Learning basic level of every language

General discussion about learning languages
firewheel
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Learning basic level of every language

Postby firewheel » Sun Jun 19, 2022 2:04 pm

Hi Members,

Do you think it is okay to choose to learn the basic level of every language (A1, A2) like French, German, Italian etc?

I am interested to learn about many languages as I can. But I only intend to know them at basic level.

Do you think this is a wise desire?

Thank you.
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RyanSmallwood
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Re: Learning basic level of every language

Postby RyanSmallwood » Sun Jun 19, 2022 2:15 pm

Sure, if you enjoy it, you can do whatever you want. But I'd probably think about it as "learning about languages" rather than learning them to a basic level. Which is to say instead of language learner materials you should just look into popular linguistics books about languages. You can learn some basics alongside too, but I don't think there's much point of thinking about getting to A1 or A2, if you don't have plans to use or maintain the language, just learn whatever seems interesting to you for as long as you enjoy the process.
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Cavesa
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Re: Learning basic level of every language

Postby Cavesa » Sun Jun 19, 2022 3:13 pm

Hi!

Sure it's okay, it's your free time, it's your curiosity, and your goals. What is a "wise desire", can these words even be put together? :-D It is a totally valid desire. And for some people, it can be a wise choice.

It is of course possible to learn a lot of languages to this basic level. But let me mention a few issues. Not to discourage you, but rather to point out some difficulties you are likely to encounter and will probably need to solve at some point.

1.How many languages are we talking about? 5? 15? 25? Even if it's "just" 5, your main problem won't be learning, it will be maintenance. Maintenance at A2 is hard, because you cannot use normal native media as maintenance yet, you can merge the maintenance with your entertainment time. That's why few people are actually serious about similar goals. It's not about "too many languages", nor it is a disrespect for A2 (it can already be damn useful in some types of situations). It's this practical maintenance difficulty.

2.RyanSmallwood is right about raising the issue of the learning languages and learning about languages difference, and I partially(!) agree. It's not necessarily about different resources (stuff about linguistics), or about A1/A2 being pointless (I don't think it is), it's about the mindset. Ages ago, I spent like two months just playing with over 20 languages, seeing the first units of courses, seeing what resources were out there, what were the typical cultural things attractive to learners. I didn't reach any level in any of them, but it was a time well invested. I not only learnt a lot of general culture information and satisfied my curiosity (and also started longing for higher levels in just some languages). I also found out I was not that interested in learning over half those languages actually! Perhaps a sort of "exploration phase" can help sort this out for you too. Give yourself the freedom to change your mind, don't feel guilty, if you do. If you end up loving German, Turkish and Spanish, but bored with French, annoyed with Arabic learning,or discouraged by lack of Linthuanian books, it will be just as ok. Don't obligate yourself to love them all and to stick to them all.

3.Resources and pace: are you more after just having fun with languages and learning a bit, or do you really want to learn them in a sort of efficient and serious way? Both options are ok, as long as your expectations match your chosen tools and learning strategy. If you just want to play, toys like Duolingo are perfectly fine. If you really want to reach A2 efficiently, enjoy that, and be ready for the next language asap, than the fastest way to go is a high quality coursebook. Who knows, perhaps you'll become our community specialist in all the Teach Yourself or all the Colloquial courses!

Whatever you choose to do, whatever your project turns out to be, good luck! And enjoy it! And I'd love to read your log, if you choose to have one! This sounds like the beginning of a fascinating journey.
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Käfer
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Re: Learning basic level of every language

Postby Käfer » Tue Aug 23, 2022 9:33 pm

I have a tendency to be a dabbler.

The downside is that I've struggled to get beyond B1 in any language I've taken an interest in.

The upside is that if you take any random document in a major world language, I can probably tell you what language it is and tell you something interesting about the language. I can also probably tell you the key ideas if the document is a Germanic or Romance language even though I can't hold a 2 minute conversation in any of them but German. (I'm exaggerating my ability here, to be sure, but trying to convey the sense of what it is I think I've gained from dabbling.)

