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What makes some people good at languages? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| Wings Senior Member Ireland n/a Joined 6152 days ago 130 posts - 131 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 1 of 91 30 July 2007 at 10:06am | IP Logged | ||
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What is underlining ability or abilities’ a person has who is good at learning languages?
Are there people who can learn languages effortlessly? I found this, it's interesting. It's a programme titled: “SAY WHAT YOU THINK” With Practising neuroscientist and monoglot Dr Mark Lythgoe grappling with the science of learning languages. Link Here's another interesting programme about THE MIRROR-NEURON SYSTEM, From Earle.Link Here’s an interesting article about THE MIRROR-NEURON SYSTEM, from tmesis. Link Easier to learn when younger? Link Polyglots 'have different brains? Link For interesting insites The linguist blog Link Gray matter and adult language learning by reineke link From leosmith supermemo's article on sleep interesing topic by Zhuangzi link Edited by Wings on 08 December 2007 at 1:30pm 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Eve Triglot Groupie United States Joined 6473 days ago 67 posts - 67 votes Speaks: Russian*, English, Spanish | Message 2 of 91 30 July 2007 at 10:50am | IP Logged | ||
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I forgot who defined genius as 99% hard work + 1% ability. So, probably even if somebody has natural ability for languages as fenomenal memory or something else, it will not be without hard work
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| Wings Senior Member Ireland n/a Joined 6152 days ago 130 posts - 131 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 3 of 91 30 July 2007 at 11:00am | IP Logged | ||
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I agree 100%. I'm not sure Whether this topic is going to spark a debate. But what separates someone who is good and someone who is not regardless of work ethic?
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| therumsgone Diglot Groupie United States Joined 6335 days ago 93 posts - 105 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French | Message 4 of 91 30 July 2007 at 11:40am | IP Logged | ||
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I say it has something to do with confidence and perseverance. There are so many people who don't believe they can learn a language, or who are too afraid to speak in the foreign language when they encounter a native speaker. Then there are those who want to be able to learn in their sleep without putting any work into it ("just like a child learns," apparently). I believe that working hard (and consistently) and not being afraid of making mistakes means that you will be "good" at learning a language. Too many people overestimate the importance of ability, but really anyone can learn a language.
Pronunciation, though, may be another story. I've met people who can "do" a foreign accent after hearing it for twenty minutes, and who can easily mimic a language's prosody. Most people, though, can still develop an excellent accent with a little hard work. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| FSI Senior Member United States Joined 6157 days ago 550 posts - 590 votes Speaks: English* | Message 5 of 91 30 July 2007 at 12:15pm | IP Logged | ||
It's not an overestimation - it's an excellent way of justifying one's laziness. 99% of people are always going to imply 99% of people who get anything done were "born with talent", or "gifted", or "really really smart". It's just the way people are. As a rule, human beings don't like giving credit to other human beings. It's far easier to say someone learns languages well "because their brain's just wired that way" than to take even an instant to laud the learner on the hundreds (thousands?) of hours s/he spent diligently learning. This way, the person has a built-in excuse for why they can't speak a language, write a novel, hit a baseball, paint a portrait...etc. It's really handy. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Eve Triglot Groupie United States Joined 6473 days ago 67 posts - 67 votes Speaks: Russian*, English, Spanish | Message 6 of 91 30 July 2007 at 12:17pm | IP Logged | ||
You are absolutely right, FSI! Another common way to degrade the hard work - "It is an easy language!" Edited by Eve on 30 July 2007 at 12:19pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Zhuangzi Nonaglot Language Program Publisher Senior Member Canada lingq.com Joined 6826 days ago 646 posts - 688 votes Speaks: English*, French, Japanese, Swedish, Mandarin, Cantonese, German, Italian, Spanish Studies: Russian | Message 7 of 91 30 July 2007 at 4:45pm | IP Logged | ||
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Who is good at languages? (not a full list)
Main factors: People who are motivated to learn languages. People who put a lot of effort into learning languages (like me). Secondary factors: People who can already speak more than one language. Outgoing people who are not afraid to make mistakes. People who are good at simplifying tasks. People who heard a number of languages when they were young, including Swedes and Dutch people who watch TV in the original language. People who are not closeted in their own culture and can visualize themselves as part of another culture and therefore willingly imitate the behaviour of another culture. People who do not resist the new language, and just accept it without asking why it works in certain ways. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| siomotteikiru Senior Member Zaire Joined 6159 days ago 102 posts - 242 votes | Message 8 of 91 30 July 2007 at 4:52pm | IP Logged | ||
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I might add:
People who love what they are doing, then any effort is a reward not a punishment. And people who know how to get down to this. And people who have wings: 習う = to learn. kanji: my wings. Blackbird, take your borken wings and learn to fly. Edited by siomotteikiru on 30 July 2007 at 4:56pm 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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