Comments on: Redifining your motivation

By: Benny the Irish polyglot

Benny the Irish polyglot — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 06:14:29 +0000

Thanks for your comment George!! Glad you are enjoying the blog Here's my Czech specific advice.
There are lots of great websites out there and people have recommended Livemocha to me several times before, so I will indeed give it a whirl and let you know!!

By: George

George — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 00:14:19 +0000

Benny, i am truly inspired by your blog! It is almost revolutionary but yet so simple! I am TRYING to learn Czech, i found this site called www.livemocha.com this site is similar to Rosetta stone except its free, and has waaay more languages and also connects with people who speak the language you are learning.

Benny, do you have some advice for me when learning czech? Also can you review Live mocha? I would LOVE to see your view on it. Thanks so much; you have gained a fan.

By: Jon

Jon — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 18:05:57 +0000

I’m currently learning German and my interest in the language started when i randomly bought a rammstein cd. I just liked the way it sounded and i wanted to know the meaning behind the lyrics so i started translating with a dictionary. I had no experience with languages so I had no idea why the sentence structure was so different from english. i didn’t even know what sentence structure was. as time went by i got more and more interested. I became friends with a german foreign exchange student at my school and we hung out a lot. i would do the 95% english and 5% german thing and i kept learning. since then i’ve used so many different learning mediums (workbooks, audio [pimsleur], computer programs [rosetta stone], and chatting online with germans, etc…) i am ALWAYS looking for different ways to learn. I’m actually visiting my friend in germany right now. sitting on her bed on my laptop. im learning SO MUCH being immersed in the language. after i am fluent in german i’m definitely going to start on another language. probably italian or russian. german has sparked a language obsession in me! i just found this site and am definitely going to follow you on your path to fluency. good luck!

By: Matthew Daly

Matthew Daly — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 04:50:04 +0000

Thank you for your feedback. I am going to take your advice and learn one language at a time. I am going to try and become fluent in spanish first and then french. I might as well try and become fluent in spanish in 3 months. I will look forward to your future posts. My gf is excited to see your treat for Italian learners.

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 20:32:24 +0000

Don’t worry, you can alway read his later novels in the original French!

By: Rene

Rene — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 00:22:37 +0000

Benny, Thanks for the info.
Así que tomaste el examen DELE C2 en España y el DELF B2 en Francia. Tu vis en Irlande, n’est-ce pas?
Je pense, que quand on vit en Europe, c’est plus facile d’aller en France ou en Espagne, etc.
I live in the US, so travelling to Europe doesn’t happen every day.

By: benny

benny — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 19:56:17 +0000

Matthew, I would normally advise against learning more than 2 languages at once… but it would be very hypocritical of me considering I’m really focussing on improving all of my languages this summer, as well as learning Czech.
Anyway, if you have the motivation then there is nothing stopping you!! It’s just a little easier if you focus on one first since you may easily mix up the vocabulary and rules. I will definitely be discussing multiple-language learning techniques a bit later. Hopefully those tips may help you!!
The good news is I have a treat for those learning Italian coming up very soon!! So that might help your girlfriend.
Thanks for the compliments

By: benny

benny — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 19:52:32 +0000

Thanks for sharing Brad
How are your German studies going?? I’m curiously following your twitter updates! What were your motivations for learning that language?

By: benny

benny — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 19:50:04 +0000

Glad to see I’m not the only one hit with random spontaneous ideas to learn a language!! Best of luck with Japanese If I get to that it won’t be for a couple of years yet!

By: benny

benny — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 19:48:51 +0000

I plan to eventually write a post specifically just about how music can be useful in learning a language
I will definitely be singing Czech songs before the 3 months are up, but reading anything more complicated than Newspaper articles has yet to be seen!!
Thanks for sharing your English learning story Sylva!!

By: benny

benny — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 19:46:42 +0000

Thanks for your comments Rene! Your vast linguistic experience is impressive!! You’ll be happy to hear that I will be discussing in detail how to improve already learned languages (I chose Prague instead of Brno etc. for a good reason) All will be revealed soon!
I took the Spanish DELE C2 in Spain (specifically in Salamanca) and I took the French DELF (B2) in Toulouse. I hope to take the DALF (C2) next time I’m in La Francophonie. I would recommend taking these exams in the countries associated with the language so that you have the momentum for speaking the language. You can however do them abroad (any Alliance Française for French and some universities for other language exams depending on which one; some Googling will reveal all!)

