I’m trying to learn Spanish on my own. It’s tough. It’s like learning – well, it’s like learning a new language. I think to myself “Well, English wasn’t so hard to learn”. That’s because there was no other choice. Everyone I grew up with spoke English.
I went all through school never having learned another language. I recall signing up for a German class when I was in Junior High School but the class filled up and I had to choose something else. All other language classes had filled up before I could make another choice.
Most people I tell that to (that I’ve never taken a language class) are shocked to hear that I’ve actually graduated high school. Apparently another language besides English is required to graduate – I don’t know.
Trust me, I had a hard enough time with English. I had to go to summer school twice –
both times for English. The upside of that is that I had one of the best experiences with the class. The teacher was a huge fan of poetry and of Shakespeare and that cemented my love for both of those. I had a passing interest before this class, but when you dig into something and really root around in a given subject, you come out the other end either loving it or hating it.
We also studied “The Canterbury Tales” that year. Let’s just say I don’t love that one. I could appreciate it’s “modularity” – how each player had their own story and how it came back to the group when it was finished.
I’m finding that learning a new language is tough. I’m listening to what
amounts to a podcast – 15 minutes of audio at a clip – and trying to learn new words and phrases. I’m only into the introductions and am finding it difficult to retain what I’ve already learned. I study at night and by the next day I’ve totally forgotten what I learned.
I’m thinking about doing some subliminal tests, you know: running the audio quietly in the background while I sleep so it can soak in. It’s frustrating trying to prove that you’ve learned something only to come up empty. I try what I’ve learned out on colleagues that speak Spanish natively and the knowledge just goes right out of my head the moment I attempt to say something.
The piece of information I’m missing is “learning how to learn”. I think that’s the lesson in life I never, uh… learned. What’s the most effective way to learn something new? In the past, I have always tried to connect my learning with something I already knew. Like building turrets on a sandcastle. In that way, I was building on existing knowledge and felt I could more effectively use the new information.
For some reason that doesn’t seem to hold true for me anymore. It’s like I’m trying to connect my ideas with rope but end up hanging them on points in the air. There’s nothing there to support them so they fall to the ground.
It could also be that I’m getting older and my brain doesn’t work as well as it used to. I’m not claiming “old dog, new tricks” I’m just saying it’s harder to get new ideas to soak in.
I suppose repetition is the key. I’m certainly not giving up. I’m certainly not giving in.
I went all through school never having learned another language. I recall signing up for a German class when I was in Junior High School but the class filled up and I had to choose something else. All other language classes had filled up before I could make another choice.
Most people I tell that to (that I’ve never taken a language class) are shocked to hear that I’ve actually graduated high school. Apparently another language besides English is required to graduate – I don’t know.
Trust me, I had a hard enough time with English. I had to go to summer school twice –
both times for English. The upside of that is that I had one of the best experiences with the class. The teacher was a huge fan of poetry and of Shakespeare and that cemented my love for both of those. I had a passing interest before this class, but when you dig into something and really root around in a given subject, you come out the other end either loving it or hating it.We also studied “The Canterbury Tales” that year. Let’s just say I don’t love that one. I could appreciate it’s “modularity” – how each player had their own story and how it came back to the group when it was finished.
I’m finding that learning a new language is tough. I’m listening to what
amounts to a podcast – 15 minutes of audio at a clip – and trying to learn new words and phrases. I’m only into the introductions and am finding it difficult to retain what I’ve already learned. I study at night and by the next day I’ve totally forgotten what I learned.I’m thinking about doing some subliminal tests, you know: running the audio quietly in the background while I sleep so it can soak in. It’s frustrating trying to prove that you’ve learned something only to come up empty. I try what I’ve learned out on colleagues that speak Spanish natively and the knowledge just goes right out of my head the moment I attempt to say something.
The piece of information I’m missing is “learning how to learn”. I think that’s the lesson in life I never, uh… learned. What’s the most effective way to learn something new? In the past, I have always tried to connect my learning with something I already knew. Like building turrets on a sandcastle. In that way, I was building on existing knowledge and felt I could more effectively use the new information.
For some reason that doesn’t seem to hold true for me anymore. It’s like I’m trying to connect my ideas with rope but end up hanging them on points in the air. There’s nothing there to support them so they fall to the ground.
It could also be that I’m getting older and my brain doesn’t work as well as it used to. I’m not claiming “old dog, new tricks” I’m just saying it’s harder to get new ideas to soak in.
I suppose repetition is the key. I’m certainly not giving up. I’m certainly not giving in.