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Parents think I’m weird... | ||
Tags: Polyglot bashing | Teenagers | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| Halie Diglot Groupie United States Joined 6115 days ago 80 posts - 106 votes  Speaks: English*, French | Message 89 of 161 22 December 2009 at 4:00am | IP Logged | ||
Thanks :) You should take the exam, it's worth it. Plus, it'll be easier to study because there are so many Spanish materials in the US (assuming you're American). Just watch Telemundo or listen to the radio. Or buy People magazine in Spanish, they sell it at the gas station two blocks from my house. With French, I had to buy a lot of materials online and I didn't have many French speakers to talk with. Edited by Halie on 22 December 2009 at 4:01am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| datsunking1 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5590 days ago 1014 posts - 1533 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: German, Russian, Dutch, French | Message 90 of 161 22 December 2009 at 4:44pm | IP Logged | ||
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Yeah I don't have many people to talk to either, I spend a lot of time in chatrooms and surfing the net in my target language. I use myvideo.de for videos instead of Youtube, it's in German :D
I live in PA, as you can imagine there are not many Spanish speakers up here. There are a few, but not as many as I'd like :D I have MTV in Spanish at my house, I always watch it:D surprisingly I don't get any French channels. My mom is starting to leave me alone... :D finally. I spend a lot of time studying physics and languages now, and I just do whatever she tells me. She got a taste of what other teens are like when she went out to walmart the other day. They were smoking and making fun of people etc. You know how kids are these days lol I'm glad she saw it actually, she said she's glad I'm not like those kids. :D 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Dainty Newbie United States Joined 5490 days ago 38 posts - 53 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German | Message 91 of 161 22 December 2009 at 6:00pm | IP Logged | ||
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Jordan,
I'm sorry you're having a hard time with your mom about this. May I offer some advice? I recently experienced a similar reaction from my mom after encouraging my little sister to learn Esperanto and she got all excited about it. My mom really put her foot down, saying it's useless and she doesn't want my little sister wasting her time with it. Now, that's a reasonable concern because my sister is homeschooled (still in grade school) and adding Esperanto to the mix might mean she wouldn't get all her homework done. The situation was escalating quickly, but instead of getting angry I quickly explained to my mom some of Esperanto's usefulness. Since my mom is supportive of learning other languages and knows several herself, I knew the studies on how learning Esperanto first helps with language acquisition would be a plus, so I told her about them. After hearing what I had to say my mom relented and permitted my little sister to do Esperanto. :) I'm not saying it will be as easy with your mom, but it sounds like she might be reassured if you explained to her the usefulness of what you're doing. I recommend a letter so that you can say everything without being interrupted or risking an argument. Including a list of general benefits from learning other languages might help. You might let her know that her disapproval is hurtful to you, and if true perhaps you could even tell her that you'd be willing to listen to her concerns at a time when everyone's calmed down so you can have a good discussion on it. You see, when we demonstrate to parents that we're mature enough to make responsible decisions then they begin to relax a bit more and allow us to do so. But that trust has to build over time. If you can diffuse the situation by calmly informing your mom of the usefulness of your efforts (don't throw it in her face or anything) and also set aside some time to listen to her deeper concerns to find out where all this is coming from then your maturity shines through and she has the opportunity to respect your decision, if not support it. I hope this family conflict might be resolved soon. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| OliverB Newbie United Kingdom Joined 5456 days ago 5 posts - 5 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Russian, French | Message 92 of 161 22 December 2009 at 10:14pm | IP Logged | ||
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Ever since I got into languages I've kept it secret, I've always been scared of how people would react especially my parents. I think they would probably support me in this endeavour but I don't know how to bring it up.
Oliver 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Snesgamer Groupie Afghanistan Joined 6616 days ago 81 posts - 90 votes Studies: English*, German, Spanish, Norwegian, Scottish Gaelic | Message 93 of 161 24 December 2009 at 5:18am | IP Logged | ||
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While lack of family support and encouragement is pretty disappointing, just keep on reminding yourself that while you're "wasting time" studying foreign languages, about 90% of other Americans are rotting their brains in front of their TVs eating chips and/or drinking beer.
2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| FrenchSilkPie Senior Member United States Joined 6622 days ago 125 posts - 130 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French | Message 94 of 161 24 December 2009 at 5:41am | IP Logged | ||
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I think a large time of the "wasting time" studying languages comes from people who say "Oh, I'm gonna learn language Z!" and that's about all the studying they do. If you are gonna start a language, see it through to at least some type of fluency.
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| starst Triglot Senior Member China Joined 5519 days ago 113 posts - 133 votes Speaks: Mandarin*, Japanese, EnglishC2 Studies: FrenchC1, German, Norwegian | Message 95 of 161 25 December 2009 at 4:59am | IP Logged | ||
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I got a slightly different version from my boyfriend: he thinks that I put too much time on learning languages while not enough time for him. I won't agree with him, but it does make me realize that how time-consuming this "little" hobby can be.
Now I try to combine learning and spending time with him together by e.g. watching foreign movies together, rather than saying things like "I can't go to cinema with you because I want to read my French textbook". Not doing very well, but I'm trying :) However, I still have to keep my plan of learning dutch a top secret in order not to annoy him. Like several members have mentioned, I also have a dutch textbook for a friend on my bookshelf ;) 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| datsunking1 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5590 days ago 1014 posts - 1533 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: German, Russian, Dutch, French | Message 96 of 161 25 December 2009 at 5:19am | IP Logged | ||
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Yeah I keep a lot of secrets from my mom when it comes to language learning. I just spent $13 bucks on three books from amazon.com like ten minutes ago. I ordered a 7 language dictionary, Berlitz Self-Teacher Italian (Hardcover:D), and Master German Vol. 1. (Just the book, I hate scrolling through the pdfs, I like having a bookmark. It was $0.01 + $3.99 shipping as compared to $20.00 new with shipping so I think it was all a steal. I got all of the books used. The dictionary new was $50.00, and the Italian self teacher was $30.00. I got them all for $0.58 with $12.00 shipping (oh well) I'm excited. My dad doesn't care what I buy, I mean it was 12 dollars for a TON of material. I'm really happy, but I really hope I don't get yelled at. Edited by datsunking1 on 25 December 2009 at 5:19am 1 person has voted this message useful |
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