By: Rene

Rene — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 19:30:55 +0000

Benny,
Where did you take the CEFR exams for Spanish and French? Did you take the test in your home country?
Do you know where I can find a list of testing places?

Thanks!
René – a polyglot in Florida

By: Rene

Rene — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 19:26:44 +0000

Benny, this is a great idea! (singing in Czech).
My favorite songs to sing along are Zluty Pes “Modrá je dobrá” (very easy lyrics) and “Sametová”.
I posted translations at myczechrepublic, and there you can find links to the youtube video and the lyrics website.

As far as listening to Czech songs: when I listen I only understand isolated words. After I read the lyrics, I begin to understand sentences. After I translate the sentences I begin to understand the meaning of the song.
Then it’s just a matter of memorizing the lyrics.
Try it, you’ll like it!

By: Rene

Rene — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 19:21:43 +0000

I have learned many languages, for no apparent reason!
I am bilingual in English and Spanish (due to my ancestors being from Spain – I live in the US).
I learned French when as a child my parents moved to Belgium for a year – it was necessary to know French. Later I continued reviewing and perfecting my knowledge of French.
Later I became extremely interested in German, Italian and Russian and learned by way of books and audio.

Later it was Japanese, just because it was interesting!

Esperanto I learned once I found a link to some free online course. I got several penfriends and once attended a Universala Kongreso in Berlin.

I learned Portuguese when the company where I work landed a contract with a Brazilian company. However I am not very interested in Portuguese and have not continued learning it.

Later I took an online course of Greek in preparation for a trip to Greece and Bulgaria. In Bulgaria I felt “naked” I did not know the language!!!
I promptly returned home to Florida and learned Bulgarian. The following year I returned to Sofia and was able to practice it

I became interested in Czech when I heard it spoken on a TV show in a hotel in Vienna. I learned it and have travelled twice to Prague to practice it.

My goal now is to IMPROVE my PROFICIENCY in all the languages that I have learned.

By: Matthew Daly

Matthew Daly — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 21:56:00 +0000

My girlfriend is fluent in french, spanish, english and hatian creole and just started learning Italian. I would like to learn french and spanish first and then try to learn additional languages. I am only fluent in english, and i know a little french and spanish. I am motivated to become flluent in french and spanish in 1 year.

Is it a good idea to try and become fluent in 2 languages at the same time?

Thanks for the great website Benny and good luck at achieving your 3 month goal of fluency in Czech.

By: sylva

sylva — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 21:45:00 +0000

my motivation to learn English was: to be able to understand what the Beatles sang about and to read D. H. Lawrence in English… it took me a few weeks to understand the Beatles, several months to be able to read basic news in newspapers and magazines and several years to be able to read any English/American novel.. when do you think you will be able to sing Czech songs and read Kundera’s short stories in the original?

By: fearfeasog

fearfeasog — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 19:53:46 +0000

bonjour, monsieur polyglot! i agree with you all the way–i have recently (like 2 days ago!) developed an intense interest in Japanese. no idea specifically why–it’s just so darn interesting! comPLETEly foreign in every possible way. i still have to think about what i really want to do with it–whether i really want to make it a goal to be able to speak fluently, or if i just need to satisfy this curiosity. in any case your post here has made me aware that i need to think about that so–go raibh míle maith agat! go n-éirí leat agus an blag seo–tá sé thar barr! mark

By: Brad Bollenbach

Brad Bollenbach — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 11:24:25 +0000

Hey Benny,

Great article. I agree that in learning a language, motivation is decisive.

My motivation to learn French was derived in large part (aside from moving to Québec from seeking out the great thinkers in that language, be it novelists, intellectuals, musicians, political commentators, bloggers, etc. I’m addicted to people who know how to share their thoughts in captivating ways, and it’s all the more exciting to see one’s language learning efforts result in gaining access to a whole new range of genius.