NATASHA Posted February 5, 2016 Report Share Posted February 5, 2016 To learn a language is very difficult if you are not really interested in it so pick a language that you would love to speak and this will make it easy to learn because passion makes it easy! I find that when you are interested in the country and the people then that motivates you when you are learning the language. Does anyone else feel this way? Saholy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AExAVF Posted February 5, 2016 Report Share Posted February 5, 2016 I have always been interested in the Japanese language as well as its people, but with particular emphasis on their workaholic nature. As a result of this I was encouraged to study Japanese. I may want to consider taking Arabic in the future, as I didn't have any interest in it when I was still a child. Our elementary classes required us to learn Arabic, whether we liked it or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saholy Posted February 5, 2016 Report Share Posted February 5, 2016 That makes sense in theory. But many of us learned a new language because we were forced to. And so it is hard to love that language when it feels like it is trying to humiliate you in your error at every possible turn. That being said, I think you are right! We must learn to love the language and see the beauty in it. I find that music, proverbs, and things that use idiomatic expression help me to see the beauty of the language. Also, if the language has root meanings, then by learning how the language was built, it makes more sense and easier to learn. I am interested in history so the history behind the words is also interesting to me and makes me like my target language more. Wanda Kaishin 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trellum Posted February 6, 2016 Report Share Posted February 6, 2016 Definitely. Why learn a language you are not even interested on? Unless you are in a situation like mine and you are only learning a new language because you love someone so much and you need to learn said language so you can be with him/her. No better motivation than that in my opinion When I started learning Dutch I saw it more like a chore than anything else, but now I am more motivated than ever! Funny how things can change so fast! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wanda Kaishin Posted February 6, 2016 Report Share Posted February 6, 2016 But who chooses languages to learn at random? While choosing a language, I've never said to myself "hmm, let's see...which language do I love the most?" There have been extenuating circumstances for all my language choices. I really get tired of people like Benny Lewis saying that if we don't love, or have passion for the language we are learning we will fail. If I have time, motivation and resources I will learn it. Stop telling me I have to love it, because that just isn't true. And let me remind people of some very basic logic the we all should have learned in school. If you make a statement, and it isn't true all the time, then it's false. Understand? False. Is the statement "dogs are black" true or false? Does the fact that some dogs are black make the statement true? No. The statement isn't true all of the time, so it's false. So it wouldn't surprise me if some people have to love a language in order to learn it. But the statement "you must love a language to learn it" is clearly false. The internet is just littered with these ridiculous claims. Saholy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lushlala Posted February 6, 2016 Report Share Posted February 6, 2016 I agree with you, @NATASHA.....This does apply a lot, but not quite across the board. It certainly was the case with me. I have always been interested in French and Italian and went out of my way to learn both. It certainly does help to have interest in the history, the culture and the country in general, and I personally feel it enhances my passion for learning said languages. However, like Saholy says, there are other reasons for which people have to learn languages, including in some cases, survival. I'm glad that the reason I leant French and Italian was purely through design, and my love of those two languages and culture. Saholy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
takibari Posted February 6, 2016 Report Share Posted February 6, 2016 Own passion and interest are indeed great sources of motivation to learn new languages. Those alone can make you choose to spend time for learning the target language. As mentioned by some here, nobody really picks a language to learn at random. Our reasons may be varied and those reasons may spell the difference on how focus we are to studying the language. But as for those that just have to learn the language out of necessity and not so much for passion nor interest, learning entails more extra effort. Thus, maintaining the motivation to keep at learning may just be difficult compared to those with the innate passion. Mameha and anna3101 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wanda Kaishin Posted February 6, 2016 Report Share Posted February 6, 2016 6 hours ago, takibari said: maintaining the motivation to keep at learning may just be difficult compared to those with the innate passion. It might, or it might be the other way around. Survival, for example, is about as strong of a motivation that there is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NATASHA Posted February 8, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 8, 2016 On 2016/02/05 12:23:33, AExAVF said: I have always been interested in the Japanese language as well as its people, but with particular emphasis on their workaholic nature. As a result of this I was encouraged to study Japanese. I may want to consider taking Arabic in the future, as I didn't have any interest in it when I was still a child. Our elementary classes required us to learn Arabic, whether we liked it or not. Japanese must be a difficult language to learn and Arabic too! Not many people who can speak Arabic so that is a good one. I would like to learn latin as I find that language fascinating Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NATASHA Posted February 8, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 8, 2016 On 2016/02/05 05:52:42, Saholy said: That makes sense in theory. But many of us learned a new language because we were forced to. And so it is hard to love that language when it feels like it is trying to humiliate you in your error at every possible turn. That being said, I think you are right! We must learn to love the language and see the beauty in it. I find that music, proverbs, and things that use idiomatic expression help me to see the beauty of the language. Also, if the language has root meanings, then by learning how the language