Things you wish people would stop saying when you tell them the languages that you're learning

General discussion about learning languages
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Re: Things you wish people would stop saying when you tell them the languages that you're learning

Postby qeadz » Thu Apr 20, 2017 12:23 am

"So, can you understand what they're saying?"
"No, overheard conversation is incredibly hard to follow. Also I'm still very much a beginner..."
"Didn't you say you've been studying for over a year now?"

This then splits two possible ways:

1) They share their insight that its what they'd expect anyway - people can only learn languages as children. This is, of course, why they wouldn't do it - they're smart and know that it can't be done.

2) They share their insights, despite never having tackled learning a second language as an adult, that it's probably quite easy. I must be doing something wrong. Surely being married to a Korean woman would mean I could probably end up speaking it just by being around it. Have I tried watching Korean TV?

Its why I dont usually talk about language learning much these days. If I hear one more person tell me about a friend of theirs who found this method for leaning any language in 4 hours or that if I just watched TV or lived in Korea or something that it'd just magically happen, I'll scream :)
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Re: Things you wish people would stop saying when you tell them the languages that you're learning

Postby Brian » Thu Apr 20, 2017 9:37 am

"It was easy for you to learn German because your wife is from Germany"

Not really. My wife was living in the UK and already fluent in English when we became an item. I vaguely remembered a few German words from school. What motivated me to learn German was the fact we were making frequent trips Germany and I realised it would be highly desirable to understand what everyone was saying around me.

So yes, having daily access to a native speaker is certainly an advantage. Being dropped into a few immersion situations pushes your speaking skills. But I still had to do a huge amount of work on my own to actually learn the language.
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Re: Things you wish people would stop saying when you tell them the languages that you're learning

Postby Elenia » Thu Apr 20, 2017 10:17 am

'Swedish?
[...]
Oh, that's why!'

Atinkoriko wrote:'You should learn Chinese, it's good for business'


:| :| :|
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Re: Things you wish people would stop saying when you tell them the languages that you're learning

Postby tarvos » Sat Apr 22, 2017 7:53 am

LadyGrey1986 wrote:Someone once said to me that I must be learning Arabic because I want more attention from Arab men. :?
No-one suggested I was learning French, English or German for that reason.


That would be a reason for me to avoid learning Arabic...
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Re: Things you wish people would stop saying when you tell them the languages that you're learning

Postby Bluepaint » Sat Apr 22, 2017 9:38 pm

The entirety of the past seven pages is why I don't tell people :lol:

Also, the following example. Discussing a possible trip travelling around a few countries, one of my friends asks "Do you speak any other languages?"
Of course I say not really to which he replies, "Okay so Sarah can be our linguist/specialist then!".
Turns out Sarah has completed the Duolingo tree for German and can say 'hello how are you' in about a dozen languages. Literally, 'hello how are you'. Cue glaring from Sarah. There's nothing quite like ridiculous expectations! :D
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Re: Things you wish people would stop saying when you tell them the languages that you're learning

Postby Atinkoriko » Tue Apr 25, 2017 8:13 pm

Rhian wrote:The entirety of the past seven pages is why I don't tell people :lol:

Also, the following example. Discussing a possible trip travelling around a few countries, one of my friends asks "Do you speak any other languages?"
Of course I say not really to which he replies, "Okay so Sarah can be our linguist/specialist then!".
Turns out Sarah has completed the Duolingo tree for German and can say 'hello how are you' in about a dozen languages. Literally, 'hello how are you'. Cue glaring from Sarah. There's nothing quite like ridiculous expectations! :D


Hah! I find that hard to believe. Everyone here knows that completion of a Duolingo tree automatically leads to the delivery of a CEFR C1 certificate straight to your door, no exam needed!
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Re: Things you wish people would stop saying when you tell them the languages that you're learning

Postby jeff_lindqvist » Tue Apr 25, 2017 9:54 pm

Atinkoriko wrote:Hah! I find that hard to believe. Everyone here knows that completion of a Duolingo tree automatically leads to the delivery of a CEFR C1 certificate straight to your door, no exam needed!


Does keeping the entire tree golden give you a C2? ;)
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Re: Things you wish people would stop saying when you tell them the languages that you're learning

Postby Atinkoriko » Tue Apr 25, 2017 10:21 pm

jeff_lindqvist wrote:
Atinkoriko wrote:Hah! I find that hard to believe. Everyone here knows that completion of a Duolingo tree automatically leads to the delivery of a CEFR C1 certificate straight to your door, no exam needed!


Does keeping the entire tree golden give you a C2? ;)


Add the reverse tree and you get a Knighthood
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Re: Things you wish people would stop saying when you tell them the languages that you're learning

Postby smallwhite » Wed Apr 26, 2017 3:26 am

That your hard work, patience and achievements are nothing because you are not C1 yet.
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Re: Things you wish people would stop saying when you tell them the languages that you're learning

Postby nooj » Wed Dec 13, 2017 12:00 pm

I've got some.

Basque - usually people don't really know about Basque, but those who have heard about it (usually people in language learning circles), my God, they just won't shut up about how mysterious it is, where it comes from, or how no one knows where it comes from etc etc. I get it. It's interesting. But there's more to Basque than that.

Catalan - It sounds like French/Spanish/Portuguese/Italian!

Galician - You know I can practically understand all of it only knowing Portuguese! It sounds just like Portuguese spoken by a Spanish person.



These have lately put me off because I hear it. all. the. freaking. time. In fact, I find it quite offensive and demeaning, because it never treats the language as valuable in its own terms, but instead values them through the frame of reference of another language. Even Basque - valuable because it is not like the others.

No one says that French sounds like the mutated lovechild of Catalan + Italian. No one says that Portuguese sounds like a strange version of Galician. Obviously because minority languages are free to be mocked, fetishised (Basque), not considered to be 'real' languages in their own right on the same tier as English, French, Spanish.

These people rarely go beyond. Fine, knowing Portuguese means you know quite a lot of Galician, that's interesting. I agree. But that's all they have to say about it. They never talk about Galician culture or Galician history. These kinds of judgements are facile way to not have to engage with the language, whereas it should really be the point of departure.

Great, Basque is a language isolate. Now I wonder how Basque works. Great, Catalan looks funny. Now I wonder what kind of literature is available in Catalan. Great, Galician and Portuguese are mutually intelligible. Now what kind of music do Galicians make?
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