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Changing my target language | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| Lillyflea Newbie France Joined 5311 days ago 20 posts - 24 votes Speaks: French* | Message 1 of 27 19 May 2010 at 8:03pm | IP Logged | ||
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I just have had a serious discussion with my mother about my desire to know more about other languages and cultures. She understands perfectly my fascination about Japanese culture, but she made me see that chances are really low for me to go to Japan one day because 1) It's really far from France and 2) I'm too scared by plane (seriously, I never travel by plane).
She said I'd better try to improve my spoken English (which is simply horrid), and learn another language from a country I have a chance to travel to, preferably in Europe. I rarely agree with my mother, but now I think she has a point here. Thus I will study English, and a few months from now, if I make some progress I will learn another European language. Wish me good luck, please. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| MäcØSŸ Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5812 days ago 259 posts - 392 votes  Speaks: Italian*, EnglishC2 Studies: German | Message 2 of 27 19 May 2010 at 8:14pm | IP Logged | ||
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Your English seems to be very good judging from your post.
Good Luck with your studies ;-) 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Lillyflea Newbie France Joined 5311 days ago 20 posts - 24 votes Speaks: French* | Message 3 of 27 19 May 2010 at 8:36pm | IP Logged | ||
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Thank you! Actually my English is very formal, not really natural, so I must go on with my studies.
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| NativeLanguage Octoglot Groupie United States nativlang.com Joined 5341 days ago 52 posts - 110 votes Speaks: French, Spanish, English*, Italian, Latin, Ancient Greek, Portuguese, Catalan Studies: Japanese, Mayan languages, Irish | Message 4 of 27 19 May 2010 at 9:17pm | IP Logged | ||
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Depending on your goals, I wouldn't necessarily change your target language simply because you will most likely not be able to visit the country the language originated in.
If you are fascinated with Japanese culture, you will be able to access much more of it if you are fluent in Japanese. Additionally, you will be able to watch t.v./movies, listen to music and read books in Japanese as opposed to only having access to those in translation. I'm not sure of the situation in France, but, perhaps there are Japanese cultural groups set up by immigrants that will have activities that you can join in. I've started taking kendo (Japanese sword fighting) at the local Japanese Cultural Institute near my home. Of course, if your goal is to learn a language specifically to facilitate travel (and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that), then your mother's advice is probably solid. 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Lillyflea Newbie France Joined 5311 days ago 20 posts - 24 votes Speaks: French* | Message 5 of 27 19 May 2010 at 10:28pm | IP Logged | ||
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Thanks for your reply, NativeLanguage. My first goal is indeed to be able to travel to foreign countries. Plus, I realize that my English is really approximative, even after ten years of study. I don't always find the right word by lack of vocabulary. And as I live in Northern France (not far from the Belgian border), the British Isles are very close. However I never visited them due to my poor level in spoken English.
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| vikramkr Diglot Senior Member United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6072 days ago 248 posts - 326 votes Speaks: English*, Portuguese | Message 6 of 27 20 May 2010 at 10:16am | IP Logged | ||
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Due to your excellent command of written English, I don't think it will take too long at all to get your spoken English up to speed! Best of luck!
2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Cainntear Pentaglot Senior Member Scotland linguafrankly.blogsp Joined 6014 days ago 4399 posts - 7687 votes Speaks: Lowland Scots, English*, French, Spanish, Scottish Gaelic Studies: Catalan, Italian, German, Irish, Welsh | Message 7 of 27 20 May 2010 at 12:05pm | IP Logged | ||
Maybe it's not your level of English that's holding you back, but your level of confidence...? If you hide from the language because you don't think you're "good enough", you will never get the practice you need to improve, so don't hold worry, take a trip across the channel and find people to speak to. 6 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Lillyflea Newbie France Joined 5311 days ago 20 posts - 24 votes Speaks: French* | Message 8 of 27 20 May 2010 at 5:07pm | IP Logged | ||
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Thanks for the advice. But I won't be able to cross the channel until 2011. So I can take advantage of the few months I have ahead of me to improve my English anyway.
1 person has voted this message useful |
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