Do you finish your courses?

General discussion about learning languages

Do you finish courses?

I never finish courses
7
10%
I rarely finish courses
24
35%
I usually finish courses
15
22%
I always finish courses
2
3%
I only finish good courses
13
19%
I sometimes even finish the same course several times over
8
12%
 
Total votes: 69

gsbod
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Do you finish your courses?

Postby gsbod » Wed Sep 21, 2022 10:31 pm

I've been thinking lately about the fact that I tend to start many different coursebooks, but rarely finish them. This doesn't actually seem to have been a problem in terms of my ability to learn a language (although it's maybe turned language learning into a more expensive activity than it needs to be). But I'm curious about the experiences of other members of the forum...
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luke
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Re: Do you finish your courses?

Postby luke » Wed Sep 21, 2022 11:11 pm

The best course is one you never finish. ;)
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PeterMollenburg
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Re: Do you finish your courses?

Postby PeterMollenburg » Wed Sep 21, 2022 11:36 pm

For me, I find there's a lot to be gained by finishing courses, but I enjoy that kind of study in that I get a lot out of it, but many learners don't have the same experience as I do. Mind you, there are courses I'd never recommend and haven't completed because they were utter rubbish.

Also, as Cavesa has pointed out on other occasions, courses are still useful at advanced stages of language learning (alongside other learning methods), but it's simply not for everyone.

Not completing courses means less explicit grammar study, drills/exercises, vocabulary building, pronunciation work etc, but most prefer to move on and use other methods for making gains sooner than I would. We all transition away from courses at different stages, and of course some learners don't use courses at all.
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TopDog_IK
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Re: Do you finish your courses?

Postby TopDog_IK » Thu Sep 22, 2022 3:25 am

You left out the voting option for "What are Courses?" :?:
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gsbod
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Re: Do you finish your courses?

Postby gsbod » Thu Sep 22, 2022 4:36 pm

PeterMollenburg wrote:Not completing courses means less explicit grammar study, drills/exercises, vocabulary building, pronunciation work etc, but most prefer to move on and use other methods for making gains sooner than I would. We all transition away from courses at different stages, and of course some learners don't use courses at all.


This is an interesting point, and not something I'd considered when putting the poll together! I was thinking much more in terms of not finishing courses but moving on to other courses instead (something I do a lot), rather than not finishing courses and moving on to other things completely (something I do eventually).
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Le Baron
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Re: Do you finish your courses?

Postby Le Baron » Thu Sep 22, 2022 5:02 pm

I do finish courses, though it can sometimes take ages, because I'll have started reading books and listening. At some point the course is complementary and a help rather than the main source of learning. Yet they're always worth seeing through for nuggets of information and insights you sometimes (often actually) don't come across or work out on your own just by exposure.

Of course there are others who think language learning is like turning up as a non-swimmer and jumping into the deep end of the pool, whereupon swimming miraculously just appears, then they win a gold medal at the Olympics. They can be safely ignored as tiresome cranks.
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TopDog_IK
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Re: Do you finish your courses?

Postby TopDog_IK » Thu Sep 22, 2022 10:34 pm

Le Baron wrote:Of course there are others who think language learning is like turning up as a non-swimmer and jumping into the deep end of the pool, whereupon swimming miraculously just appears, then they win a gold medal at the Olympics. They can be safely ignored as tiresome cranks.


If you are referring to immersion learners, most start in the shallow end of the pool, with books and cartoons for kids.
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Le Baron
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Re: Do you finish your courses?

Postby Le Baron » Fri Sep 23, 2022 9:42 am

TopDog_IK wrote:If you are referring to immersion learners, most start in the shallow end of the pool, with books and cartoons for kids.

I am an immersion learner. You'll be hard-pressed to find someone here who doesn't learn using some form of immersion. Plenty of threads here about watching endless TV and reading books.

Every language I've learned to use has been achieved through immersion and participation, but also required a little formal study at times.
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leosmith
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Re: Do you finish your courses?

Postby leosmith » Fri Sep 23, 2022 9:50 am

luke wrote:The best course is one you never finish.
Yup - like that pizza I had last week.
TopDog_IK wrote:If you are referring to immersion learners
Dude, let it go.

I almost always finish, but that's because I'm really picky, and I often review/read/sample them before starting.
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Re: Do you finish your courses?

Postby Tom » Sat Sep 24, 2022 5:25 am

I only did one course. I finished about 80% and then jumped into native content.
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