Have you stopped learning a specific language before?

General discussion about learning languages
firewheel
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Have you stopped learning a specific language before?

Postby firewheel » Sat Jan 15, 2022 10:11 am

Hi Friends,

Just a random topic for discussion.

Did you have an experience whereby you started learning a language, but it was very challenging and difficult for you, so you stopped learning it?
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reineke
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Re: Have you stopped learning a specific language before?

Postby reineke » Sat Jan 15, 2022 3:54 pm

Like Korean, for instance? Nope.
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IronMike
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Slovene, 2+L/3R (DLPT II in, yes, 1999)
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Re: Have you stopped learning a specific language before?

Postby IronMike » Sat Jan 15, 2022 5:20 pm

hahahahaha!
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Lemus
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Re: Have you stopped learning a specific language before?

Postby Lemus » Sat Jan 15, 2022 5:33 pm

I would be more curious to hear if any longtime forum members have not stopped working on at least one language at some point. I assume most of us are leaving a trail of abandoned languages in our wakes (someday Persian, someday!)
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zenmonkey
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Re: Have you stopped learning a specific language before?

Postby zenmonkey » Sat Jan 15, 2022 6:09 pm

:lol: :lol: :lol:
I’ve stopped almost every language I’ve started.
I’ll get back to them. :oops: :roll:

Eternal optimist, I just started a new one.

Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, Swedish, Setswana, Hebrew, Tibetan, Ladakhi, Italian, Portuguese, Tzotzil, Bemba, Ladino, just to name a few are all sitting patiently waiting for me to get back.
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firewheel
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Re: Have you stopped learning a specific language before?

Postby firewheel » Sun Jan 16, 2022 12:17 pm

reineke wrote:Like Korean, for instance? Nope.


Lol you have started associating me with Korean language haha. :lol:
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Iversen
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Re: Have you stopped learning a specific language before?

Postby Iversen » Sun Jan 16, 2022 1:41 pm

I once started to read TY Arabic, and I dropped it as soon as I discovered that the Arabs mostly don't write their vowels. How can you learn such a language from books alone? I also learnt the Korean Hangul for a trip there, but I never had any intention of learning the language behind those pretty signs, which saved me the humiliation of meeting Koreans who didn't understand what I might have wanted to say. Ditto with Georgian, although I have read a Georgian grammar since my visit down there - and if I ever have a lot of free time I might actually return to that language. As for Irish it's on the shelf for the moment - I'm in the middle of a musical project that robs me of valuable study time so I prefer concentrating on the other half dozen ones I'm studying for the time being. But I haven't dropped it forever.
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stell
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Re: Have you stopped learning a specific language before?

Postby stell » Sun Jan 16, 2022 2:55 pm

:lol:

I think many of us have abandoned languages in the past!

I got to the point where I could handle an hour-long conversation in Esperanto, but in the end I realized that con-langs weren't really for me. At one point, I also had pretty high receptive Italian (could read novels and watch TV), but I felt like I could barely speak due to the strong interference from Spanish, and I abandoned Italian as soon as we decided against a planned trip to Italy. I studied Tagalog pretty seriously for a few months, then got burnt out and realized that my very basic conversation skills were enough for what I wanted to do in life. And I completed the Duolingo tree in Portuguese one summer when I had some time on my hands, but I never did anything else with that language.
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einzelne
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Re: Have you stopped learning a specific language before?

Postby einzelne » Sun Jan 16, 2022 4:24 pm

“Giving up a language is the easiest thing in the world. I know because I've done it thousands of times.”
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Ug_Caveman
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Re: Have you stopped learning a specific language before?

Postby Ug_Caveman » Sun Jan 16, 2022 4:46 pm

I've stopped learning languages before I even started...

Like a lot of people I had a phase of "going to learn Japanese" because I really liked Japanese cartoons and games consoles... Never even got round to page one :lol:
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