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Thread: Discouraged.

  1. #1
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    Discouraged.

    Namaste all,

    I am whining in this thread so I thought it best placed here in the Canteen. In short, I have been trying to learn two new languages at once without the aid of a teacher. Crazy you say? You'd be right. The problem is that there are no institutions that teach the languages I am learning that are nearby. I am teaching myself Irish (Gaelic) and Hindi.

    Guess which one is easier? Hindi.

    That'r right. The language with a completely new set of symbols and sounds - a language that uses parts of the mouth and tongue I have never had to use - is profoundly more easy to learn than Irish. Hindi is also made easier by the fact that I can practice with people at the Temple.

    Irish is almost dead. But I feel a strange responsibility to learn it. It's a part of my heritage. The procedure for how I teach myself will be left up to me moving forward, but does anyone know of a mantra or prayer I can say to keep my spirits and determination up? People teach themselves languages so I know it's not impossible.

    That's all. Whining over.

    Peace!
    "God will not have his work made manifest by cowards."
    ~Ralph Waldo Emerson


  2. #2

    Re: Discouraged.

    What are you using to learn?

  3. #3

    Re: Discouraged.

    Namaste Jodhaa,

    To Whom might you turn, given the circumstances?

    Lord Ganesha is the Remover of Obstacles; Lord Hanuman epitomizes
    perseverance; and Maa Saraswati is Devi of learning, and of speech

    JAI MATA DI
    || जय माता की ||

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    Re: Discouraged.

    Quote Originally Posted by Shanti29 View Post
    What are you using to learn?

    Grammatical books and Rosetta Stone Software primarily. I actually got the idea last night no look for printable worksheets for children. Again it seems Hindi is more acceptable than Irish, but perhaps learning one at a time is better. I will keep looking.


    Peace!
    "God will not have his work made manifest by cowards."
    ~Ralph Waldo Emerson


  5. #5
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    Re: Discouraged.

    Quote Originally Posted by JaiMaaDurga View Post
    Namaste Jodhaa,

    To Whom might you turn, given the circumstances?
    Quote Originally Posted by JaiMaaDurga View Post


    Lord Ganesha is the Remover of Obstacles; Lord Hanuman epitomizes

    perseverance; and Maa Saraswati is Devi of learning, and of speech

    JAI MATA DI


    Thank you JaiMaaDurga!

    I realized after praying last night that I had forgotten a very basic thing and that was part of the reason for my frustration: I was expecting a certain result based on my own standards. I had forgotten to work without expecting to benefit from the fruits of my learning. I can't believe how easy it is to forget such a seemingly basic principal. I will practice offering my learning up to God and asking for perseverance and patience. After all - it took a good portion of my life so far to master one language.


    Thank you both for your replies. Especially since all I was doing was complaining. I will need to work on that too.


    Peace!
    "God will not have his work made manifest by cowards."
    ~Ralph Waldo Emerson


  6. #6

    Re: Discouraged.

    I was going to suggest livemocha.com but Rosetta Stone is better. Good luck!

  7. #7
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    Re: Discouraged.

    Quote Originally Posted by Shanti29 View Post
    I was going to suggest livemocha.com but Rosetta Stone is better. Good luck!

    Well I will look into livemocha anyway! Everyone learns a little differently so I"m willing to experiment with techniques. Thankyou!
    "God will not have his work made manifest by cowards."
    ~Ralph Waldo Emerson


  8. #8

    Re: Discouraged.

    Hello my friend

    I have studied many languages (French, German Russian) in class rooms and several others on my own. Before I left school I was studying Linguistics, the scientific study of language.

    It is certainly possibly to learn a language by yourself, but it is quite hard without a teacher and especially when you are old! Our brains are not quite as good at absorbing the information after about 12-13 and scientist don't really know why!!

    My first question would be to what level are you wanting to use this language? Are you wanting to be able to order at a restaurant, talk at the hotel, and ask for directions on the street? Read books in the language? Have a deep conversation in it? I find that Rosetta stone (from what I know of it) teaches in the first way but does not give great depth to actually studying the language the way one should (in my opinion) and that is MEMORIZATION! The advertisements claim you won't have to do that but honestly it is so important! knowing how the grammar works and memorizing so that you can have a large vocabulary is very important. I've always preferred to learn from student text books because they give straight forward grammar. Rosetta stone wants people to learn the way they learn their first language -through immersion - but discount the fact that our brains are no longer fully capable of learning this way, like I said above. (If you want more information on this look into the concept of critical period hypothesis)

    Anyway... If you are looking for deeper use of the language I would suggest eventually getting a teacher this is the best way to learn the subtleties of pronunciation! Not to mention subtleties of the vocabulary.

    And actually I find that having new sounds/alphabet is not much of a difficulty. By far, the alphabet was actually the easiest part of Russian!!

    I wish you very much luck in this venture!

  9. #9
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    Re: Discouraged.

    Quote Originally Posted by Ninendiva View Post
    Our brains are not quite as good at absorbing the information after about 12-13 and scientist don't really know why!!
    Quote Originally Posted by Ninendiva View Post
    I find that Rosetta stone (from what I know of it) teaches in the first way but does not give great depth to actually studying the language the way one should (in my opinion) I've always preferred to learn from student text books because they give straight forward grammar. critical period hypothesis)



    Thank you for the encouragement. Yes, I have done a lot of research in the studies that have been done on the adult's ability to learn a new language. It is difficult and the brain learns differently so that is the trouble I am having.

    I would like to be able to learn a new language completely- that is, read, write and speak it.

    I have decided to let Irish go for the moment, simply because not only do I not have a teacher, I don't have a community of Irish speakers to engage with.

    With Hindi, I have decided to work with a combination of Rosetta Stone and a basic grammar book. I am starting with memorizing the characters of the syllabary (Hindi doesn't technically have an alphabet) and working with a visual, bi-lingual dictionary in order to get some vocabulary. I have found some workbooks for children on Amazon that I plan to order. I figure I must treat learning a language like I learned the technical side of English Grammar in school -through exercises and projects.

    Eventually, I may approach the Temple about language lessons. One of the devotees offers lessons but I'm not sure what the schedule is like and what age it's aimed at. Also, cost is a factor. I have decided not to be so hard on myself, and recognize that if I do a little bit each day, I will eventually be in a place where I can learn with more structure - it might just take me longer than I wanted

    Thanks again!

    Peace!
    "God will not have his work made manifest by cowards."
    ~Ralph Waldo Emerson


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