In fact you have to be in love to learn a language well. I mean in love with the language. You have to have a love affair with the language. You do not have to marry the language. You can have an affair and then move on to another language after a period of time. But while you are learning the language you have to be in love with it. And you will learn faster if you are faithful to the language while you are studying it.
"Language learning is like falling in love"
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| Language - love |
In fact you have to be in love to learn a language well. I mean in love with the language. You have to have a love affair with the language. You do not have to marry the language. You can have an affair and then move on to another language after a period of time. But while you are learning the language you have to be in love with it. And you will learn faster if you are faithful to the language while you are studying it.
Just as
when you are in love, you want to and need to spend as much time as possible
with the object of your love. You want to hear its voice and read its thoughts.
You want to learn more about it, the many words and phrases that it uses to
express itself. You think of the language wherever you are. You start to
observe the object of your love closely. You notice all the little things it
does, you become familiar with its peculiar behaviour patterns. You breathe it.
You hear its voice. You feel it. You get to know it better and better,
naturally.
Just as
in a love affair, there are things about the object of your love that you do
not like. You ignore these. You only think about the things that you
love. You do not question the object of your love. You just accept it.
You do not ask why. You do not ask why it behaves a certain way. You do not
seek to understand the secrets to its structure. You just want to be with it,
and even to imitate it, the highest form of appreciation.
Loving a
language is a one-sided love affair. You love the language. It does not love
you back. But the good thing is that it is not jealous of you, of your other
previous love affairs. It really does not care if you carry on another love
affair at the same time. But, as with people, doing so can create
problems…..The language does not criticize you. You can use it however you
want, as long as you enjoy yourself.
You are
not jealous of other people who love the language you love. In fact you like to
meet people who love the language you love. It is a lot less bothersome to love
a language than to love a person, Because the love of the language is its own
reward. You do not care what the language thinks of you. You are enjoying your
affair with the language and do not expect anything in return. As long as you
have that relationship, you will learn and improve in the language.
If you
just use a language without loving it, you will not improve. If the goal is
only to get a better job, or to pass a test, you will not improve. People are
the same way. You cannot have a love affair with someone just to get a better
job, although……….
This has
been my approach. So when I learn a language I spend most of my initial time
just listening and reading and building up my words and phrases. I just want to
get to know the language, enjoy its personality and get used to it. I do not
want anyone to question me, or explain my love to me. I do not want to speak in
the language before I have really gotten to know the language, because I know
that I will not do justice to my love. I only speak in the language when I want
to, when I am ready."
source: http://blog.thelinguist.com/language-learning-is-like-falling-in-love
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