You Know You Love Language Learning When… Posted by meaghan on Feb 19, 2014 in Archived Posts
A few weeks ago, I posted this image to our Facebook pages and asked you to fill in the blank. Here’s a few of my favorite responses:
…when you stop relying on Google translate to do your homework.
…your social life consists of asking others if they speak Arabic also.
…you find the phrase “Il faut que…” more useful than any English substitute.
…your idea of a relaxing evening is working out how to use the subjunctive in Persian.
…you buy a second copy of every DVD you already own in the language you are learning.
…you are itching to play Scrabble ™ in that language to beat the locals.
…having a conversation with yourself seems perfectly normal.
…you wake up from your sleep because the dictionary you had in your dream did not have the word you were looking for.
…you find yourself strolling around your home speaking in 5 languages, interchangeably, as you clean.
…you text or talk to your friends in German, even though they don’t speak it.
…you can no longer speak your native language properly.
…your favorite thing is to translate signs in other language.
…your credit card is maxed out because of bookdepository.co.uk.
…you’re dog tired at 1:00am and you’re still doing exercises in Italian.
…you automatically start swearing in another language.
…you buy dictionaries in two foreign languages, helping you learn one language from another rather than from your native language.
…you write your shopping list in 2 languages.
…it’s quite late and you have to be up early, but you think: “Just 3 more pages of Chinese characters.”
…you watch TV shows only in your target language, even when they were dubbed over from your native language.
…you can’t wait to learn a new one!
Now it’s your turn to fill in the blank! You know you love language learning when…
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About the Author: meaghan
Meaghan is the Marketing Communications Manager at Transparent Language. She speaks enough French and Spanish to survive, and remembers enough Hausa to say "Hello my name is Meaghan, I'm studying Hausa." (But sadly that's it).
Comments:
Emmanuel:
… even if you never succeeded to learn a language correctly, you try with a 12th one.
… you create you’re own language in order to learn one that no one learnt before.
Cynthia:
…. When you have in your Amazon wishlist four or five courses of new languages, you find it difficult to chose which you’ll start learning (and therefore buying) first and you end buying them all.
meaghan:
@Cynthia Amazon language resources, a gift and a curse.
나비:
..you can construct a simple sentence correctly and do a fist pump!
..you can understand phrases while watching a Korean tv drama without reading the subtitles
..you keep your own mini dictionary of favorite words and phrases all written in Hangul
..you listen to a podcast with no translation and you repeat some words or phrases to yourself even when you don’t exactly know what they mean but just because they sound nice!
Mark:
… you insist on using Facebook in anything but your native language.
phoenixyox:
…you feel a little smug when browsing online on weibo – and you know exactly what you’re clicking on.
…you can listen to canto pop and absolutely relate to the song, without seeing its music video version.
…when you talk in your native language, you automatically do a chinese version of it, at least two ways how to say it.
…you can see chinese characters in your dreams!
Hazel:
…it’s no longer awkward to walk up to random people who are speaking your target language and start a conversation
meaghan:
@Hazel Such a good one! I’ve found many strangers are receptive to random conversations in their native language. No reason not to give it a shot.
Caroline:
When you start reading something and don’t pay attention to what language it is…
Kandi J Wyatt:
@Caroline Or when you write something and don’t realize it is in two different languages. In your head it flows. I saw this on a paper turned in by an exchange student. When I had him read it, he couldn’t figure out what was wrong. I thankfully could understand both languages and could relate.
Caroline:
…you are learning a new language and you don’t take notes in your native tongue but in another foreign language you’ve already learned because for some reason it just makes more sense that way!
meaghan:
@Caroline YES. I took a Hausa course instructed in French and somehow it just made more sense. Language-to-language osmosis or something.
Catherine:
…you spend your free time doing exercises in a foreign language, trying to understand the grammar
…you not only learn a foreign language anytime you’re free but also work in a language school and teach students the language!
…you cannot decide what to read you simply take a dictionary (Turkish-English, for example) and start reading it
…you try to solve word puzzles in a foreign language
Maegen Fariss:
…when you’re looking at a map of Istanbul and don’t realize it’s in German until your (American) friend looks for one in English 🙂
Janne:
… when you feel a huge rush of accomplishment when you finally get to click the ‘Never Translate [insert language here]’ button!
meaghan:
@Janne The most rewarding of all button clicks!
Lynne:
when you follow people around the store so you can listen to their conversation so you can practice!
meaghan:
@Lynne Yes! It’s not stalking if it’s in pursuit of a language. 😉
Jorge:
…when you choose a word—for example да in Russian—and search it on Grooveshark to find new music in the language you’re interested!
Elle:
when you have a sticky note on every object in your room.. the sticky note has the name of the object in your targeted language..
Elle:
when you find yourself messing up a sentence in english because in your head you’re using another language’s grammar..
Laura:
… When you suddenly forget basic vocabulary in your mother tongue and despite all your efforts you keep bringing back to your mind versions of that word in any language but yours.
… When you start dreaming in the target language and only there -in your dreams- you’re finally fluent!!
Mohammad Alquza:
When I study spanish and German more the day before my exams in electrical engineering, and when I start to have dreams in Spanish 😀
Marit:
… you can’t decide in which language to read a book because you have too many options.