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Benny Lewis

 Language Learning Forum : Polyglots (Topic Closed Topic Closed) Post Reply
164 messages over 21 pages: << Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 ... 12 ... 20 21 Next >>
fabriciocarraro
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 Message 89 of 164
28 April 2012 at 1:00am | IP Logged 
Great new Benny's post about Chinese
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Wulfgar
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 Message 90 of 164
28 April 2012 at 7:44am | IP Logged 
Do beginners really get scared away from learning a language because they hear it's hard? I suppose some do. More
so for Chinese than other languages? I doubt it. Some general encouraging words regarding language learning is a
good idea. So is useful how-to information. But I think most learners prefer facts. If they want an idea of how long it
takes to learn a language, be truthful. This article isn't truthful.
1 person has voted this message useful



fabriciocarraro
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 Message 91 of 164
28 April 2012 at 8:08am | IP Logged 
Wulfgar wrote:
Do beginners really get scared away from learning a language because they hear it's hard? I suppose some do. More so for Chinese than other languages? I doubt it.


Well, in my case particularly I'd be MUCH more scared of Chinese than, say, Hungarian, Icelandic or Turkish. Mostly because of the writing system (the "kanji", I don't really know the name of it) and the tonal approach of the language, different than any language that I'm familiar with.

Edited by fabriciocarraro on 28 April 2012 at 8:10am

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Wulfgar
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 Message 92 of 164
28 April 2012 at 8:21am | IP Logged 
fabriciocarraro wrote:

Well, in my case particularly I'd be MUCH more scared of Chinese than, say, Hungarian, Icelandic or Turkish. Mostly
because of the writing system (the "kanji", I don't really know the name of it) and the tonal approach of the
language, different than any language that I'm familiar with.

So you would learn Hungarian, Icelandic or Turkish, but you wouldn't learn Chinese?
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fabriciocarraro
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Studies: Dutch, German, Japanese

 
 Message 93 of 164
28 April 2012 at 7:24pm | IP Logged 
Wulfgar wrote:
fabriciocarraro wrote:

Well, in my case particularly I'd be MUCH more scared of Chinese than, say, Hungarian, Icelandic or Turkish. Mostly
because of the writing system (the "kanji", I don't really know the name of it) and the tonal approach of the
language, different than any language that I'm familiar with.

So you would learn Hungarian, Icelandic or Turkish, but you wouldn't learn Chinese?


Hummm not exactly, if I really wanted I'd most certainly start learning any of them, but I'm sure that I'd be more scared of Chinese than of the others.
Even though the grammar in Hungarian is much harder than in Chinese, the Chinese writing system and the tonal approach scare me more.
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nakrian keegiat
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 Message 94 of 164
28 April 2012 at 7:38pm | IP Logged 
Wulfgar wrote:
Do beginners really get scared away from learning a language because they hear it's hard? I suppose some do.


I will admit that I do. I choose languages based on:

1) Opportunity to use the language where I live
2) Interest in the culture and media
3) Interest in traveling to the country

Based on these criteria, Japanese would be near the top of my list for my next language to learn, but I'm not so motivated to learn it that I'm willing to invest the time to learn it compared to other languages which I'm slightly less attracted to but are much easier.

I chose to learn two hard languages in Thai and Russian because my interest level was high enough to overcome my tendency to choose the easiest path.
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jeff_lindqvist
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 Message 95 of 164
29 April 2012 at 12:24am | IP Logged 
Wulfgar wrote:
Do beginners really get scared away from learning a language because they hear it's hard?


When I was in high school, there were more students in the Spanish classes than in all the other languages together (German, French, Russian) - many weren't even into languages and had chosen Spanish because it was said to be "easy". In case a student took two languages, Spanish was nearly always one of them. Those I know who deliberately avoided German stated the "difficult grammar" as the main reason.
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Lucky Charms
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lapacifica.net
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 Message 96 of 164
29 April 2012 at 7:57am | IP Logged 
Wulfgar wrote:
Do beginners really get scared away from learning a language because
they hear it's hard? [...] More so for Chinese than other languages? I doubt it.


I was actually pretty surprised to read this. I think you might've been hanging out
with too many language geeks on this forum, Wulfgar ;) Most people are definitely
intimidated by languages they perceive as hard, and as far as the general population is
concerned Chinese may well be THE top contender for the "you have to be a genius to
learn it" crown.


Wulfgar wrote:
This article isn't truthful.


I'd be interested to hear in what ways you found it to be untruthful. I found it to be
honest (about his own level, the difficult points, etc.), well-reasoned, and accurate
as far as I can confirm based on my limited experience with the language.

In fact, I loved this article, and it's the same stuff I've been trying to tell people
for years. (I wouldn't be surprised if I've made similar arguments on this forum, in
fact!) I can't wait until he makes one for Japanese.

Edited by Lucky Charms on 29 April 2012 at 8:01am



4 persons have voted this message useful



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