It all depends on your goals. For me, I'm not upset about what I've gained in dabbling... but the frustration of being a language nerd for well over a decade and not really being comfortably conversant in any of these languages I've studied... it drives me a bit crazy and makes me want to cure this dabbling.
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Odair
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Re: Learning basic level of every language

Postby Odair » Tue Aug 23, 2022 11:48 pm

At basic level you only can order food at a restaurant, book an hotel room, and say some awkward sentences, but you cannot understand what anyone says back to you unless you can find a patient person that dumbs everything down for you.

I think you will find a lot more rewarding to be able to understand and to communicate effectively in a smaller number of languages.
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Re: Learning basic level of every language

Postby vonPeterhof » Wed Aug 24, 2022 5:15 am

"Language is the only thing worth knowing even poorly" - Kató Lomb.
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LupCenușiu
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Re: Learning basic level of every language

Postby LupCenușiu » Wed Aug 24, 2022 6:22 am

firewheel wrote:Hi Members,

Do you think it is okay to choose to learn the basic level of every language (A1, A2) like French, German, Italian etc?



Replace that with many languages and you can get somewhere with the idea. "Somewhere" as in having a harmless hobby, maybe fun, not particularly useful beyond a certain number. You will never be able to learn the basic level of every language, not even the majority of them, due to minor details, like average human life span.
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Le Baron
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Re: Learning basic level of every language

Postby Le Baron » Wed Aug 24, 2022 11:12 am

The return for the effort is meagre. Imagine you enter a situation with e.g. some Japanese people and everything you can say is exhausted, or not even relevant to the encounter, within minutes and you can't really understand the conversation. It would feel like a lot of wasted effort. To be repeated in every language.
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Cavesa
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Re: Learning basic level of every language

Postby Cavesa » Wed Aug 24, 2022 12:27 pm

Le Baron wrote:The return for the effort is meagre. Imagine you enter a situation with e.g. some Japanese people and everything you can say is exhausted, or not even relevant to the encounter, within minutes and you can't really understand the conversation. It would feel like a lot of wasted effort. To be repeated in every language.


1.Let's take a different totally realistic example: you travel Europe. In most places, you need the same few things. The same few exchanges over and over again. So, it doesn't really matter that you know nothing else. But knowing the little in five languages improves your experience much more than C2 in one language, if you have no use for the advanced parts of the knowledge.

2.What "basic level" are we talking about. If we are talking about a few phrases, you are absolutely right. If we are talking about real A2, it is doesn't apply at all. At A2, you can already talk about tons of things. And for how long you can hold a conversation, how interesting it will be, it depends much more on other things. An outgoing and confident extrovert with lots of interests may be able to have a several hours long conversation with just A2, while a person with a bit different personality will probably not.
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Le Baron
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Re: Learning basic level of every language

Postby Le Baron » Wed Aug 24, 2022 1:08 pm

Cavesa wrote:1.Let's take a different totally realistic example: you travel Europe. In most places, you need the same few things. The same few exchanges over and over again. So, it doesn't really matter that you know nothing else. But knowing the little in five languages improves your experience much more than C2 in one language, if you have no use for the advanced parts of the knowledge.

2.What "basic level" are we talking about. If we are talking about a few phrases, you are absolutely right. If we are talking about real A2, it is doesn't apply at all. At A2, you can already talk about tons of things. And for how long you can hold a conversation, how interesting it will be, it depends much more on other things. An outgoing and confident extrovert with lots of interests may be able to have a several hours long conversation with just A2, while a person with a bit different personality will probably not.


I don't think would happen at all. After the pleasantries and the exhaustion of material beyond repetition all the meaty stuff will likely default to English. The level of 'basic level' indeed wasn't established in the question, though getting a lot of languages even to functional A2 - and real functionality is actually the bridge between A2/B1, is not a 'simple' task. So all of that effort just to be able to do the same few things over and over in a few different countries is a meagre reward for the effort involved. Anything is better than nothing is a low bar for measuring it.

If the question is: should I get to a functional level in all the key languages?, where 'functional' means being able to properly interact, that's a different question which requests different answers. There is perhaps a 'sweet spot' for where you can get a lot out of a language in use without having to go all the way into 'advanced' territory. It doesn't need to be C1, certainly not C2, but also needs to be passing out of the 'A' zone. But in all languages? Not likely.

On the other hand if someone is satisfied and feels fulfilled with navigating all the basics in many languages, then who am I to say otherwise?
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