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 Language Learning Forum : Advice Center |  | |
| SiHH Newbie United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4330 days ago 28 posts - 30 votes | Message 1 of 19 09 November 2012 at 12:03pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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Hello all.
I wonder if you can help? I have been reading this forum for a while on and off and it seems like a fantastic resource. My situation is this: I would like to a learn a language (Spanish) as I have a fondness for the place, its culture and the people. I am at a bit of a crossroads in life where I am contemplating studying for a degree. Of course, this got me thinking that I could do a degree in Language Studies or maybe Iberian Studies. Very expensive though at my stage of life, i'm in my 30s. My question is, should I be thinking of a degree, or could I self teach myself, much like you guys here and a true inspirational character that I found - Benny. Im sure you are all aware of him. His methods promote speaking from day 1, which makes perfect sense to me, and I trust his methods to get me up to a good standard. My only concern, is not having a piece of paper to show for it, to show potential future employers for instance.. - What are your views on this? - Is it feasible to study a language to a good speaking level first, then maybe focus on grammar and writing after that, and then doing an exam to get a recocgition on the common framework of languages? I am very confused as to what the right route would be for me. I must admit, structured learning excites me, but the thought of wasting thousands of pounds does not. If i can learn more in a shorter space of time 'self-learning' then that makes more sense surely? I am ready to put in the hours to learn a language, but with a family etc, I will not be immersing myself fully. I would love to hear your thoughts! Have a great day :) 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| zerrubabbel Senior Member United States Joined 4411 days ago 232 posts - 287 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese, Mandarin | Message 2 of 19 09 November 2012 at 12:14pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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as long as you can afford it, I recommend you do both... get your degree, but also teach yourself... here is why
a degree is valuable, and simply having one can be a weapon in your arsenal... (also there are ways to get third party credentials, but since I dont know anything about them, someone else will have to give you those details) as for teaching yourself, I firmly believe you can't learn a language very successfully or practically at classroom speed... the two most important parts to language learning are intensity and consistency, neither of which can a classroom secure for you (unless someone else knows of something I don't, please feel free to correct me) so learn in a classroom if the degree is really that important to you, and teach yourself to gain practical ability in the language... everyone you will meet on this forum is here because of the latter, and some because of the prior... and if you take a glance in the multi lingual lounge, you will see how successful people here are ;) we are all here and happy to answer your questions along the way :D 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| druckfehler Triglot Senior Member Germany Joined 4679 days ago 1181 posts - 1912 votes Speaks: German*, EnglishC2, Korean Studies: Persian | Message 3 of 19 09 November 2012 at 2:19pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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If you only want to prove your level of proficiency in the language, I'm sure the certificate of a language examination would suffice. You can certainly take those exams after self-studying. A degree should ideally prove your fluency, as well as your in-depth knowledge of the culture or (depending on the degree) special skills like translation or interpreting. It really depends on what you need. If you just want to learn the language you certainly don't need to attend a university for that. Self-study only is not for everyone, but it can be done - you just need to have or acquire certain study skills and most of all you need enough determination to see your plans through without external monitoring.
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| g-bod Diglot Senior Member United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5793 days ago 1485 posts - 2002 votes Speaks: English*, Japanese Studies: French, German | Message 4 of 19 09 November 2012 at 2:32pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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My general advice for choosing a degree is to think carefully about what kind of job you'll want to do afterwards, and whether there is a clear route to it with that degree. If you are interested in becoming a Spanish teacher in a school, or an academic in the field of Spanish studies, a degree in it would be a good idea. If you just want to go for the pursuit of knowledge, that's fine too, but you will probably find yourself at yet another crossroads, only with more debt, at the end of it. If all you want is a certificate to prove proficiency to potential employers, study in your free time and enter yourself for a Spanish exam when you are ready.
