Why Disliking Learning Languages Is Not A Good Thing

93314http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mezzoguild.com%2F2012%2F02%2F18%2Fwhy-disliking-learning-languages-is-not-a-good-thing%2FWhy+Disliking+Learning+Languages+Is+Not+A+Good+Thing2012-02-18+00%3A27%3A27Donovan+Nagelhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.mezzoguild.com%2F%3Fp%3D933 Written by Donovan Nagel on February 18, 2012 – 12:27 am

[UPDATE: Please read this post concerning the comments that have been removed from here.] 

I don’t want to spend much time talking about this or fueling any controversy but I thought it was definitely worthy of a few points of my own.

I’d like to hear what you think about this in the comments section below as well.

This was said recently on a popular language learning website:

I see languages as a means to an end - nothing more.

For this bloke, and I suspect a lot of other people, the language learning process is seen as an obstacle in the path of being able to achieve an end goal. As long as the chick at the counter knows that I don’t want pickles on my McHanbaobao or that I want hot’n'spicy Kentucky Fried Dajaja (wings please) then who cares about the language, right?

I frikkin love learning languages.

The end product is great sure – being able to actually use it and learn about people on such a deep and personal level, but I also enjoy every step and discovery along the way – even the frustrating and seemingly ‘useless’ ones.

Language learning – my fishing analogy

I was sitting on the beach yesterday doing a bit of fishing and thinking about this whole I hate language learning but love using them thing, and this analogy came to mind:

Imagine walking into a fishing tackle shop to buy bait and to get some tips from the guy at the counter who claims to be an expert, and he says to you, “Look, I love eating the fish, but I don’t like fishing. I don’t like rigging up my gear, putting the bait on or the long wait for the fish to bite. It’s all just a means to an end. Oh by the way, I’ve just published this excellent book on the best fishing spots and advice that I’m sure will help you…“

In the words of my girlfriend, I’d be telling this guy, “a-seeeee-yaaaa.” I think I’ll go find a fishing shop where the guy behind the counter almost pisses his pants with excitement over every aspect of fishing. And as for your book, I’d rather buy a book from the excited pants-wetter than you, mate. Thanks anyway.

Irish Gaeilge – A no-end-goal mission

As you probably know by now, I started teaching myself Irish Gaeilge recently, using free online resources and now, finally, with a paid private teacher via Skype.

Irish is a language that I will most definitely never need, and probably never get to naturally use (unless I spend some short holiday time on the west coast of Ireland). Apart from some personal reasons for wanting to learn it, I’m studying it because I love the process of learning. Every new bit of vocab and every new thing I can understand on TG4 (Irish television) interests me.

And you know what, I’m paying about $40 USD per week for lessons – for a language with absolutely no usability to me! The I don’t like learning languages crowd would think I’m a bloody idiot for doing it.

I’ve also been spending some time reactivating my French lately (I haven’t really spoken much French for 6 years but it’s still there on a dusty shelf in my brain), and as someone who loves every step of the learning process I delved into Gaulish recently (a dead, “useless” Celtic language) just to see how it’s etymologically related to Modern French and Irish.

All because I love the process of learning languages.

ESL teaching – the best students are the ones who love the process of learning

I’m an ESL teacher (at home on a long ‘sabbatical’ at the moment but probably heading to Asia in a few months to teach again). I can tell you that the best students I’ve had have been the ones who can’t get enough of learning English.

These students are at class early, they study passionately, and even on days where I give absolutely shithouse lessons with no preparation these people still try their absolute hardest to get something out of it.

They constantly ask questions to satisfy their hunger for more learning and it’s these students who end up speaking English brilliantly compared to their peers who only care about end goals.

Without boring you with all the academic stuff, one of the primary factors that causes people to reach a mediocre level of ultimate attainment (the point where they’ve learned as much as they can and don’t go any further) is this attitude of “the language is a means to an end” – as long as they can achieve what they need to achieve then that’s what matters.

This by the way is why a lot of migrants, after spending decades in a foreign country, have peaked at an Intermediate or even lower level.

But you’re a linguist, Donovan. That’s why you love the process of learning languages.

I’m a linguist which means I’m interested in the academic side of language learning and reading papers by boring professors but when I learn languages I’m not doing it for academic purposes (with the exception of Koine Greek, Ancient Hebrew and Classical Arabic which were for academic reasons).

Maybe it explains why I would bother reading up on a dead language like Gaulish out of pure interest, but it doesn’t mean that my love of the learning process is a result of academia.

