I've always been interested in languages and other cultures β you learn and grow so much by knowing lots of different people and experiences, and the scope of people you can do that with broadens tenfold when you learn a new language. It's so much fun too!
Despite this, I'm not very inclined to talk about being a language learner, or seek the company of other language learrners... I feel like there's a lot of posturing, competition, networking, and cringe that I associate with people who consider themselves part of the "language learning community" or β eugh β "polyglots." (Nothing wrong with polyglots β people just get really uppity about the term.)
The way I prefer to learn is usually through classes, tutoring, daily immersion, and individual connections. I like languages because I like people, and not the other way around. I dislike the expectation to become friends just because we are learning the same language, or can help each other with our respective languages, so language exchanges/partners/friends/communities are not my jam for this reason.
Over my lifetime I've made attempts to learn four different languages. I've studied them all at different times with varying levels of effort and usually on-and-off, so I can't say I'm "fluent" in any of them, but I feel they've all been worthwhile endeavors regardless of my current status with each, because of the fact that I've met some great people I wouldn't have met otherwise in the process of learning. :) I hope to continue learning and practicing them over my lifetime!
I don't really intend on learning any more languages β these are really the ones I'm most interested in β but who knows, right.
STARTED: 2009
LEVEL: Conversational (B2, maybe)
STRENGTHS: I write good emails + can parse Twitter speak sometimes
WEAKNESSES: Speaking without stuttering, remembering words
STATUS: Passively learning
CURRENT FOCUS: New vocabulary
Korean is the language I got started with first and the one I've kept up the best! I'm nowhere near where I'd like to be after... eek, 10+ years of on-and-off studying... but that's just life. I'm learning to be quite happy that I'm as conversational as I am!
Korean language learners get a weird rep because of some standout oddballs who treat Korean people weirdly or like to make K-culture their entire personality. I initially was very embarrassed to say that I, Too started learning Korean because of k-pop thanks to these people... But ultimately, it's not really about how you get started so much as it is about how much you grow to appreciate the language and culture as you learn about it. I'd like to think I am normal about it.
I went into my study abroad with very low expectations for how much speech practice I would get, and I was right. My classes were all with other foreign students. Most locals already had their own friends and, if they wanted to meet foreigners, it was to talk in English, which I totally understood. Most of my practice has always been me trying to keep up with my Korean American friends & classmates who switch between English and Korean seamlessly... girl help!
I really don't think of myself as an outgoing person, and I spent most of my time in Seoul by myself. Despite this, I felt a bit more confident coming back to my university Korean classes because I went to lots of shops and less touristy areas. I think it helped I was alone too, and didn't rely on the crutch of being with other English speakers (or English and Korean speakers).
WHAT HELPED ME MOST: 1:1 conversation practice, class discussions + trying to keep up with Korean American classmates, having a college class with a set schedule, just doing daily shit in Seoul and talking to workers
WHAT WAS MOST FUN: reading fancomics, watching variety shows, translating them for my friends, analyzing lyrics of my favorite songs, I went and saw an idol I liked in a musical which was good listening practice
SMALL WINS: I've been told my accent is native by multiple people β although maybe they were just "νκ΅λ§ μνμλ€μ"-ing me...
STARTED: 2015
LEVEL: like a weak A2 I'd say
STRENGTHS: Somehow I've retained some of what I studied ages ago
WEAKNESSES: Kanji + accent...
STATUS: Inactive
CURRENT FOCUS: Finding a way to study it consistently
I feel like I'm at a place with Japanese that is both better and worse than I should be LOL. I've had instances at shops/in taxis/what have you where my understanding of the language surprises me ("oh, I got what they said?") and other instances where I struggle when I should not ("WHAT'S THE MOST POLITE WAY TO ASK THIS...").
I think the best way to explain it is that passive learning still pushes you forward, just very minutely and in specific areas (like listening) β you still have to review properly to get anywhere (like speaking).