was built, it makes more sense and easier to learn. I am interested in history so the history behind the words is also interesting to me and makes me like my target language more. sometimes it is difficult to learn a language that makes you feel humiliated when you try to speak it but nobody really cares and most people would be helpful. I love languages and it is sad when people try to correct you by laughing first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NATASHA Posted February 8, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 8, 2016 On 2016/02/06 03:33:06, Trellum said: Definitely. Why learn a language you are not even interested on? Unless you are in a situation like mine and you are only learning a new language because you love someone so much and you need to learn said language so you can be with him/her. No better motivation than that in my opinion When I started learning Dutch I saw it more like a chore than anything else, but now I am more motivated than ever! Funny how things can change so fast! Oh that is a good way to learn a language and a great reason too! Languages are fantastic and it is nice to know that you can communicate with the one you love especially whrn you are angry and they can then understand what you really mean! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NATASHA Posted February 8, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 8, 2016 On 2016/02/06 11:39:18, lushlala said: I agree with you, @NATASHA.....This does apply a lot, but not quite across the board. It certainly was the case with me. I have always been interested in French and Italian and went out of my way to learn both. It certainly does help to have interest in the history, the culture and the country in general, and I personally feel it enhances my passion for learning said languages. However, like Saholy says, there are other reasons for which people have to learn languages, including in some cases, survival. I'm glad that the reason I leant French and Italian was purely through design, and my love of those two languages and culture. I LOVE history and the languages of French and Italian are fantastic because they are internationally accepted languages. Italian is a difficult language to learn because of the female and male of everything but other than that it is a beautiful language. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anna3101 Posted February 8, 2016 Report Share Posted February 8, 2016 On 06 February 2016, Wanda Kaishin said: But who chooses languages to learn at random? While choosing a language, I've never said to myself "hmm, let's see...which language do I love the most?" There have been extenuating circumstances for all my language choices. I really get tired of people like Benny Lewis saying that if we don't love, or have passion for the language we are learning we will fail. If I have time, motivation and resources I will learn it. Stop telling me I have to love it, because that just isn't true. And let me remind people of some very basic logic the we all should have learned in school. If you make a statement, and it isn't true all the time, then it's false. Understand? False. Is the statement "dogs are black" true or false? Does the fact that some dogs are black make the statement true? No. The statement isn't true all of the time, so it's false. So it wouldn't surprise me if some people have to love a language in order to learn it. But the statement "you must love a language to learn it" is clearly false. The internet is just littered with these ridiculous claims. Why do you think the claim is ridiculous? I think it's actually quite logical that if you enjoy whatever it is that you are learning to do, you'll proceed quicker and your motivation will be way better. Also, there's nothing wrong with choosing a language because you love it. That's the way I went with French and Polish, and it's probably no coincidence that those are also the ones I know better than others. And actually, Benny Lewis says the exact opposite - that he doesn't enjoy learning languages and to him it's just "means to an end" (http://www.fluentin3months.com/means-to-an-end/) Something that has always annoyed me about him. Can't help it - I do feel strongly about languages, so when someone says "There's no need to love them" or "Urgh, I hate them", I feel like a mother whose children just got a derisive look by a stranger. Going into "protect little ones at all costs" mode I am not saying that passionate linguistic feelings are a strict requirement if you want to master a language. But they help A LOT. The difference you see between people who like the language (doesn't matter for which reason - sound of it, culture, lots of friends etc) and dislike it is (sometimes for the very same reasons) is huge. I've seen it at school, at the uni and in various courses. Nobody can deny the fact that motivation is key, and loving the language is an excellent motivator. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wanda Kaishin Posted February 8, 2016 Report Share Posted February 8, 2016 3 hours ago, anna3101 said: Why do you think the claim is ridiculous? I think it's actually quite logical that if you enjoy whatever it is that you are learning to do, you'll proceed quicker and your motivation will be way better. Also, there's nothing wrong with choosing a language because you love it. That's the way I went with French and Polish, and it's probably no coincidence that those are also the ones I know better than others. And actually, Benny Lewis says the exact opposite - that he doesn't enjoy learning languages and to him it's just "means to an end" (http://www.fluentin3months.com/means-to-an-end/) Something that has always annoyed me about him. Can't help it - I do feel strongly about languages, so when someone says "There's no need to love them" or "Urgh, I hate them", I feel like a mother whose children just got a derisive look by a stranger. Going into "protect little ones at all costs" mode I am not saying that passionate linguistic feelings are a strict requirement if you want to master a language. But they help A LOT. The difference you see between people who like the language (doesn't matter for which reason - sound of it, culture, lots of friends etc) and dislike it is (sometimes for the very same reasons) is huge. I've seen it at school, at the uni and in various courses. Nobody can deny the fact that motivation is key, and loving the language is an excellent motivator. The claim "you must love a language in order to learn it" is ridiculous, and obviously false, as I explained above. The claim "loving a language can make it easier to learn" I don't have a problem with. I don't know your English level; I assume it's pretty high, but if you can't tell the difference between these two types of statements, it's not worth