Job Discussion Forums

[ghost]

Ghost will soon end his stay in South East Asia.

Flying from Colombo (Sri Lanka) to Bangkok on Tuesday, and then one more week in Thailand before flying to London and Barcelona.

Will work in Canada for the summer.

In the fall, the plan is to go to Colombia. Anyone familiar with the cities of Medellin, Cali, or Bogota.

All the best from Negombo, Sri Lanka.

[ghost]

Further on language acquisition:

Languages vary in their difficulty. If you are already fluent in a Romance language (like French) you will be able to pick up other Romance languages in a short time....and you will not necessarily have to study very hard...your ear will recognize a lot of the new words, and you will understand from the context too.

So....picking up Spanish, Italian and Portuguese was easy.

Turkish, might be considered a "medium difficult' language to learn for non natives, and experts usually claim that for foreign languages which are not similar to one's own, one needs a minimum of 700 hours of study for fluency.

For "difficult' languages like Thai, Khmer, Chinese, Sinhala and Tamala...which are very difficult because of tonal variances one needs to triple the 700 hour rule.

But with motivation it can be done. Diplomats and NGO's who have no more ability than the average have shown fluency in those difficult languages within one year of study supplemented by living in the country where the difficult language is spoken.

[yaramaz]

I agree with ghost (folks, kindly pick yourselves up from the floor- fainting is unnecessary).

I grew up fluent in English and French. Because of my french abilities I can understand simple written and spoken Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, and even some Romanian (written rather than spoken, as Romanian pronunciation is quite different).

I have had no courses in these languages nor have I spent much time in countries where they are spoken-- a week here, a fortnight there, just passing through...

However, due to the Latin base of all 5, I can pull meaning relatively easily... much more so than with, say, Turkish. Or Mandarin. Or Haida for that matter. As well, after living with an Afrikaans speaking boyfriend for 2 years, I could understand enough of the related Dutch and Flemish languages to be able to travel around the Benelux area without overusing English.

I think that if I actually put my mind to it and studied each of these languages in their relevant countries, I could relatively easily achieve fluency in a very short time. Call me in a year and I will tell you I am fluent in English, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Afrikaans, Dutch, Flemish and Turkish (Inşallah!)

[vre]

Is it possible that people can be just very bad/ slow learners of a language? My experience

French 5years
German 4 years
Greek 4 years
Turkish 3 years

And I can barely communicate in ANY of them!

What is wrong with me?

[ghost]

The best way to achieve high success in a foreign language in a relatively short time is high motivation, with immersion in the country where that language is spoken.

It is said that if you are lucky enough to have a "significant other" who only speaks the language you wish to learn, your learning time will be even shorter...."bed talk" is the most effective of all...., and with reason, as it evokes such strong emotions in one....

VRE is unlucky in not having success with the languages studied, but again, one may think that the individual, and his/her motivation play a key role.

When teaching French in the Durham schools system (Whitby/Oshawa/Ontario) in 2002, one noticed that the students, in their vast majority, did not do well in the language, because they were (in their vast majority) not motivated...as simple as that. Interesting to note, that a few girls, but not boys, showed interest in French, and they usually did well.

If you are interested in something, learning will be facilitated.

For "medium difficult" languages like Turkish, it is wise to invest in a formal course, because that will give you the base (almost mathematical) on which to build your further conversation skills...and your understanding will be that much greater.

The problem with learning esoteric languages like Sinhala, Tamil, Khmer, Thai etc....is that they have tonal variations which are not familiar to speakers of Anglo and Latin languages. In addition, for example with Sinhala (Sri Lanka), their alphabet consists of some 283 weird looking characters...

Those difficult languages sometimes have consonant sounds which have no English equivalent, and they take a lot of practice to reproduce. The problem is that most people give up too easily...with a little patience, the initial difficulties will be overcome.

A recent visit to Chiang Mai (Thailand) found some impressive results in Thai from some expats, especially those who had Thai girlfriends. Their motivation was so high, that learning was greatly facilitated. And yes...motivation, one thinks, is the main key.

One has always been told that one has great 'talent' with languages, and my tally may seem impressive, but what has always helped one, is motivation plus a good ear.

If your ear is "empathetic" to your interlocutor, you will do very well. In ghost's case, when living in Dublin, Eire, ghost acquired an Irish accent. Then British, during his stay in England, followed by standard "North American" accent when moved to Canada...and so it continues.

Many teachers in Turkey do not take the opportunity to immerse themselves in the language, because it is all too easy to fall into the rut of speaking only in English and watching cable t.v. in English...and that is a pity.

When ghost travels around Turkey, he claims to be of Argentine origin, and this obviates the need to speak in English...you just get the Turkish. It may be selfish, but why should it always be us (native English speakers) who give "free" English lessons. If you want to learn Turkish, deny you speak English. Tell your bus neighbor that you are from a Latin American country and speak in Turkish..

Back in Bangkok, Thailand, for the festivities of the Buddhist New Year. It is one giant street party, confined to people ages 16-25....they all use water pistols and throw white stuff on one....one big mess....plus Thai rock and techno...the party is 24hours a day for 5 days....but ghost prefers the Brazil variety of parties......

[Albulbul]

Some people are good at football. Some are not. It is the same with learning foreign languages.

What I find odd is that we have so many monoglots in the field of EFL. It is rather as if peopl who had never learned football were acting as coaches !

[Laura777]

Newbie here, I speak Japanese fluently (major in University), Polish elementary, Turk - beginning. Also bits and pieces of other languages I have picked up along the way. As Albulbul stated, some have the ease of language.

I play music, so maybe it's with the hearing?

Sorry for jumping in...!

[moonraven]

To Ghost:

Colombia can be difficult. If something happens you are really on your own. It is only recommended that you travel around there by air. I don't remember if you said your Spanish was good. If not, maybe you should consider a less problematic country in Latin America....

[ghost]

Yes, Ghost speaks fluent Spanish, and can pass for 'native speaker' in the language...

The two months spent in South East Asia (Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Sri Lanka) showed ghost that he does not want to live and work in any of those countries, with the exception of Sri