×

We use cookies to help make LingQ better. By visiting the site, you agree to our cookie policy.


image

Steve's Language Learning Tips, Loneliness in Language Learning

Loneliness in Language Learning

That, I'm convinced, puts some kind of a psychological pressure on us and it can feel lonely at times.

Hi there, Steve Kaufmann here. Today I'm going to talk about a subject that doesn't come up very often. It's loneliness, loneliness and language learning. Remember if you like these videos, please subscribe, click on the bell for notifications.

If you follow me on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or other podcast services, I'd appreciate it if you could leave a review. So, first of all, I have received some comments to the effect that my sound is too low. So I've worked on the orientation of my microphone here, and hopefully this is better. Uh, loneliness. So it's a subject that never comes up.

We think of language learning. We're learning to communicate with people. We're gonna make new friends, we're going to connect with new cultures. So it's, it's, it's wonderful. And, and of course, language is, is not only a means of communicating meaning. Language is a means of connecting with people. I've even seen the theory that the first humanoids developed language as a means of sort of social grooming.

It almost doesn't matter what we're saying. We just want to hear other people's voices. We say something so they can hear our voices and we're just connecting. And that serves a need, a social need that we have to connect with other people. Now when we're learning languages, of course we can be in a classroom with other people where we are connecting socially, but at some point to learn the language we have to connect with the language we have to listen and read.

As I always say, even if we're listening to someone or speaking with someone we're having trouble getting the meaning because we're working in a new language, a language that we're trying to learn. And I have had the experience, particularly when I learn a language very intensively like I did with Chinese, where I was like seven hours a day in this Chinese world.

Not just casually connecting with people, not watching movies that I understood easily in my own language, not being with friends and family, but sitting there trying to get my brain cells to get used to this new language. And sometimes, and I can remember in Hong Kong that when I would come out from that and I would just communicate with people,

sometimes I felt a certain awkwardness that the, um, this sort of intensive interaction with a strange language, forcing the brain to get used to new language can, you know, create a sense of loneliness. You are alone with something that you don't understand very well. And like, even now, for example, you know, my wife might be watching a movie on Netflix in English or French a language where, which we understand and where in any case there are subtitles for the French.

And it would be nice to just sit there and enjoy the movie. But I at some level, I want to work on my Arabic or my Persian. And so I go downstairs by myself and I work on these, uh, whatever they might be, podcasts or other lessons in our LingQ library, where I'm saving words and phrases, and gradually trying to get used to the language. I wander around the house with my AirPods in my ears, uh, so that I can take advantage of whatever time I have that I'm cleaning up or something to get more of the language in me, I want to sort of force a change of transformation of my brain so that I can easily deal with this language. That, I'm convinced, puts some kind of a psychological pressure on us and it can feel lonely at times.

And so there are these ways in which sort of intensive language learning affects us. Now that's no different than any other pursuit that we go at sort of intensively, and there was a movie called The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner. I don't know much about the movie I gathered it had to do with social classes in English, but anything you do, you know, with intensity, whether it be as a piano player or as a, uh, you know, a performance athlete or whether you're pursuing, you know, a science or whatever.

You as an individual sort of striving to acquire knowledge or skills in a particular field, and you're shutting yourself off from other people that can create a sense of loneliness. Now, there are many ways that we can, you know, interact with other people, whether we're in science class or whether we have teammates or language class, or the people I talk to online.

And I cherish the uh, sessions that I have, I was with, uh, Adel Samy of Egypt this morning, and he's taking me through Egyptian Arabic and those are wonderful moments and those are social moments, but there's also a lot of time when it's, it's lonely. It's just the learner and the language. And I just want to mention that because it's something people should be aware of.

They shouldn't consider it strange that at times they feel lonely in their pursuit of the language. And it's important to remember that ultimately the reward is great. So I now communicate comfortably in Chinese, Japanese, French, Russian, languages that I learned a while ago. And, uh, I even finding now that I'm able to communicate fairly comfortably in Persian with, with Sahra, Persian being easier than Arabic.