arguing about. I agree that Benny seems to contradict himself. But what he says in the link you provided is that he doesn't like the learning process. However, he has written in great detail how one needs to have passion to learn a language. Evidently that's passion for succeeding and getting to the point where you can use the language, not passion for the learning process itself. To be clear, and avoid being called a Benny-lover, I disagree with him. I think all you need to succeed are motivation, time and resources. Benny says motivation isn't enough, and that you need passion instead. He goes onto define passion, and it's basically types of motivation that he considers acceptable. No one, not even Benny Lewis, can tell us what our motivations need to be. If you're annoyed with people who don't love the languages they are learning, keep in mind there's only one person in the world who can control that. Like Benny, I don't love the process or the languages themselves; I love what I can do with them. I don't see why that should annoy anyone. Some people love the learning process, but aren't too concerned about the results. Some people love the learning process, and love the results. None of these people annoy me. Can't we all just get along? Saholy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anna3101 Posted February 11, 2016 Report Share Posted February 11, 2016 @Wanda Kaishin I'm pretty sure we can all get along just fine!We already have at least one thing we agree on: we are not fans of Benny Wanda Kaishin 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wanda Kaishin Posted February 12, 2016 Report Share Posted February 12, 2016 8 hours ago, anna3101 said: @Wanda Kaishin I'm pretty sure we can all get along just fine!We already have at least one thing we agree on: we are not fans of Benny Haha - I'm a fan of anyone who's not a fan of Benny. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mameha Posted February 16, 2016 Report Share Posted February 16, 2016 I think people can learn a language for necessity or for love, but i'm sure that if you must learn a language and you even love it, you will learn it faster (and sometimes better) then if you don't love it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard.H Posted March 14, 2016 Report Share Posted March 14, 2016 I 100% agree! I just can't do it if I don't love the language. I the past I tried to learn Japanese, Chinese, Korean, French, Thai, and Tagalog. Only the first 3 stuck with me. The other 3 I dropped after the first lesson as I immediately realized it was simply not for me. I always say "have fun 51% of the time, and work hard 49% of the time"; I believe it does not concern only language learning though. Be it work, sport, or anything really, I think you should enjoy it. Because if you enjoy it then you can really do it well, because your heart will be in it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saholy Posted March 16, 2016 Report Share Posted March 16, 2016 Okay, I'm embarrassed to admit, I had no idea who Benny is so all these posts made me go look up his website and the Skype youtube clip 'Skype me Maybe' is sort of hilarious. He is a native English speaker but his accent is so strong you need to read the subtitles to understand him even if you are a native English speaker! Sounds like a subject for another thread. In which accent should I learn my target language? ha! I've loved reading all these posts about loving language! ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lingua Franca Posted March 17, 2016 Report Share Posted March 17, 2016 This is why a lot of people don't end up remembering what they learn when a language is obligatory. If you really like the language you will learn it in no time at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roger1003 Posted March 20, 2016 Report Share Posted March 20, 2016 Motivation is a very important element in learning the language. Learning the language is a long process that requires discipline. We need to want the language and need the language for us to learn it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sillylucy Posted March 21, 2016 Report Share Posted March 21, 2016 I always try to learn languages that I like and that I know I will use. I tried learning French for years, but no one is using it with me, I don't use it for work and I have never been to France or Canada. So now I am brushing up on my Spanish because it gives me an edge at my job and people like to see it on my resume. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VinayaSpeaks Posted March 21, 2016 Report Share Posted March 21, 2016 I never try to learn the language just because it is very popular or creates opportunities for me. I try to learn the language that genuinely interests me. I have been reading about France and French culture since I was a child, thus, I took interest in French language. I am trying to hone my English language skills because I am fascinated with the development of English language. I love the language I am learning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaiiren Posted March 21, 2016 Report Share Posted March 21, 2016 For me, my journey of learning Japanese started with my love of Japanese culture and entertainment. If I never felt a cultural connection with Japan, I would've never started to learn the language. Even today, when I studied some Japanese, I thought to myself "Grrr.... this is starting to get really frustrating." However, when I thought about my love for its culture and my true desire to understand the Japanese, I felt myself much more motivated to continue my study session! :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lushlala Posted March 30, 2016 Report Share Posted March 30, 2016 On 08 February 2016 at 9:53 AM, NATASHA said: I LOVE history and the languages of French and Italian are fantastic because they are internationally accepted languages. Italian is a difficult language to learn because of the female and male of everything but other than that it is a beautiful language. Same here, NATASHA.....LOVE French and Italian I used to prefer French, but once I fell deeply in love with everything Italian, Italian took over haha Interestingly, I found Italian easier to learn than French. To me, Italian is especially easier to pronounce, I guess because it has a lot of similar sounds to some you find in my own language. I mean both do the male and masculine thing, so if you've got a handle on the French masculine and femininine nouns, I'm sure you won't struggle I have to say, when i first realised that was the case with French, I really struggled, as it's unlike any of the languages I grew up speaking; Setswana (my language) and English. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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