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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| bushwick Tetraglot Senior Member Netherlands Joined 6037 days ago 407 posts - 443 votes  Speaks: German, Croatian*, English, Dutch Studies: French, Japanese | Message 25 of 65 01 May 2010 at 12:52pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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Sorry, but the general amount of support for this is really surprising me.
Is honestly your only goal now to surpass Mezzofanti? If your only desire in learning languages is surpass a record, then I would find those 23,000 hours on learning basically wasted. Mezzofanti didn't hunt after a big number I am sure, he had an express desire in what he was learning. (EDIT; now I also checked the languages he knew, which had a big religious signifance) Set your priorities, and more so your reasons. Edited by bushwick on 01 May 2010 at 12:54pm 9 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Emerald Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom languagedabbler.blog Joined 6038 days ago 316 posts - 340 votes Speaks: Hindi, Gujarati*, English Studies: Spanish | Message 26 of 65 01 May 2010 at 1:07pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
Different things motivate different people. I agree that for many people learning to beat a record may not be a reason enough - however for truly competitive people it can be. Also, I would assume that if Akao wasn't interested in languages, he wouldn't be aiming for this. If it was ONLY about record, there are many things he can pick. But regardless, being supportive is not limited to someone's motivation. If someone wants to learn 40 languages - whatever their reason - it is only a good thing to support them. Especially because I believe at 13, it is realistic, assuming Akao's motivation sticks with him through his life and desire/ability to work hard. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Emerald Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom languagedabbler.blog Joined 6038 days ago 316 posts - 340 votes Speaks: Hindi, Gujarati*, English Studies: Spanish | Message 27 of 65 01 May 2010 at 1:11pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
You will have to be realistic with your goals and the time/resources you have available. Also, you are 13. So I assume you want to go to college? What are you going to study? Just languages or do you want another degree? What about social life? Usual teenage things? Girlfriends/Boyfriends etc. For now, I think you have the time to focus on all of it - but perhaps not in 2-3 years time when there would be other things in your life. It is not impossible - but if you want to devote your life to one MAIN area, you would have to sacrifice other things. Also, remember that goals are not set in stone. Set them now, for the person you are today. But as you grow as a person, new experiences, new priorities, might give you new goals. But you have to start with where you are today, instead of worrying about where you might be in 20 years time. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Akao aka FailArtist Senior Member United States Joined 5129 days ago 315 posts - 347 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Mandarin, Toki Pona | Message 28 of 65 01 May 2010 at 1:40pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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Actually, I do have time for a social life. I never said I would actually BE a language
"monk." I'm also in a nice relationship and getting a band together. :) @bush Like Emerald said, different things motivate different people. I am setting this as a dream, not necessarily something that I MUST get done. Of course I will work hard and try, but it is more because of the enjoyment I get out of constructing sentences in foreign languages. If you learn a language correctly it does not take much time at all. Many languages such as Spanish and Italian can be learned in a few months to an intermediate-high intermediate level. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Spanky Senior Member Canada Joined 5749 days ago 1021 posts - 1714 votes Studies: French | Message 29 of 65 01 May 2010 at 6:21pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
Nothing wrong with dreaming at your age Akao, without necessarily sweating the details as to whether such a goal is actually achievable. Have a go at it and have some fun....
I would be delighted to hear that this is the case for you, particularly if you are speaking from experience rather than speculation. For many here, myself most definitely included, this comment may not be supported by their own experience. I say this not to be discouraging, but just so you do not become discouraged if your own pace in your current language of study does not meet this projection. Edited by Spanky on 01 May 2010 at 6:21pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| GauchoBoaCepa Triglot Senior Member Brazil Joined 5212 days ago 172 posts - 199 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, English, Spanish | Message 30 of 65 01 May 2010 at 6:32pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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they say that learning languages is good for tackling the effects of aging..at least inside our brains.
1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Akao aka FailArtist Senior Member United States Joined 5129 days ago 315 posts - 347 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Mandarin, Toki Pona | Message 31 of 65 01 May 2010 at 9:55pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
This is assuming I use the three hours a day I mentioned. If I wanted to I could live like a monk and use my 8 hours of free time for language study but I'd rather not. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| tracker465 Senior Member United States Joined 5145 days ago 355 posts - 496 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Spanish, Dutch | Message 32 of 65 02 May 2010 at 4:39am | IP Logged | ||||||||
I believe this to be the case, namely because I have seen it time and time again. The problem though, is location. For example, a German friend of mine from Aachen went to study in Maastricht for her university degree, and when she first went to Maastricht, she did not speak any Dutch. She failed the entrance exam, took a course, and in a few months was speaking excellent, conversational Dutch. Now although there always seems to be a large amount of arguments about the amount of mutual intelligability between Dutch and German, the fact is that the two languages share upwards to perhaps 80 some percent of vocabulary. So through a Dutch course, total immersion, and a solid base in the core vocabulary, my friend was able to quickly learn Dutch. Another friend of mine from the university studied Spanish since 10th grade at his high school, and then began studying French about his third year (out of four) at the university. Within a year and a half he was quite conversational, though he obviously took advantage of his previous Spanish experience and the shared vocabulary. If my friend had actually lived in France, I am sure he would have progressed even quicker. -To the original poster: Seeing that you are only 13, you have plenty of time to learn many languages. I wish I would have started when I was your age, or even when I was in mid high school. My buddy (who studied the Spanish and French) has also studied Portguese and is now working on Korean while in the military, and he is only one year older than I, and American to boot! Really inspiring, to me anyway. On another note, this summer I am going to attempt to learn Dutch to a high intermediate level. I was going to do this last summer, but I started having health problems and then lost focus. As soon as my time at the university is finished, I will begin my studies, and by the time it commences in the Fall, I will have my results. I believe though, that with my background in German and English, 4 months will be enough time to obtain a high intermediate level of Dutch. Since there are not many Dutch people in my area, of course my listening comprehension will not be as good, but I think that reading, writing, speaking...no problem. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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