Learning as a false beginner

[Tutescrew]

I studied a language in school from age 9 to age 17. I did this as sort of an obligation, not as my choice. While I did get good grades, the subject never really interested me as I was interested in an engineering career. Of course, in hindsight that was a lousy attitude. Now, almost four decades later, I might pick that language up again. My first question is has anybody here been in a similar situation? Also, can I expect any level of recall that would be helpful? It was not Spanish, as my log below would seem to indicate....it was French.
Tutescrew

[El Forastero]

I suppose that's a familiar situation for people on my age group about english. I "studied" english at school four hours per week, 40 weeks per year, 11 years, and after my graduation I barely could say Hello. Most of my current students in their 40-50 have a similar situation

Fifteen years later, I started to learn by myself, strugling with a book/CDs cours with not additional guidance. I didn't use internet at that time. I reach a sort of B1-B2 level in two years and I was stuck there for 10 years more. Then, I became english teacher for absolute beginners and I started (again) to study, but that time with several internet resources, conversational practices, thorough review of my then-knowledge and one year after I reach my C1 certification.

So yes, I have studied english twice as a false beginner. The most frustrating part is the enormous gap between reading and listening (understanding) and also between understanding and producing. TRaditional based grammar courses are not the best option for these cases because that's precisely your strong point and you can suppose you alredy know that topic. The best is trying to interact as early as possible

[sirgregory]

Forty years is a pretty long break. It's anybody's guess how much French you remember or how easily it will come back. Personally, in this situation I would not approach the language much different than one I'd never studied. I would pick a variety of primarily basic materials and start working through them. The only difference is that hopefully it will be somewhat (possibly substantially) easier. If it feels too easy, that is a great problem to have. I would just accelerate the pace and work in some more challenging materials.

I took three years of Spanish in school. Quit after 10th grade. About three years later I learned it for real, and as far as I can tell the high school Spanish did very little. I had forgotten most of it and never had any conversational ability. I did remember a few things here and there (like the irregular preterite verb conjugations of all things), but not enough to make much difference. I think a motivated self-studier can learn more in a couple of months than an unmotivated student does in several years of low intensity classes. I probably learned some things marginally faster, but it was like a 100 meter head start in a marathon.

Later on I studied some French on my own. Because at that point I was well acquainted with the Romance family I was learning it pretty easily. But I could only dedicate a couple of months to it and have never resumed studying it. Although it's been 13 years I've found that in this instance I've forgotten surprisingly little of what I learned. I'm pretty much at the same modest level I was 13 years ago despite not maintaining it. When I do pick it back up I intend to swallow my pride and work through an introductory course to shore up my deficiencies.

[lavengro]

I studied a language in school from age 9 to age 17. I did this as sort of an obligation, not as my choice. ...

Hi Tutescrew,

What you describe is not dissimilar to the situation Canadians in English-predominant areas of Canada find themselves in sometimes - although varying from province to province, and varying over time, French language instruction was generally a mandatory part of the elementary/junior high school programme and many students, including those named lavengro, failed to capitalize on that advantage by continuing to study French and instead dropping it like an uncomfortably hot potato as soon as possible.

My guess is that you will need to start from the very close edge of square one with French again, but you may notice you pick it up quicker than a complete beginner, given the length of time you were exposed to the language.

You'll want to be mindful of interference issues if you plan on returning to it soon while still studying Spanish.

Bonne chance!

[Gòl·lum]

I studied a language in school from age 9 to age 17. I did this as sort of an obligation, not as my choice. While I did get good grades, the subject never really interested me as I was interested in an engineering career. Of course, in hindsight that was a lousy attitude. Now, almost four decades later, I might pick that language up again. My first question is has anybody here been in a similar situation? Also, can I expect any level of recall that would be helpful? It was not Spanish, as my log below would seem to indicate....it was French.
Tutescrew

Yes, I had a similar experience. I also learned English as a compulsory subject in school, but I didn't really start using it until I finished college. My level was a B1 (low intermediate) or so after ending high school. At the university, you're expected to be able to understand formal texts in English, so you can get by with a B1-B2 level. However, you have to improve your English skills if you want to pursue a career in science (as I did). You're often told that English is the language of science. It's not that I agree much with that statement, but apparently it's what almost every scientist believes. Basically, you're expected to write and speak decent English, and also be able to understand native and non-native speakers. I learned it mostly on my own. It's not that difficult once 70% of what you read, write and listen to on a daily basis is in it. The most difficult parts are pronounciation and fluency, and also becoming acquainted with non-scientific vocabulary.

Now, regarding your case, I've met some people with the advanced (C1) level certificate that after a few years are unable to speak the language because they rarely use it. I'd say it helps a lot if you plan to relearn it and you already have some knowledge of it. I know a woman that wanted to refresh her German after finishing the advanced level course 15-20 years ago. Teachers placed her at A2 (elementary), but she progressed well, and her grades were good. She was also fluent in several languages (4-5), so this might help as well.