|
 |
How do "normal" people learn languages? | ||
Tags: Learning Strategy | ||
Share with:
| ||
 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| garyb Triglot Senior Member ScotlandRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5019 days ago 1468 posts - 2413 votes  Speaks: English*, Italian, French Studies: Spanish | Message 9 of 16 05 January 2012 at 10:55am | IP Logged | |||||
|
"Watching films" is the standard answer I get from anyone who's learnt English to a good level, and "living in the country" from English speakers who've learnt another language to a good level.
2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Ellsworth Senior Member United States Joined 4769 days ago 345 posts - 528 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Swedish, Finnish, Icelandic, Irish | Message 10 of 16 05 January 2012 at 12:50pm | IP Logged | |||||
|
Basically everyone I know learned a second language in School for 4+ years, but because
they didn't really want to do it from the beginning, and because language learning is so uncommon here in the USA, promptly forgot much of it following highschool. I think the only way for most of them to keep it up is evening classes, because most lack the personal motivation and structure. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| petteri Triglot Senior Member Finland Joined 4744 days ago 117 posts - 208 votes Speaks: Finnish*, English, Swedish Studies: German, Spanish | Message 11 of 16 05 January 2012 at 1:12pm | IP Logged | |||||
Same applies to Finland as well. Over here "normal people" start to learn English at school. English is currently not that much foreign language as it used to be. Nowadays young people really need English language to communicate properly. Because people you over here really need English language skill in order to survive in education and hobbies , they learn it. C1 is typical skill level for university students on any field. It is bit surprising that young Finns learn English almost as well as Dutch, Swedish, Norwegians and Danish even though language barrier should be higher as Finnish language belongs to different language group which prevents head-start which ie. Dutch get when learning English. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| William Camden Hexaglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 6084 days ago 1936 posts - 2333 votes Speaks: English*, German, Spanish, Russian, Turkish, French | Message 12 of 16 05 January 2012 at 2:15pm | IP Logged | |||||
|
I prefer to talk about "average" language learners, as using "normal", even in quotation marks, is to admit to being abnormal in some way.
A relative of mine was perhaps an example of an "average" learner. I was at her house some years ago, after she had been on holiday in France, and I noticed she had a Michel Thomas CD on learning French. I also saw a large Collins French dictionary. The dictionary, rather than perhaps the CD, suggested a serious attitude to the language. But I don't know how far she got with French, though I believe she had studied it in school, like so many. She had two children aged under 10 at the time I saw the CD and dictionary, and so I doubt whether she had the opportunity to hack away at an L2 for a couple of hours a day the way I can. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| jazzboy.bebop Senior Member Norway norwegianthroughnove Joined 5230 days ago 439 posts - 800 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Norwegian | Message 13 of 16 05 January 2012 at 2:38pm | IP Logged | |||||
I'm not particularly surprised that the English speaking ability of Finnish people is roughly on par with the Scandinavians. If I remember correctly when I visited Tampere and Helsinki as part of a school foreign exchange programme about 9 years ago, I noticed a lot of English content around in newsagents and on television. I think it is likely that the amount of consistent exposure to English is what makes the difference. If on a daily basis you are in contact with English language stuff on TV with subtitles and have plenty of English magazines easily available and you are getting lessons in school, what you have learned will be constantly reinforced and new vocabulary will start creeping in naturally. While the Scandinavian countries have languages linguistically closer to English, they still seem to have a lot of exposure to the language and from what I've seen in Norway, a good level of English is a prerequisite for most if not all university courses. With that in mind people are certainly going to be motivated to learn English well, and the wealth of English material available makes it far more likely for them to learn English to a good level. Edited by jazzboy.bebop on 05 January 2012 at 4:15pm 3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
 Iversen Super Polyglot Moderator Denmark berejst.dk Joined 6515 days ago 9078 posts - 16473 votes Speaks: Danish*, French, English, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Swedish, Esperanto, Romanian, Catalan Studies: Afrikaans, Greek, Norwegian, Russian, Serbian, Icelandic, Latin, Irish, Lowland Scots, Indonesian, Polish, Croatian Personal Language Map | Message 14 of 16 06 January 2012 at 11:07am | IP Logged | |||||
|
The state of evening school courses in foreign languages in my town:
I just got the catalogue of an evening school organization ("oplysningsforbund") yesterday. A standard course, which lasts half a year, would be 30 hours and cost around 150 € plus materials. I could see that there are many courses in 'exotic' languages like Arabic, Thai and Hungarian .. and even one in Swedish. However the majority of the courses are in English, German and the main Romance languages. And there are other organizations with their own programs, but I haven't checked those. I have not participated in such courses myself, but remain somewhat sceptical about their effect. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| DesEsseintes Triglot Newbie Ireland Joined 4994 days ago 33 posts - 68 votes Speaks: English, French*, Spanish Studies: Croatian | Message 15 of 16 06 January 2012 at 1:39pm | IP Logged | |||||
|
A lot of people just don't have a passion for languages, and only learn a language when they have to.
Most of the times, they learn a language for professional reasons, and the company they're working for usually hires private tutors. I've been living far from the mother country for years now, and that's what I've almost always seen so far. "I arrived a few months ago, and the company I work for has been paying me lessons since" or "I intend to leave this country and to go to another one in the months to come, hence the fact that I'm taking lessons" Edited by DesEsseintes on 06 January 2012 at 1:40pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| HenryMW Tetraglot Senior Member United States Joined 4986 days ago 125 posts - 179 votes Speaks: English*, German, Spanish, French Studies: Modern Hebrew | Message 16 of 16 06 January 2012 at 4:43pm | IP Logged | |||||
|
So it seems there is no one go to solution? When I was in Europe, it seemed that a lot of
people spoke at least one other language, which I just chalked up to decent schooling, easy access to foreign culture, and necessity. In America, I have never met anyone who had to learn a language for work and did it. I assume such people exist, though. Usually the people you meet in America that speak more than one language are immigrants, the children of immigrants, or students. I realize that my language study habits are not exactly in the mainstream, which is what led me to this post. I guess private tutors are popular. As a self-learner, I think that's an odd way to learn languages, but my friends think my way to learn languages is odd. 1 person has voted this message useful |
If you wish to post a reply to this topic you must first login. If you are not already registered you must first register
|  | 
Printable version
|
| Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization. |
