1 person has voted this message useful
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Préposition Diglot Senior Member France aspectualpairs.wordp Joined 5119 days ago 186 posts - 283 votes Speaks: French*, EnglishC1 Studies: Russian, Arabic (Written), Swedish, Arabic (Levantine)
| Message 7 of 16 27 January 2011 at 12:17pm | IP Logged |
The fact that I feel like a failure if I give up.
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ratis Hexaglot Newbie Germany Joined 5108 days ago 28 posts - 43 votes Speaks: German*, English, French, Italian, Spanish, Latin Studies: Czech, Japanese Studies: Hindi
| Message 8 of 16 27 January 2011 at 8:03pm | IP Logged |
I don't primarily learn languages to be able to communicate actively but because I want
to understand as much as possible. So each time I stumble upon something in one of my
target languages, I either get a motivation boost because I'm glad I understand it, or if
I don't, it fuels my desire to learn more. Except for when I'm overworked and tired.
Sometimes you just need a break.
2 persons have voted this message useful
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