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Time needed to learn a related language? | ||
Tags: Motivation | Time to learn | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Advice Center |  | |
| momtomany Newbie Canada Joined 6345 days ago 18 posts - 19 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, Dutch, German | Message 1 of 5 05 January 2009 at 11:37pm | IP Logged |
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A question for experienced language learners who have studied a language on their own (not using any immersion opportunities like holidays) and have successfully "finished" a language....
I am currently probably S-1 Elementary proficiency in Dutch. I study .5 to 1.5 hours per day using the Anki flashcard program, reading things and looking up the words I don't know, asking my parents anything that is confusing me, learning some of the grammar with a language program, and also sometimes Rosetta Stone. Does climbing up the language proficiency ladder go fairly evenly (if it takes 6 months to get to S-2, with the same study hours, will it take 6 months to get to S-3 and another 6 to get to S-4, the goal), or does it take longer for one step up than another? Or to put it another way, if 600 hours is an accurate estimate of how long it takes to master a fairly closely related language, how many credit hours can I count for what I've learned so far in my life (as a child, hearing my parents speak Dutch to other people)? I think it will be very motivating to know that if I am a typical average learner, I can expect to start writing and speaking Dutch fairly comfortably in about "X" number of hours. Any advice or input? 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| hypersport Senior Member United States Joined 5887 days ago 216 posts - 307 votes  Studies: Spanish | Message 2 of 5 06 January 2009 at 12:46am | IP Logged |
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I don't understand why you need to put a timetable on it.
Do you really want to learn the language? Is it something that gets you excited? Do you have an interest in the culture? Do you want to read novels, watch movies, and talk to native speakers in the language? Or do you just want to get it "done" and do another one? These kinds of questions are asked all the time. There is no answer. Everyone is different with different approaches as to how they succeed or fail when they set goals. It sounds like you have an advantage from the start- native speakers with whom you can practice and ask questions. If you really want to learn the language, why not start studying it and including it more in your daily life and start conversing with your parents? Find some podcasts and music to put in your ipod. Keep cd's in the car, etc. I don't know what s-1 through s-4 means. I do know that if you start conversing with native speakers and your motivation increases with successes, then you're going to continue to learn more and only get better. Only you can decide when you feel your at a high enough level that you can say your "done". 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| momtomany Newbie Canada Joined 6345 days ago 18 posts - 19 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, Dutch, German | Message 3 of 5 06 January 2009 at 6:15am | IP Logged |
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Google "language proficiency scale" and look at the wikipedia site and you'll see the definitions I'm refering to. I have already started studying and learning in any spare moments I can squeeze out of a day (I'm a very busy Mom of 6), and I am surprised at how much my brain can absorb. Anki (a spaced repetition program) is a great invention! I only ask because when I read "600 hours" as an estimate to learn a language, I think "really? Is that possible?" If someone were to write me a short summary of their success such as "I studied X for X hours per day for about X months doing this, this, and this. After X months I could do this, after X months more I was at about this level of learning, and after X years I felt I was quite fluent", then I would feel very motivated to keep plodding on because I could hear about someone else's success. Right now I feel like I'm climbing a mountain one step a day. In Canada we come out of school with 4 to 7 years of French instruction and can hardly utter or understand a word of it... we are simply in awe of people who learn a second language without the benefit of immersion. I WILL keep studying because I enjoy it very much.... I just want to know if I'm doing the possible or the near impossible.... I'm just seeking motivating anecdotes to encourage me.
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| hypersport Senior Member United States Joined 5887 days ago 216 posts - 307 votes Studies: Spanish | Message 4 of 5 06 January 2009 at 7:30am | IP Logged |
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Well, I can give you my experience with learning Spanish.
I'm self taught and have been studying now for 3 years. I had a couple years like most everyone here in the U.S. back in high school more than 20 years ago, but that was definitely a help as I had somewhat of a base. Once I made the decision that I wanted to learn, I bought the first 2 volumes of Rosetta Stone and did those, but along the way there were many speaking opportunities with Mexicans that I was taking advantage of, so along came more and more questions. I found Learning Spanish Like Crazy online and bought that next. Then I changed my tv package to a latino package (dish). I started to listen to Spanish radio and music. I also started reading in Spanish, starting with childrens books and always outloud to work hard on pronunciation. Then I found Spanishpod. The list goes on... Basically, I've immersed myself as much as posible while still living here in the states. Not that hard really as there is so much Spanish everywhere now. So for me, I'm studying, reading, listening and speaking in Spanish all the time. I've made lots of Spanish speaking friends in the city and at work too. All that said, in the last 3 years I've obviously got way more than 600 hrs, probably more like over 4000 and many consider me fluent but for me there is still so much to learn and I enjoy it so I continue. You obviously have a lot on your plate with all of your kids. Huge kudos to you for the effort as I know that isn't easy! Good luck! 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Cainntear Pentaglot Senior Member Scotland linguafrankly.blogsp Joined 6017 days ago 4399 posts - 7687 votes Speaks: Lowland Scots, English*, French, Spanish, Scottish Gaelic Studies: Catalan, Italian, German, Irish, Welsh | Message 5 of 5 06 January 2009 at 9:37am | IP Logged |
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Bah... ILR scale. I much prefer the Council of Europe's Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. By dividing the scale into 3 and subdividing each into a further two levels, it's much quicker and clearer for the reader.
Canada, join us in Europe and break the US's hegemony over your culture! ;-) 1 person has voted this message useful |
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