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Rubbish at languages | ||
Tags: Talent | Difficulty | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
 jeff_lindqvist Diglot Moderator SwedenRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6702 days ago 4250 posts - 5710 votes  Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: German, Spanish, Russian, Dutch, Mandarin, Esperanto, Irish, French Personal Language Map | Message 17 of 22 21 June 2014 at 12:20am | IP Logged | ||
So do I! I never imagined that so many people were able to juggle a high number of languages at such a high level. Impressive indeed. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| eyðimörk Triglot Senior Member France goo.gl/aT4FY7 Joined 3892 days ago 490 posts - 1158 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English, French Studies: Breton, Italian | Message 18 of 22 21 June 2014 at 8:10am | IP Logged | ||
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Some people are obviously quicker learners than others, in particular if we break it down to certain areas of learning.
But, I'm sceptical of the "I'm rubbish at languages" crowd because I've never heard those words uttered by someone who didn't also say things like "it's impossible to learn a language well after the age of twelve" or "only a child could ever achieve a native accent", and whenever languages are mentioned they start spouting off their one-hundred-and-one weak reasons why they could never learn a language*. * Which in reality only serve to negatively reinforce them so that they do, indeed, never learn anything language related even when work sends them to a free Business English course or when a friend convinces them to come to a course in [basic Tourist] Italian once a week for a few months. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| holly heels Groupie United States Joined 3679 days ago 47 posts - 107 votes Studies: Mandarin | Message 19 of 22 21 June 2014 at 11:41pm | IP Logged | ||
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I think everyone should start out with the assumption that they are rubbish at languages, that way they will be pleasantly surprised if it is easier than they expected.
In a way, when someone says they have a talent for learning languages, they are making a mockery of language learning, which relies less on talent and more on persistence. I can't envision a day when technology will significantly shorten the time required to learn a language to fluency, which is anywhere from 600-3000+ hours. I have amassed at least 2600 hours of Mandarin study and am able to converse on the phone with native speakers who are sometimes surprised to find out that I am non-Asian, but there still so many empty areas in my comprehension that I can't help but think that I am rubbish at languages, at least in the area of comprehension. So for me, being rubbish at languages is both deflating and motivating at the same time. It is really a blessing in disguise. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| eyðimörk Triglot Senior Member France goo.gl/aT4FY7 Joined 3892 days ago 490 posts - 1158 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English, French Studies: Breton, Italian | Message 20 of 22 22 June 2014 at 12:13am | IP Logged | ||
Saying to yourself, before ever trying to do something, that you'll be rubbish is usually the fastest way to verifying that you are indeed rubbish. Negativity breeds failure, and judging from studies performed on student results based on what they've been told to expect of themselves few people walk away from negative talk pleasantly surprised at how great they actually are. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| 1e4e6 Octoglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4083 days ago 1013 posts - 1588 votes Speaks: English*, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Norwegian, Dutch, Swedish, Italian Studies: German, Danish, Russian, Catalan | Message 21 of 22 22 June 2014 at 12:37am | IP Logged | ||
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Perhaps it is a personal feeling, but are there not people who feel better if they
underestimate their ability? I have been a competitive, and at one point almost semi- professional chess player, and the best way that I can perform is to tell myself that I am the worst in the entire field, or that it would be surprising if I even won one game. Contrastingly, I performed much worse when people expected me to win, or that they placed expectations upon me, which makes me almost freeze and unable to perform properly. The same works for languages, I speak four and study three, but there are so many others that are better than I, so it feels better if I tell myself that what I do is nothing special, sometimes even embarassingly bad that I am C2 is none of my foreign languages, whilst other people are C2 in two or three at least, regardless of if they are from Continental Europe with a better start in languages in primary and secondary school. I feel very bad that I am not yet C2 in Spanish despite starting to study it in 2003, but somehow it makes me feel better than people expecting me to be a Cervantes or Quijote if were I C2 and overestimated my abilities. Edited by 1e4e6 on 22 June 2014 at 12:42am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| holly heels Groupie United States Joined 3679 days ago 47 posts - 107 votes Studies: Mandarin | Message 22 of 22 22 June 2014 at 1:06am | IP Logged | ||
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Yes, at times negativity breeds failure, but so can over-confidence.
Since you didn't cite a specific study, I will cite a specific example regarding another difficult language which was being taught at Portland State Univ., where nearly all of the students dropped out of the class after they realized how difficult the language was. They just assumed it would be relatively easy but apparently they had no idea what they were in for, so they decided to bail. This experience probably also poisoned any future attempts at language learning. And here's a funny story from my own experience. I am state-raised, most of my childhood in children's homes, institutions, etc. One day in the rec room a guy who was the best pool player ever challenged me to a game since he saw me there playing alone. I reluctantly agreed to play with him, no expectation of victory. No money was involved. I wound up beating him 2 out of 3 times. I was more surprised than he was. I was not the one who introduced the word "rubbish". I was only using it to stay on subject. I was not suggesting that having low expectations about learning Mandarin should extend to all areas of life, only that being realistic about the difficulty of the study is a good idea. Edited by holly heels on 22 June 2014 at 1:37am 3 persons have voted this message useful |
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