Now I've completely confused myself in Arabic because I've started into Egyptian Arabic, which is fun because it's a, it's a country where they speak the language, egypt is. Whereas there is no country that speaks Standard Arabic, but it has kind of caused both of them to get further confused. And so I got a struggle with that and I'm struggling with it, uh, you know, on my own.

So there is a certain loneliness attached to language learning. Until you get to a stage where we are comfortable communicating and we kind of rejoin the world around us. So just a thought that I had that I wanted to share with you. Bye for now.


Loneliness in Language Learning Einsamkeit beim Sprachenlernen La soledad en el aprendizaje de idiomas La solitude dans l'apprentissage des langues La solitudine nell'apprendimento delle lingue 語学学習における孤独 A solidão na aprendizagem de línguas Одиночество в изучении иностранных языков Dil Öğreniminde Yalnızlık Самотність у вивченні мови 语言学习中的孤独 語言學習中的孤獨

That, I'm convinced, puts some kind of a psychological pressure on us and it can feel lonely at times. それは、私たちにある種の心理的圧力をかけ、時には孤独を感じることがあると私は確信しています。

Hi there, Steve Kaufmann here. Today I'm going to talk about a subject that doesn't come up very often. 今日はあまり出てこないテーマについてお話します。 It's loneliness, loneliness and language learning. Remember if you like these videos, please subscribe, click on the bell for notifications.

If you follow me on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or other podcast services, I'd appreciate it if you could leave a review. So, first of all, I have received some comments to the effect that my sound is too low. ですから、まず、音が小さすぎるというコメントをいただきました。 So I've worked on the orientation of my microphone here, and hopefully this is better. Uh, loneliness. So it's a subject that never comes up.

We think of language learning. We're learning to communicate with people. We're gonna make new friends, we're going to connect with new cultures. So it's, it's, it's wonderful. And, and of course, language is, is not only a means of communicating meaning. そしてもちろん、言語は意味を伝える手段だけではありません。 Language is a means of connecting with people. I've even seen the theory that the first humanoids developed language as a means of sort of social grooming. 私は、最初のヒューマノイドが一種の社会的身だしなみの手段として言語を発達させたという理論さえ見ました。

It almost doesn't matter what we're saying. 私たちが何を言っているかはほとんど問題ではありません。 We just want to hear other people's voices. We say something so they can hear our voices and we're just connecting. And that serves a need, a social need that we have to connect with other people. そしてそれは、私たちが他の人々とつながる必要のある社会的ニーズであるニーズに応えます。 Now when we're learning languages, of course we can be in a classroom with other people where we are connecting socially, but at some point to learn the language we have to connect with the language we have to listen and read. 今、私たちが言語を学んでいるとき、もちろん私たちは社会的につながっている他の人々と一緒に教室にいることができますが、ある時点で私たちは言語を学ぶために私たちが聞いたり読んだりしなければならない言語とつながる必要があります。

As I always say, even if we're listening to someone or speaking with someone we're having trouble getting the meaning because we're working in a new language, a language that we're trying to learn. And I have had the experience, particularly when I learn a language very intensively like I did with Chinese, where I was like seven hours a day in this Chinese world. そして、特に中国語のように非常に集中的に言語を学ぶとき、私はこの中国の世界で1日7時間のようでした。

Not just casually connecting with people, not watching movies that I understood easily in my own language, not being with friends and family, but sitting there trying to get my brain cells to get used to this new language. 気軽に人とつながるだけでなく、自分の言語でわかりやすい映画を見たり、友達や家族と一緒にいるのではなく、そこに座って脳細胞をこの新しい言語に慣れさせようとしています。 And sometimes, and I can remember in Hong Kong that when I would come out from that and I would just communicate with people, そして時々、そして私は香港で私がそこから出てきて人々とただコミュニケーションをとるときを思い出すことができます、

sometimes I felt a certain awkwardness that the, um, this sort of intensive interaction with a strange language, forcing the brain to get used to new language can, you know, create a sense of loneliness. You are alone with something that you don't understand very well. And like, even now, for example, you know, my wife might be watching a movie on Netflix in English or French a language where, which we understand and where in any case there are subtitles for the French.