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| Arekkusu Hexaglot Senior Member Canada bit.ly/qc_10_lec Joined 5192 days ago 3971 posts - 7747 votes Speaks: English, French*, GermanC1, Spanish, Japanese, Esperanto Studies: Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Estonian | Message 5 of 19 09 November 2012 at 2:55pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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I would dissociate your desire to learn a language and to obtain a degree. Learning Spanish can be done anytime, anywhere. Find your passion and get a degree in that instead. Any future employer who wants to know if you speak Spanish will be able to test that very easily and will not care in the least about a piece of paper. Edited by Arekkusu on 09 November 2012 at 2:57pm 7 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
 emk Diglot Moderator United States Joined 5343 days ago 2615 posts - 8806 votes Speaks: English*, FrenchB2 Studies: Spanish, Ancient Egyptian Personal Language Map | Message 6 of 19 09 November 2012 at 3:16pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
That's an excellent reason to learn a language! If you want to learn a language, the big challenge is to stick with it, consistently, until you get used to how the language works. You need to make Spanish a habit, a part of your life, and not just a New Years' resolution to be forgotten in a month. If you can build the habit of studying and using Spanish (or arrange your life so you have no choice), you will succeed.
It's definitely possible to put off formal grammar study and writing until after you can communicate. If you want to do that, then make sure you get plenty of comprehensible input, so you have a chance to build an intuition about how the language works. I'd recommend that you start listening and reading relatively early. Listening comprehension takes time, and reading is a great source of vocabulary. As for speaking, some people really like Benny's approach. Other people put off speaking until their receptive skills are about A2 or B1. If speaking early seems like a logical idea to you, then you should definitely do it. But if speaking early makes you feel stupid and discouraged, go do something that you enjoy more. For Spanish, the standard certificate is the DELE, which is awarded on behalf of the Spanish government. This would give you something nice and concrete to put on a CV. (If you need to explain it, try: "Well, I have a certificate from the Spanish government saying that my Spanish is good enough to do X, Y and Z.")
The problem is that some structured courses take about 5 years to reach CEFRL B1, which is a terribly slow start compared to a good self-study course like Assimil. If you like structured study, it's probably worth looking for a results-oriented program that actually produces fluent students. If you give up one hour of TV per day, and devote that time to Spanish, there's no reason why you can't be happily chatting away in Spanish by this time next year. When looking at a degree program, make sure they demand at least as much from their students. 5 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6408 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 7 of 19 09 November 2012 at 4:32pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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Self-study can also be structured. Get a textbook and go through it in addition to practising speaking as early as you want. Also, have a look at the various techniques here http://learnanylanguage.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Techniques and see what you feel like trying out. Speaking from day one is more of a philosophy than a method.
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| dbag Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4833 days ago 605 posts - 1046 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 8 of 19 09 November 2012 at 7:33pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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I would strongly advise you against doing such a degree. It may or may not be a
controversial statement, but my honest opinion is that the majority of University degrees in the U.K aren't worth the paper they are printed on. The only degrees I would recommend are those that lead to an actual career.. Law, etc. I speak from experience- I have a degree in Sociology, and while I have had some good jobs, no employer has ever been the least bit interested in my degree. In fact, I would be significantly further ahead in life had I NOT worked towards said degree. I graduated about 5 years ago and I would estimate that only about 1 in 10 of the people I went to university with have ever actually done anything with it. The majority of them view it as a monumental waste of both time and money. I also met a guy from Scotland in Madrid, who had lived there a while and gained a degree in Spanish studies.. That guy now works for tips and said that because of doing that degree, he is almost completely un-employable! Also, you would probably be shocked at how little work is demanded from university students.. In my third year I think I had less than 5 hours a week of actual lectures. If you want to learn Spanish, you can go a long long way by teaching yourself. Perhaps be slightly wary of thinking that Benny's approach will work for you in the same way as it does for him. His way actually involves making some huge sacrifices and is nowhere as easy as it looks.. Trust me I've tried it! Listen to EMK. You NEED to make Spanish a habit. Do that and you can be having fun in just over a year. I have been studying every single day for almost 2 years now, and I can socialise with people that speak no English, but its still not as easy as I would like and they sometimes have to be patient. Its a long but very rewarding process! Good luck and have fun! Oh, and start a log! 5 persons have voted this message useful |
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