The last time I studied Japanese properly was before I had any proper training in Korean. I wonder if I should start studying it again, but in Korean this time (as opposed to studying with English language materials or tutors who speak English). When I interact with mutuals from Japan, I usually type my message out in Korean and run that through the translator, since it's a little more accurate.
I worry though that since some of the vocabulary and grammar is so similar, I'll mix them up... Oh well.
I also didn't have any background in Chinese back then. I picked Korean over Japanese in college because I was scared of kanji, but I found out that learning to write the characters was actually very fun. I'd like to find classes where they incorporate learning kanji into the lesson structure somehow.
WHAT HELPED ME MOST: Immersion with my host family, random occasions when I get to talk to locals
WHAT WAS MOST FUN: Exchanging mentions with JP mutuals on Twitter, watching anime I guess
SMALL WINS: The last time I was in Japan I got my hair/makeup done for an event and got to make extremely broken rudimentary small talk with my stylists.
STARTED: 2019
LEVEL: Elementary
STRENGTHS: Grammar
WEAKNESSES: Tones!
STATUS: Inactive
CURRENT FOCUS: Reviewing the characters I used to know lmfao
My family doesn't speak Mandarin so I never felt the need to learn it, and my decision to take Chinese in college was on a whim. It turned out to be pretty fun though! Chinese's grammar structure is more similar to English than it is to the other Asian languages I've studied, and making up ways to memorize the characters was entertaining.
I definitely owe a lot to the structure of my college class. It was very efficient: We did one chapter of the textbook each week, and met all five days. Classes were speaking exercises only β all the writing was done on your own time. Writing was tested during the weekly quizzes, so it's not like you could slack off and not study it just because there was no writing activity in class.
It was a year of rapid progress as far as language learning went for me β I'd never experienced it that way and honestly really liked the pace. Not too challenging, but you could never take a breather for too long. I think the reason I struggle to get back into Chinese is that I know I can't create the same cocktail of external influences to push me to learn the way I did then lol.
WHAT HELPED ME MOST: Daily practice and review, the external pressure
WHAT WAS MOST FUN: My TA and Chinese friends having fun talking to me lol
SMALL WINS: Hotel housekeeping didn't understand my English, so I switched to Chinese and they understood + suddenly were much nicer to me.
I don't really have any resources for Chinese, unfortunately. :(
STARTED: 2022
LEVEL: girl nothing
STRENGTHS: I watched Dora the Explorer as a kid
WEAKNESSES: Listening... Spanish speakers speak fast!!
STATUS: Inactive
CURRENT FOCUS: ?????
You can laugh about the fact that I started learning Spanish because of Oikawa and Encanto. There are worse reasons, I think. (I was oddly motivated by Oikawa moving to Argentina... I was like if that bitch can learn Spanish, so can I!)
Spanish has vocabulary and grammar that's a bit more similar to English than any of the languages I've studied before but that somehow trips me up even more. There are so many times I've asked my tutor, "what is this in Spanish" only for it to be the extremely obvious answer. (e.g. "What's vocabulary in Spanish?" "It's vocabulario.")
I used the Mexican flag because I'm learning Spanish from a Mexican teacher! I wanted to learn from a Latin American Spanish speaker because I'm more interested in visiting Latin America (sorry Spain...) and there are a lot of good fanartists from there. I hear that LA Spanish is very different from Spain Spanish so it was a deliberate choice.
My tutorials are your regular "baby's first language lesson" types β a mix of vocabulary, grammar, and everyday useful stuff like asking the time, conducted mostly in English. I really find Spanish speakers cool, and eventually I'd like to work up to being able to speak it conversationally at the very least. I don't have to be good! I just wanna talk!
WHAT HELPED ME MOST: Having a good (and cute) tutor lmfao, and weirdly, Duolingo
WHAT WAS MOST FUN: My tutor would design lessons around what we were chatting about before the class proper
SMALL WINS: None yet! I've got to study more!