And it would be nice to just sit there and enjoy the movie. そして、ただそこに座って映画を楽しむのもいいでしょう。 But I at some level, I want to work on my Arabic or my Persian. And so I go downstairs by myself and I work on these, uh, whatever they might be, podcasts or other lessons in our LingQ library, where I'm saving words and phrases, and gradually trying to get used to the language. I wander around the house with my AirPods in my ears, uh, so that I can take advantage of whatever time I have that I'm cleaning up or something to get more of the language in me, I want to sort of force a change of transformation of my brain so that I can easily deal with this language. That, I'm convinced, puts some kind of a psychological pressure on us and it can feel lonely at times.

And so there are these ways in which sort of intensive language learning affects us. ですから、ある種の集中的な言語学習が私たちに影響を与えるこれらの方法があります。 Now that's no different than any other pursuit that we go at sort of intensively, and there was a movie called The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner. I don't know much about the movie I gathered it had to do with social classes in English, but anything you do, you know, with intensity, whether it be as a piano player or as a, uh, you know, a performance athlete or whether you're pursuing, you know, a science or whatever.

You as an individual sort of striving to acquire knowledge or skills in a particular field, and you're shutting yourself off from other people that can create a sense of loneliness. あなたは、特定の分野の知識やスキルを習得するために努力している個人的な種類であり、孤独感を生み出す可能性のある他の人々から身を隠しています。 Now, there are many ways that we can, you know, interact with other people, whether we're in science class or whether we have teammates or language class, or the people I talk to online.

And I cherish the uh, sessions that I have, I was with, uh, Adel Samy of Egypt this morning, and he's taking me through Egyptian Arabic and those are wonderful moments and those are social moments, but there's also a lot of time when it's, it's lonely. そして、私は今朝、エジプトのアデル・サミーと一緒に行ったセッションを大切にしています。彼は私をエジプトのアラビア語に連れて行ってくれます。それは素晴らしい瞬間であり、社会的な瞬間ですが、時間もたくさんあります。それは、それは孤独です。 It's just the learner and the language. And I just want to mention that because it's something people should be aware of.

They shouldn't consider it strange that at times they feel lonely in their pursuit of the language. And it's important to remember that ultimately the reward is great. そして、最終的には報酬が大きいことを覚えておくことが重要です。 So I now communicate comfortably in Chinese, Japanese, French, Russian, languages that I learned a while ago. And, uh, I even finding now that I'm able to communicate fairly comfortably in Persian with, with Sahra, Persian being easier than Arabic. そして、ええと、私は今でもペルシア語でかなり快適にコミュニケーションをとることができ、ペルシア語はアラビア語よりも簡単であることがわかりました。

Now I've completely confused myself in Arabic because I've started into Egyptian Arabic, which is fun because it's a, it's a country where they speak the language, egypt is. 今、私はエジプトのアラビア語を始めたので、アラビア語で完全に混乱しました。それは、彼らが言語を話す国であるため、楽しいです。エジプトはそうです。 Whereas there is no country that speaks Standard Arabic, but it has kind of caused both of them to get further confused. 標準アラビア語を話す国はありませんが、それは彼らの両方をさらに混乱させるようなものです。 And so I got a struggle with that and I'm struggling with it, uh, you know, on my own.

So there is a certain loneliness attached to language learning. ですから、語学学習にはある種の孤独が伴います。 Until you get to a stage where we are comfortable communicating and we kind of rejoin the world around us. So just a thought that I had that I wanted to share with you. だから私があなたと共有したいと思ったのはただの考えでした。 Bye for now.