lichtrausch wrote:Ogrim wrote:I guess I qualify as an old member, and lately I've been posting sparingly. I don't think I've graduated yet, though, because I still have this (foolish) ambition of learning Arabic to a high degree as well as taking my Russian to C-level, so I am still a language learner, although I do "indulge" more in languages I already know well than studying actively those I do not know so well. I know where I've been, but I am not so sure where I will be .
Do you see yourself giving up serious language study once you reach a high level in Arabic and Russian? I find the idea of "graduating" appealing, but I think something would be missing in my life if I wasn't at least semi-seriously studying some language or another.
At my current pace it will take me 20 years to reach a high level in Arabic, although I am proabably retiring in 10 years time, so then I will have plenty of time to accelerate my learning. Seriously though, as long as my brain functions well I don't think I will give up language learning, but I am already at a stage where I don't want to get stressed about it. I feel more and more tempted to give in to wanderlust and take small bites of different languages here and there. I'd love to learn a lot of languages, but realistically I know I won't have the time and energy to become proficient in another five or ten, so I lower my ambitions to have basic notions of a few more. Celtic languages are definitely on my list, especially Irish, and so are a few other Slavic languages, primarily Czech and Serbian/Croatian. Then there are a few "exotic" ones I would like to dig into, like Basque and Armenian.
Right now my attitude to Arabic is that I will try to be consistent, doing at least some study every day, however modestly, but I don't let myself get frustrated over lack of quick progress. I also need time for all the other things I want to do in life.