Learning the language of a foreign culture is like taking on a new personality and seeing the world differently. Did you know that the word for “crazy/insane” in Arabic is “majnoon (مجنون)”, from the root “jinn” (جن) where we get the word “genie” (a spirit like the genie in Aladdin)? In other words, the idea of insanity in the Middle East has, and still does in many parts, carried the idea that the person is possessed by evil spirits.

How can a discovery like that not interest people? That’s a-whole-nother worldview right there – it’s absolutely mind-blowing when you learn things like this and it makes the language learning process so much more wonderful and exciting.

Anyway, I believe the actual process of language learning is something that should be loved and enjoyed, and not seen as an obstacle on the path to an end goal.

Stay passionate about learning languages, keep purposeful, and you’ll have better results in the end and enjoy the journey.

What do you think about all this?

Please note: I’ve said this before and I’ll keep saying it, I’m not taking sides or trying to wage keyboard wars with anyone here. I know it’s critical but I’m simply giving my very honest and blunt opinion on a matter that interests me a lot. People are entitled to their opinions.

By the way, I’ve added a new topic for the video challenges – Your Dream House. Tell us what your dream home would be using your target language!

This was written by Donovan Nagel.

Do you use StumbleUpon, Reddit, Pinterest or Digg? A quick upvote, like, pin or digg will make my day! Thanks 

Comments: If you’ve got something you’d like to add to this or some constructive criticism you can do that at the bottom of this page. Just please be respectful. Any abusive or nonsensical comments will be deleted.

Language Mastery – Essential Books That Cover Naughty Words And Slang

9116http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mezzoguild.com%2F2012%2F02%2F12%2Flanguage-mastery-slang-naughty-words%2FLanguage+Mastery+-+Essential+Books+That+Cover+Naughty+Words+And+Slang2012-02-12+00%3A16%3A10Donovan+Nagelhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.mezzoguild.com%2F%3Fp%3D911 Written by Donovan Nagel on February 12, 2012 – 12:16 am

Can you recommend a good book that you’ve read that has helped you understand the finer details of colloquialisms and bad words in your target language?

From time to time I’ll put up reviews and recommendations of books and tools for various languages that I use or have used that I think might be of some help to you. Today I’m going to briefly share one that I’ve just bought.

The comment section is always open to your input so if you have any recommendations of your own (for any language) feel free to share it with everyone!

‘Arabi Liblib (Fluent Arabic)

I recently purchased an incredibly useful advanced book on the Egyptian dialect of Arabic called ‘Arabi Liblib – Egyptian Colloquial Arabic for the Advanced Learner – 1: Adjectives and Descriptions. It’s one of a three part series (I plan to buy the next two this week) on adjectives, idiomatic expressions and proverbs used in everyday colloquial speech in Egypt.

From the introduction:

“The goal of this book is to help advanced students of Egyptian Colloquial Arabic to achieve a near-native level of proficiency through a focus on adjectives and expressions used to describe people.”

The title of the book is a colloquialism itself – ‘Arabi Liblib’ (Fluent Arabic). A lib is a seed (usually refers to a pumpkin seed), and the reason why it’s used to refer to fluency is because of the way you use your mouth/lips to open and chew the seeds (you usually have bits of seed shell on your lips). It’s a metaphor implying that words are all over your lips like seed shells.

Here are three random example entries from the book:

When you’re watching a film in any language or walking the streets in any country you come across terms like this all the time (this is generally true anywhere you go on the planet). They may seem rude or inappropriate to some people but the fact remains that until you get a handle on common language like this you’ll never fully grasp the language.

One of the things I like about this book is that descriptions of the words are written in Colloquial Egyptian and not English. At first I wondered why they did this and didn’t just provide an English translation, but now I appreciate that when you read an explanation in colloquial speech it actually feels like a native person is explaining the word to you. This makes a huge difference believe me!

Here:

This book has and will continue to be a huge help to me as it really clarifies a lot of things that I hear a lot when watching movies or travelling but can never find a definition or adequate explanation for.

Note: My choice of “stoned” as an example of something I hear a lot doesn’t mean you should jump to any conclusions about what I get up to when I’m abroad.

If you’re learning Arabic and want to buy the ‘Arabi Liblib series you can get it here.

I plan to put together some tutorial videos soon on how I use tools like this effectively along with media to teach myself ‘street slang’ without necessarily travelling or needing to be in an immersion context.

Have you used similar books in your target language? Share them in the comments section below!

This was written by Donovan Nagel.

Do you use StumbleUpon, Reddit, Pinterest or Digg? A quick upvote, like, pin or digg will make my day! Thanks 

Comments: If you’ve got something you’d like to add to this or some constructive criticism you can do that at the bottom of this page. Just please be respectful. Any abusive or nonsensical comments will be deleted.