Comfort zone, anyone?

[lushlala]

I was reading an article on language learning earlier, when I stumbled across an interesting point! The article stated that many people initially succeed at quickly picking up foreign language skills, but then hit a plateau, settling into some sort of comfort zone that they then find very difficult to get out of. It suggested that some people seem happy to just be 'good enough' at their chosen foreign language, as opposed to striving to be the very best at it. This doesn't apply to me, but I'm curious to see if any of you have experienced this? -and if you did, how did you push yourself to continue past that stage, in order to get to a higher level in your language skills?

[czarina84]

I have never experienced this.  Like you, I continue to try to learn as much as possible in a new language.  I even do this is my native tongue.  I constantly look at my English Grammar book and the English Language Learning section to make sure I know everything I can about my native language.

[宇崎ちゃん]

The biggest comfort zone most people have is to delay speaking until 'they're ready' (which you never will be).

Each time I find something easy, I try to turn the level up a bit.
And bit by bit, I work myself to fluency by doing this.

And if I don't, I just let it happen naturally (like with English, I wrote and spoke it at every possible moment and learning English became natural to me).

[linguaholic]

40 minutes ago, Blaveloper said:

The biggest comfort zone most people have is to delay speaking until 'they're ready' (which you never will be).

Each time I find something easy, I try to turn the level up a bit.
And bit by bit, I work myself to fluency by doing this.

And if I don't, I just let it happen naturally (like with English, I wrote and spoke it at every possible moment and learning English became natural to me).

agreed.

[takibari]

Off the top of my head, probably it has something to do with the person's language goal. If the person is just interested in knowing 'just enough' to get by, then it's probably the reason they're OK with reaching the comfort zone. In contrast, from what I just heard from Korean co-workers before, a lot of the Korean students push themselves to studying and improving their English skills MORE because of their American dream to enter U.S. universities.

Anyway, I'm not sure this is relevant to the topic. But, the Ministry of Education in Korea, found that the students have become well-versed in pin-pointing grammatical errors, but have difficulty explaining the errors or even constructing sentences. {There is high emphasis on standardized tests in Korea - mostly multiple choice tests}. Thus, there was a change of tactics on the part of the Ministry and added more premium on "speaking". I guess, in a way this how the ministry was pushing the students to get past the "comfort zone" [being good at grammar, but not on other areas] of their students.

[Wanda Kaishin]

6 hours ago, lushlala said:

I was reading an article on language learning earlier, when I stumbled across an interesting point! The article stated that many people initially succeed at quickly picking up foreign language skills, but then hit a plateau, settling into some sort of comfort zone that they then find very difficult to get out of. It suggested that some people seem happy to just be 'good enough' at their chosen foreign language, as opposed to striving to be the very best at it. This doesn't apply to me, but I'm curious to see if any of you have experienced this? -and if you did, how did you push yourself to continue past that stage, in order to get to a higher level in your language skills?

This is very common in language learning. I think it most typically happens when the learner is immersed in the language. She learns it to the point where she feels she is functional. She sees the payoff for improving beyond this point as being greatly diminished, so she relaxes into the comfort of this level.

I've seen this happen a lot, and I think these people are also the ones most likely to overestimate their level. I can't count the times I've had someone at a B1 level tell me they were "fluent" or even "C2". It's like they fail to see how many issues they still have for some reason. 

[Chris_A]

I think the comfort zone, when learning a new language, definitely exists. Once you feel proficient enough, there is little that could push you out of that stage and really make you perfect said language. And it is also very hard to get out of that comfort zone, that is for sure.

[lushlala]

On 07 December 2015 at 12:50:46 PM, czarina84 said:

I have never experienced this.  Like you, I continue to try to learn as much as possible in a new language.  I even do this is my native tongue.  I constantly look at my English Grammar book and the English Language Learning section to make sure I know everything I can about my native language.

I totally agree with you there, @czarina84! I don't think I could ever feel I know enough and stop learning because of that! I too find I'm still learning bits of my own language, and I've spoken it all my life too.  I don't think there can ever be an end to the learning process, but maybe that's just me.

[anna3101]

A comfort zone for me would probably be speaking fluently. I can relax a bit at the point where I no longer struggle to convey my thoughts and don't need a dictionary with me at all times, and all those "Erhm... hmm... what was that word..." practically don't appear anymore.

That said, I don't feel like I can stop learning at this point because I still make mistakes anyway, and there are simply too many exciting new things to be learnt. However fluent one may be, it's never perfect because perfect doesn't exist, and that's great because we can go on studying all our lives.

[czarina84]

22 hours ago, lushlala said:

I totally agree with you there, @czarina84! I don't think I could ever feel I know enough and stop learning because of that! I too find I'm still learning bits of my own language, and I've spoken it all my life too.  I don't think there can ever be an end to the learning process, but maybe that's just me.

I'm the same way.  I think that, in a way, I'm glad there is no end to the learning process.  It keeps your brain sharp and gives you a journey, a reason to wake up and enjoy life.  Don't get me wrong, I do like down time, but I love learning.

[lushlala]

4 hours ago, anna3101 said:

A comfort zone for me would probably be speaking fluently. I can relax a bit at the point where I no longer struggle to convey my thoughts and don't need a dictionary with me at all times, and all those "Erhm... hmm... what was that word..." practically don't appear anymore.

That said, I don't feel like I can stop learning at this point because I still make mistakes anyway, and there are simply too many exciting new things to be learnt. However fluent one may be, it's never perfect because perfect doesn't exist, and that's great because we can go on studying all our lives.

@anna3101....I agree with everything you've said. I can feel myself cringe inwardly if I have to keep doing the erhm, ahh, eh thing. That in itself gets me even more nervous. It just gets very awkward for all concerned. I also believe that we can never stop learning. The minute we decide we know it all and don't need to do any more learning, is the moment we all fall down. Even outside of language learning, I'm grateful to learn a few things every single day. 

[Heda]

Doesn't really apply to me, I like to get better all the time

[AExAVF]

I have never reached this "comfort zone" in learning the Japanese language, especially when it comes to my Elementary 1 class.  Though I got very high marks in the midterm examinations, I was pulled down in the finals.   I may have passed the course, but I honestly feel that my efforts were not good enough, as I wanted to aim for something higher.  I don't want to fall under the thinking of 'good enough for me."  I may have good marks in grammar and reading, writing is just fine, but listening is really bad such that I have to improve myself on the latter.

[lushlala]

@AExAVF..... I like your attitude! -and well done on your progress  in Japanese  To me, you sound like a good learner and achiever in equal measure, yet your thirst for learning doesn't wane! I also believe that we can almost always find something to improve upon, rather rest on our laurels and think we know it all.  I feel like people who go around believing they couldn't possibly learn any more than they already know can also come across as being cocky, whether by design or not, which is sad, really.

[DivaDee]

I sometimes hit that dreaded "comfort zone" but soon my inability to understand EVERYTHING makes me quickly break out of it, so yes I may hit a "comfort zone" but trust me it doesn't last long... No matter what I'm studying, I eventually hit and break that "comfort zone" feeling... 

[OmniHead]

I believe to have reached such comfort zone once I learned enough English to feel confident with my knowledge, but eventually realized that it wasn't comfort at all, only that I lost the initial motivation that got me into learning this language.

Fortunately, life took me through a pathway in which I realized my knowledge wasn't enough, and there was still too much to learn, and I got myself trying hard to learn as much as I know now... Yet not feeling to perfect this knowledge though.