Recently, I’ve been studying Chinese again. I think I’m learning more effectively than ever before, even though (unlike a year ago) I’m not staying in a Chinese-speaking country. I also updated my list of Chinese learning resources with some useful stuff.
I also noticed something.
Language learning requires me to shut out the real world.
(At least while I’m living in a country which does not speak my target language.)
I have to ignore the chatter around me, and resist always watching the TV or listening to the music that others (or even my past self) are enjoying. I have to carve out time where I don’t engage at all with the people and culture around me.
Instead, my ears prick up when I hear a passing tourist speaking my target language. I listen to radio and podcasts discussing the hot topics of another country, constantly have target language music on shuffle, entertain myself with target language videos filled with cultural references that are unfamiliar to me.
Language learning also requires me to shut out my self.
I have to kill the sense of shame which holds me back from ‘putting on an accent’ - that’s just ‘pronouncing things correctly’. I have to submit to the idiosyncrasies of the grammar, and the arbitrary pronunciations and spellings of words. I have to let go of my original sense of taste, which will rear its head to assert that the media of my target language is nonsensical or tacky, or that the food is disgusting.
Once I have thrown these off, I can find a new self, one who is motivated to get closer to a charming language and a rich culture, without grumbling or cringing away.
To leave behind my world and my self presents the tantalising idea of total escape. It’s nonsense, of course. ‘Running away from yourself is futile’ is the kind of moral found in books I was reading in primary school.
Regardless, it can work temporarily. A bit like the sense of escape found when engrossed in a book or movie, but now extended to the near-limitless amount of content in another language. And that makes for a very enjoyable hobby.