I had a similar experience! When I learned my first language, I was all in all the time. I prioritized learning over everything and any moment away from it felt like I was wasting my time. I see now that I felt that way because I didn't trust I could ever learn a language. I felt like I had to constantly make progress to remind myself I was able to do it. But when I started learning my second language, I knew I could learn. That doubt and anxiety were gone. I hit periods of my life where languages could not be my focus. And I let myself let go of them. In part, I worried I would loose my skills or find it harder to progress, but in the time I took for myself, not only did I heal the wounds that were distracting me from learning, I also had time to allow my knowledge to settle in and become part of my memory rather than something I was scrambling to recite or recall.
I learned French for a bit under a French culture school. That was many years ago. I'd dabble in Duolingo every now and then, but I only resumed serious French studies (with books, podcasts, Duolingo, and other apps) just this year. I'm able to pick things up better or understand things more in terms of sentence structure, but sometimes things get really complicated and I forget the rules. I always remind myself to take it slow and to break down what I don't understand and keep practicing until I remember.
That's a great mindset to have! A lot of people think French is an easy language to learn because of how similar it is to English. It isn't an easy language at all and I think we'd all benefit if we focused less on the difficulty of a language and focused on enjoying the journey instead!
I started learning Scottish Gaelic on Duolingo about 3 years ago but quickly realised I needed and wanted amore structured approach. Last year I joined an online Course for the High School level Nat 5 Gaelic exam. Learning online was a different experience but I enjoyed it and did well in the exam. I then decided to move to the next level and this year I'm doing Higher Gaelic. It's quite intense with a 1 hour conversation class on Monday evenings and a 2 hour Language class on Tuesdays.
I find it difficult to practice speaking as I'm not in an environment where Gaelic is spoken often. I can seek out passive means of consuming the language like TV and radio but I definitely still feel a rabbit in the headlights when it comes to speaking!
It's amazing that you've been able to push yourself and make so much progress. Speaking can be hard to improve when you don't have any one to speak with. I think conversation classes like the one you took do help if finding native speakers is hard to do. You can also try finding tutors on Italki if you want private lessons as well!
I'd like to hear more how your speaking progress goes in the future :)
I had a similar experience! When I learned my first language, I was all in all the time. I prioritized learning over everything and any moment away from it felt like I was wasting my time. I see now that I felt that way because I didn't trust I could ever learn a language. I felt like I had to constantly make progress to remind myself I was able to do it. But when I started learning my second language, I knew I could learn. That doubt and anxiety were gone. I hit periods of my life where languages could not be my focus. And I let myself let go of them. In part, I worried I would loose my skills or find it harder to progress, but in the time I took for myself, not only did I heal the wounds that were distracting me from learning, I also had time to allow my knowledge to settle in and become part of my memory rather than something I was scrambling to recite or recall.
I love everything you wrote! I feel the same way
I learned French for a bit under a French culture school. That was many years ago. I'd dabble in Duolingo every now and then, but I only resumed serious French studies (with books, podcasts, Duolingo, and other apps) just this year. I'm able to pick things up better or understand things more in terms of sentence structure, but sometimes things get really complicated and I forget the rules. I always remind myself to take it slow and to break down what I don't understand and keep practicing until I remember.
That's a great mindset to have! A lot of people think French is an easy language to learn because of how similar it is to English. It isn't an easy language at all and I think we'd all benefit if we focused less on the difficulty of a language and focused on enjoying the journey instead!
I started learning Scottish Gaelic on Duolingo about 3 years ago but quickly realised I needed and wanted amore structured approach. Last year I joined an online Course for the High School level Nat 5 Gaelic exam. Learning online was a different experience but I enjoyed it and did well in the exam. I then decided to move to the next level and this year I'm doing Higher Gaelic. It's quite intense with a 1 hour conversation class on Monday evenings and a 2 hour Language class on Tuesdays.
I find it difficult to practice speaking as I'm not in an environment where Gaelic is spoken often. I can seek out passive means of consuming the language like TV and radio but I definitely still feel a rabbit in the headlights when it comes to speaking!
It's amazing that you've been able to push yourself and make so much progress. Speaking can be hard to improve when you don't have any one to speak with. I think conversation classes like the one you took do help if finding native speakers is hard to do. You can also try finding tutors on Italki if you want private lessons as well!
I'd like to hear more how your speaking progress goes in the future :)