19 messages over 3 pages: 1 2 3
RogerK Triglot Groupie Austria Joined 5080 days ago 92 posts - 181 votes Speaks: English*, German, Italian Studies: Portuguese
| Message 17 of 19 13 February 2011 at 10:19am | IP Logged |
ReneeMona wrote:
My perfectionism also blocks me in a lot of ways because I've always had an annoying habit of wanting to be the best without having to work hard for it. This is obviously an impossible goal but throughout my life I've given up on things or decided not to even try something simply because I could not stomach the sense of failure I got from it. Those who don't try never look foolish.
|
|
|
Unfortunately I can't remember who said it, perhaps it was Thomas Edison who said, "better to have tried and failed (fallen over) one thousand times, than to not have tried at all".
Everyone is probably a perfectionist to some degree and that includes me. But my attitude is to aim for perfection while knowing it doesn't exsist and then accept having done my best even if do make mistakes. I enjoy exams and being tested in sports after preparing because I go in relaxed due to my attitude.and knowing I am ready.
A moto I like is from Tony Horton an American personal trainer, he says "do your best and forget the rest". I think he meanes do the best you can and don't worry about what the others are doing.
3 persons have voted this message useful
| Meelämmchen Diglot Senior Member Germany Joined 5088 days ago 214 posts - 249 votes Speaks: German*, English Studies: Modern Hebrew
| Message 18 of 19 14 February 2011 at 12:00am | IP Logged |
My first reaction was that I almost see perfectionism as a logical necessity in fields where you are interested in. So if you are really interested in medieval literature (I guess Italian one, is that still Dante?) than I couldn't think of anything being wrong with it, why should you stop at some point? You should start another language then if you still can progress in your other ones. And, like everone else said before, no one as a non-native speaker can be perfect in another language than his mother tongue (at least it is very, very difficult). Although I would say that a relatively finished language is not a finished language, I would say a perfectionism that is about finishing a thing just to finish it is forgetting about that you once probably started this thing out of interest and joy. So, maybe you could also say that it is enough, when progressing is producing way more trouble than the joy you get out of using your current level. Wasted time maybe that you could have used to get to a decent level in another language. If you are interested in too many ones than you have to find yourself a consensus, which is the first, second, x-th language...
1 person has voted this message useful
| Thantophobia Groupie United States Joined 5167 days ago 49 posts - 66 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Japanese
| Message 19 of 19 14 February 2011 at 3:05am | IP Logged |
I disagree...perfection exists in this area. You're pretty much perfect when you speak
as well as an average native speaker.
1 person has voted this message useful
|
This discussion contains 19 messages over 3 pages: << Prev 1 2 3 If you wish to post a reply to this topic you must first login. If you are not already registered you must first register
You cannot post new topics in this forum - You cannot reply to topics in this forum - You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum - You cannot create polls in this forum - You cannot vote in polls in this forum
This page was generated in 0.1880 seconds.
DHTML Menu By Milonic JavaScript
|