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Do I need to have a passion to succeed? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Advice Center |  | |
| rolf Senior Member United Kingdom improvingmydutch.blo Joined 5818 days ago 107 posts - 134 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Dutch | Message 9 of 17 25 November 2012 at 1:24am | IP Logged | ||
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Thanks for comments so far. To give more background that isn't on my blog, my rationale
is thus: I have been at a wall in Dutch though much of this is due to using "natural" methods and a total lack of study (I have a great aversion to traditional study methods). More recently, I have made some progress and I am now not so annoyed with my former lack of progress with Dutch. Things are going well now. However, I feel I do need to mix it up a bit. When I chose Spanish, these were my reasons: - From what I have heard it is not particularly different - I want to stick to European languages for now. Mandarin will likely be my next one - Long term, I would like a more "useful" language. - Also, Spanish has many learning resources, something that Dutch does not. So my choice was always down to one of the "major" languages - Actually, German is my first choice. Something about the culture interests me. BUT, I feel it is too close to Dutch, such that I would get confused? When I did a bit of Michel Thomas German a couple years ago, it did confuse me and I was thinking using some German words when I meant to use the Dutch and vice versa. - Again, on a utilitarian basis, Spanish is widely spoken in Latin America, Spain and USA. - Who knows, maybe I will move to Spain one day, this is a good option to have. Compared to further north, property is much cheaper and the weather is much nicer. - I don't intend to study till maybe Q2 next year. Yes, my life is too hectic right now and, besides, I want to concentrate on getting my Dutch better first. I did actually do some Spanish at university back in 1999 and found it easier than French and much easier than German, both of which I had studied at school. I got to the same level (near GCSE level) doing one lesson a week for a year compared to doing two or three lessons a week at an earlier age in the other languages. And yet, as I said, I wonder if I need a stronger connection to get me through those tough moments that I've had with Dutch but where my passion and my connection to the land have seen me through. If I did German or Mandarin, I would have a stronger passion but I don't feel German is as useful. And when learning languages, I like the option to settle in a country. It is near-impossible to become a Chinese citizen if you are a foreigner, from what I have read. Edited by rolf on 25 November 2012 at 1:27am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| JohannaNYC Bilingual Triglot Senior Member United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4263 days ago 251 posts - 361 votes Speaks: Spanish*, English*, Italian Studies: Croatian, Serbian, Arabic (Egyptian) | Message 10 of 17 25 November 2012 at 1:26am | IP Logged | ||
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I'm passionate about learning Arabic and Croatian, but I'm not passionate about the
languages themselves. I have cultural attraction and personal reasons for learning them and of course I don't dislike the way they sound. Luckily so far cultural reasons have been good enough motivation. Spanish-language culture is so rich in literature, music, food, etc. Every country has a different culture and history with little more to unite it to its' neighbors other than the language. Is there seriously no cultural aspect you could explore that would motivate you to learn it? Otherwise you're probably not gonna keep it up, unless you need it for work of course. If you think it'd be fun maybe you should read some of the Spanish learners' blogs on this site. For a level 2 language people seem to struggle with it a lot. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| JohannaNYC Bilingual Triglot Senior Member United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4263 days ago 251 posts - 361 votes Speaks: Spanish*, English*, Italian Studies: Croatian, Serbian, Arabic (Egyptian) | Message 11 of 17 25 November 2012 at 1:31am | IP Logged | ||
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I was obviously typing at the same time as you, so maybe you could disregard the last
sentence or two about the way people struggle with it. But yeah try to find something about the culture or the people that would motivate to learn it. Although people do learn languages for practical reasons all the time. 2 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 12 of 17 25 November 2012 at 2:07am | IP Logged | ||
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Don't think of it for now:) Do German or Mandarin if this is what you really want. Your experience with "confusion" is from a few years ago, so you shouldn't worry so much about that. As a test you could dig out your MT and do a tiny bit. Focusing on passive first also helps, and this seems to suit your learning style as well. You used to find German harder but with Dutch under your belt, it will be easier than Spanish, and more enjoyable due to a higher level of motivation.
2 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 13 of 17 25 November 2012 at 2:33am | IP Logged | ||
Also, even if you take a break your Dutch will keep your German alive, but you won't have such luxury with Spanish. Edited by Serpent on 26 November 2012 at 12:25am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Raincrowlee Tetraglot Senior Member United States Joined 6513 days ago 621 posts - 808 votes Speaks: English*, Mandarin, Korean, French Studies: Indonesian, Japanese | Message 14 of 17 25 November 2012 at 8:22am | IP Logged | ||
This. I started learning Korean for work, for a very practical reason: learning it would get me posted in Asia again. I had no real connection with the language, and really didn't know much about its history, except in general terms of it being part of Asia. Since I started about two years ago, I've discovered Korean movies, Korean music, Korean food, and have gotten a better measure of the history of the nation, especially since WWII. I've just begun to find out what Korean people are like, since I've only been here a couple of months, but the language is helping me out there already. I realized a while back that knowing a language can take you places that you never realized they would, because you makes you more aware of an entire sector of the world that you wouldn't have had interest in otherwise. If you study a language and put enough time to be decent at it, then it will probably pay the most unexpected dividends in the future. I've already been told that if I get my Indonesian up to the next level, there's a guaranteed job for me; that's a job that wouldn't have been there if I wasn't already studying the language. In a way, it's a leap of faith, because languages take so long to learn, but really, it's better than playing video games, isn't it? Discipline will take you farther than passion any day. Edited by Raincrowlee on 25 November 2012 at 8:23am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| William Camden Hexaglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 6083 days ago 1936 posts - 2333 votes Speaks: English*, German, Spanish, Russian, Turkish, French | Message 15 of 17 25 November 2012 at 2:32pm | IP Logged | ||
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Definitely for the more difficult languages, yes. And probably even for the less difficult ones. Learning an L2 is inherently difficult and there are many obstacles. Overcoming them is at least as much about your state of mind as about innate ability.
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Cavesa Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 4820 days ago 3277 posts - 6779 votes Speaks: Czech*, FrenchC2, EnglishC1 Studies: Spanish, German, Italian | Message 16 of 17 25 November 2012 at 2:43pm | IP Logged | ||
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It depends on your personality as well. If learning something just because you should (it
is useful in general, it is required, it will help you earn more money) is not a trouble for you, than go on. It is a sign of responsibility, which I admire. But if you are learning more for fun, than it might be easier to learn if you as well find something you like about the language or culture and the passion may come later. Or you could try another language. I suppose the German-Dutch confussion from years ago was caused by the low level of your Dutch and the lack of experience as a learner. You can give it another try and see whether it is the same or better. If Mandarin is what you trully want, and what you are passionate about, than there is no reason not to try. It will take a lot of time anyways, so why postpone it for a language you are less interested in. 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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