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Originally Posted by Verencat
When I studied sociology in university, I took an Arabic class for fun with The Ex, who has Lebanese origins, but in a whole semester, we only got to learn the alphabet, calligraphy, numbers and about 20 basic sentences. He forgot everything in about 2 months and it took me about 4 to be alphabetically clueless, but I remember phonetically 2-3 sentences.
While we're on the issue of language learning: I read that speaking and reading more than one language keeps the brain healthier and diminishes impact of Alzheimer, or at least pushes it back a few years. Start learning!
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Besides my native language, I actively use only English; I was taking classes in German when I was in high school and back then I used to watch a lot of german programs on TV; telly actually helps one's vocabulary tremendously.
Then I lost contact with German, because I didn't need it.
I went through several phases, when I wanted to take up Spanish and Russian, but I've never gotten around to work on them systematically, so I forgot even the little I'd picked up.
By now, the situation hasn't changed, I still plan on learning new languages, because I see them as bridges to new cultures. Personally, I have no need to learn them, other than my interest in getting to know new countries and cultures and this makes it pretty hard to motivate oneself for systematic work.
I'd like to ask people who fluently speak more than one foreign language - how do you maintain your skill in an environment, where you don't come into contact with that particular language? Because it always leaves my mouth hanging open when I hear of people who fluently speak and are capable to read books in 3 or 4 foreign languages; it has to require a great deal of effort and time to maintain prowess in all of them, hasn't it?
Btw. the sign above is awesome, I had a good laugh.
