|
 |
Man who chases two hares catches neither | ||
Tags: Simultaneous study | Difficulty | ||
Share with:
| ||
 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6395 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes  4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 17 of 31 30 September 2012 at 11:20pm | IP Logged | ||
|
That's a great metaphor because animals won't grow faster just because you concentrate on one at a time. Same with plants. Of course if you've never had any, better start with just one or two, but with enough care and time there's no reason why you can't have many plants/animals/languages:)
But for some reason, anyone who's too busy for more than one pet or a handful of plants will just ask: how do you find enough time? not "but don't you get confused because different animals/plants require different care?" The advantage of languages is that it's much easier to spend time with them wherever you are. Taking them along with you on a train is joy, not a hassle :D Well, now I know why I don't particularly care for animals or plants :D Edited by Serpent on 30 September 2012 at 11:24pm 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| ennime Tetraglot Senior Member South Africa universityofbrokengl Joined 5702 days ago 397 posts - 507 votes Speaks: English, Dutch*, Esperanto, Afrikaans Studies: Xhosa, French, Korean, Portuguese, Zulu | Message 18 of 31 01 October 2012 at 3:08pm | IP Logged | ||
|
In the same metaphor..
I chase usually a bunch of rabbits at the same time... realising I can't catch a single one cause I'm out of breath I theb try to shoot them with a shotgun, completely obliterating them... still no proper rabbit for my stew... that's about it 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Splog Diglot Senior Member Czech Republic anthonylauder.c Joined 5467 days ago 1062 posts - 3263 votes Speaks: English*, Czech Studies: Mandarin | Message 19 of 31 01 October 2012 at 9:35pm | IP Logged | ||
|
I saw a video on youtube recently by a very prolific video maker who has caught the language bug, and has stated his ambition to learn 100 languages. He spends hours a day switching between a large number of languages that he is studying at the same time. Now, my first reaction would be to tell him to focus on one at a time, but as I thought about it I realised that chasing all of these languages is exciting to him in a way that studying a single language would not be.
It reminds me of a friend in England who plays 32 different musical instruments, many of them very exotic instruments picked up on his world travels. He spends all his spare time studying and playing these diverse instruments, and loves every moment of it. He may never become a concert pianist, but if he were forced to focus on one instrument I imagine his passion would drop away and he would lose all interest in music. For many, then, the journey is just as exciting as the destination, and I encourage them to follow their passion and enjoy every minute of it. Edited by Splog on 01 October 2012 at 10:19pm 10 persons have voted this message useful | |||
 jeff_lindqvist Diglot Moderator SwedenRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6707 days ago 4250 posts - 5710 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: German, Spanish, Russian, Dutch, Mandarin, Esperanto, Irish, French Personal Language Map | Message 20 of 31 02 October 2012 at 12:52am | IP Logged | ||
From the thread How fluent are polyglots?:
And as for the music analogy Splog mentioned, I am the musician I am - not despite the (amount of) instruments I've devoted time to, but thanks to them. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| shk00design Triglot Senior Member Canada Joined 4242 days ago 747 posts - 1123 votes Speaks: Cantonese*, English, Mandarin Studies: French | Message 21 of 31 02 October 2012 at 6:59am | IP Logged | ||
|
The past 6 months I've been focusing on French & Mandarin. However, my Mandarin is much stronger and at the
level where I can pick out most of the phrases in a news report except for a few words in between. My French is way below the conversation level although I am pass the basics: counting numbers, day of the week, month, telling time but not comfortable conducting myself in public. Personally I spend a lot of time watching Chinese language videos. Still picking up new vocabulary practically every TV show I come across. The Chinese like to use a lot of 成語 (chéngyǔ) or 4-character phrases to show they're educated. Besides learning the basics, it would take a whole year to learn the few hundred chéngyǔ phrases. Young children started learning these in school and you see them used on TV and in movies. Most Chinese probably know less than half of these. What I'm finding with French is pronunciation. There are a lot of silent sounds and times when you'd hear 2 words seemingly glued together because some of the consonants in between are not pronounced. Gets frustrating when watching a movie in French and has to stop every few minutes to look up words. I don't have to do that with Mandarin so most of the time I can be doing something on computer and listen to the radio at the same time. Anyway, if you get into learning 2 totally unrelated language, it is best to focus on 1 for a few months, then give that language a break and focus on the next. Instead of letting your first language slip, try to think in the first language and use it in your head while learning the next. Edited by shk00design on 02 October 2012 at 7:08am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Deerhound Triglot Newbie England Joined 4703 days ago 30 posts - 46 votes Speaks: English*, German, Toki Pona Studies: French, Mandarin, Esperanto, Greek, Latin, Welsh | Message 22 of 31 02 October 2012 at 11:22am | IP Logged | ||
|
I can never settle to just one or two - I keep skipping about. I also don't have much time. Result: I learn almost nothing.
But I can't help the 'wanderlust'! Edit: the thing is, I can pick up the grammar fairly quickly. It's the words I can never remember! Edited by Deerhound on 02 October 2012 at 11:31am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6395 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 23 of 31 02 October 2012 at 2:17pm | IP Logged | ||
Some of your recs are kinda vague... Just try to use L2-based resources for L3, including dictionaries. Helps you truly get used to L2 and to think directly in L3. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| schoenewaelder Diglot Senior Member Germany Joined 5358 days ago 759 posts - 1197 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: German, Spanish, Dutch | Message 24 of 31 02 October 2012 at 4:48pm | IP Logged | ||
|
Make a noise like a carrot, and the rabbits chase you.
[or... hare food] 2 persons have voted this message useful |
|  | 
Printable version
|
| Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization. |
