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> Or perhaps children are simply less inhibited and aren’t so scared about making mistakes. Struck a chord there - because I had come to the same conclusion of
by gopalv 9y ago
> Or perhaps children are simply less inhibited and aren’t so scared about making mistakes.
Struck a chord there - because I had come to the same conclusion of sorts, about my ability to practice activities in public.
Riding a bicycle is a fairly hard thing to learn and very easy to practice (from my experience), but learning to do that when everyone around is falling off them was much less of a struggle than trying to learn ice skating in my mid thirties, when everyone at the "cheap skate night" is just gliding by with no effort.
There's a certain embarrassment which distracts from the task at hand. And being good at several other things, which are more immediately satisfying to do also factors into the decision to spend time learning something new which you'll never be as good as the ones who started when they were 5.
Right now, I'm struggling to learn enough spanish to converse with my kid & observing language learning first-hand, in third person. The words just come out without any particular boundaries in production - grammar, conjugations, gender, whether it is the right word.
Everything is optional and the only discouraging response is skipping the conversation and trying to ignore it.
- TheSpiceIsLife 9y agoI'm 36 and only weeks ago started skiing. My way of dealing with the "embarrassment" of face planting the snow a lot, though I can't say I ever consciously chose this, is to make sure I'm the one doing most of the laughing. My belief is this: given how much I've learned from my mistakes, I think it would be wise to make quite a few more. Hopefully new ones.
- BatFastard 9y agoI always went with the idea that if you are not face planting, you are not trying hard enough.
- TheSpiceIsLife 9y agoI'm going to apply that to my attempts at learning to program.
- koolba 9y agoLearning a language (spoken, not programming) is similar. If you're willing to sound like an idiot with a bad accent, constantly messing up words and parts of speech, it's easy to get immersed. If you're self conscious it's significantly more difficult.
- bitwize 9y agoI had finally achieved a long-time dream of mine by going to Japan. When I landed, it hit me: very few people knew a lick of English! I remember my exact thought upon making this realization: "I could use my crappy Japanese and be thought a fool, or I could speak English at people and remove all doubt." That helped me deal with the self-consciousness. That and booze.
- evincarofautumn 9y agoMy problem with languages is that I’m very good at phonetics, so I can speak confidently with minimal accent as long as I know what I want to say—I’ve actually done some voice acting in languages that I don’t speak—but my comprehension is terrible. I can read French almost as fast as I read English, but can’t really follow a TV show or carry on a conversation. It’s maddening. Unfortunately, there seem to be more resources out there for people with the opposite problem: poor production but good comprehension. Anyone in a similar boat to mine who can offer advice? Is simple immersion the best approach?
- kinkrtyavimoodh 9y agoImmersion. Listen to songs, radio, movies, TV shows. Use subtitles if necessary. Make friends who speak that language. Talk to them in that language.
- moretai 9y agoSelf Consciousness is the bane of my existence
- yosito 9y agoIt's not just about being comfortable with messing up, even when you make no mistakes, if you want to lose an accent, you have to be willing to give up your sense of your own voice/"the way you talk" and try on a new voice in which you sound completely different than you're used to.
- sjg007 9y agoSome kids are less inhibited and scared but some aren't and they need active help to get through the anxiety. I think there is a genetic component at play because how else is that learned behavior.
- delinka 9y agoAs a parent, you can inhibit your children as toddlers by telling them "no!" all the time. Then, when it comes time to learn or be social, they now have inhibitions to overcome. That's not to say there's no genetic component (my son, $deity bless him, has this anxiety/fear of lots of things - we're honestly not sure if we're unaware of some environmental cause, or if he's fighting genetics...)
- sjg007 9y agoSure, lots of "noes" might reinforce anxiety but I think some kids are immune to it.
- expertentipp 9y agoI cannot resist from a sarcastic comment. I find it cute when Americans claim they are "learning a foreign language". Currently I live in a 5th country. Each of them had completely different language, only two were from the same language family. I had no knowledge of English until I had been ~18.
- skrebbel 9y agoFor all your language skills, I'm not sure you know what sarcasm is.
- expertentipp 9y agoHa! Vocabulary is my Achilles ankle!
- flanbiscuit 9y ago> Currently I live in a 5th country. You have the advantage of living in those countries and being able to immerse yourself in the language. In the US we have be more proactive about learning if we truly want to get fluent. There's less immediacy about knowing a 2nd language here. It's not great, I'm not defending it. Just listing a possible advantage Europeans have over us.
- fnovd 9y agoKeep in mind that Americans live in a country where you can drive for hundreds of miles in any direction and still end up somewhere where English is spoken. We can hop around from state to state and opportunity to opportunity without having to take the time to learn a new language. The US is not Europe.
- Mediterraneo10 9y agoYours is a typical American reaction that suggests that others learn foreign languages only because they might have to communicate after driving a short distance. In fact, Europeans have been able for centuries to communicate with neighbouring countries in their own language or rudimentarily known lingua francas without having to expend effort of picking up a new language. And yet, they still often decide to learn a new languages because of cultural interest in that country (films, music). Mere intellectual curiosity is a driver for a lot of people, there is no reason that that can’t apply to the USA as well.
- okreallywtf 9y agoIt struck a chord with me too. I'm finding in my 30's a lack of fear (or an ability to manage it) that I didn't have when I was younger that makes me want to seek out new experiences and learn new things more in some ways than I did when I was in my teens and 20's (and more "pliable"). This research makes me feel good about my chances and about the benefits that could come with learning new things.
- pbhjpbhj 9y agoChildren are used to being bad at stuff, they don't expect to be good straight away. Adults avoid stuff they can't do and also expect to be better at stuff because they're adults. I teach clay craft/pot throwing - for some reason adults think they can come along and make/throw a vase on their first go. Like expecting to rock up and make a wedding cake with no prior experience at baking. I'm self taught, my first timers manage pots at a level that took me about a year to achieve. We see first hand at painting sessions the birth of inhibition in art - parents who tell their child the painting they're doing is _wrong_ because the adult thinks they (the adult!) can do it better. The child isn't allowed space to simply express, to learn the movements of the brush and feel of the paint, to make "mistakes".