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rainwatersparkThe people at Unilang/How-to-learn-any-language always blow my mind away with how much time they've put into learning languages. Some are younger than me and have studied 10 languages already, including at least one to (more or less) fluency! O_o
In any case, some of the posts have put me in the rambling mood again.
Languages I would like to learn, in rough order of priority (as of 10/28/09):
Norwegian
Seems quite similar to English in some ways, and I'm interested in the "3-for-1" gain.
Finnish
Fascinating language in terms of grammar and how it sounds. The downside is that it's pretty difficult, so I'm in no hurry to learn it for now.
German
I actually like the sound of German very much. What's turning me off right now is the complex grammar.
Russian
I've been mildly exposed to Russian before, and I rather like the sound of it. It's pretty far from any other language I know, so I'm waiting on this one.
Italian
I don't know, actually; I'm only a little interested because everyone keeps saying how it's such a beautiful language (I thought that was French?) and, after glancing at an "Italian for Dummies," I realized I could pick it up pretty quickly. Otherwise, I'm not very keen.
Icelandic, Polish, Hungarian
I'm not too interested in these because of the difficulty (simplicity does not turn me off, thank you very much), but admittedly the difficulty is also an attraction factor. I think these would be the languages I would learn on a rainy day, if I happen to be proficient/fluent in every other target language.
Given that same hypothetical rainy day, I would probably also sit down and learn the Thai, Georgian, and Armenian alphabets. And maybe stare at Basque, Welsh, Irish, and Catalan...
(Shoot, I need to stop myself before this goes on for too long...)
-----------
But, in any case, my goal in terms of language learning isn't really native fluency in all of them. Heck, if by "fluency" you mean perfect pronunciation, no grammar mistakes, no pauses, can always express myself using the perfect, most sophisticated idiomatic expression, then I'm not even "fluent" in my native language, English.
I define "fluent" as being able to think in that language and say what you want to say without being too inconvenienced in terms of searching for how to put it into words, and without blaring grammar mistakes.
In any case, my personal goals in terms of language learning are (except where Chinese is concerned) first full literacy (which is the easiest part to work on anyway, relatively speaking), then aural comprehension, then at the very last oral ability.
In any case, some of the posts have put me in the rambling mood again.
Languages I would like to learn, in rough order of priority (as of 10/28/09):
Norwegian
Seems quite similar to English in some ways, and I'm interested in the "3-for-1" gain.
Finnish
Fascinating language in terms of grammar and how it sounds. The downside is that it's pretty difficult, so I'm in no hurry to learn it for now.
German
I actually like the sound of German very much. What's turning me off right now is the complex grammar.
Russian
I've been mildly exposed to Russian before, and I rather like the sound of it. It's pretty far from any other language I know, so I'm waiting on this one.
Italian
I don't know, actually; I'm only a little interested because everyone keeps saying how it's such a beautiful language (I thought that was French?) and, after glancing at an "Italian for Dummies," I realized I could pick it up pretty quickly. Otherwise, I'm not very keen.
Icelandic, Polish, Hungarian
I'm not too interested in these because of the difficulty (simplicity does not turn me off, thank you very much), but admittedly the difficulty is also an attraction factor. I think these would be the languages I would learn on a rainy day, if I happen to be proficient/fluent in every other target language.
Given that same hypothetical rainy day, I would probably also sit down and learn the Thai, Georgian, and Armenian alphabets. And maybe stare at Basque, Welsh, Irish, and Catalan...
(Shoot, I need to stop myself before this goes on for too long...)
-----------
But, in any case, my goal in terms of language learning isn't really native fluency in all of them. Heck, if by "fluency" you mean perfect pronunciation, no grammar mistakes, no pauses, can always express myself using the perfect, most sophisticated idiomatic expression, then I'm not even "fluent" in my native language, English.
I define "fluent" as being able to think in that language and say what you want to say without being too inconvenienced in terms of searching for how to put it into words, and without blaring grammar mistakes.
In any case, my personal goals in terms of language learning are (except where Chinese is concerned) first full literacy (which is the easiest part to work on anyway, relatively speaking), then aural comprehension, then at the very last oral ability.
