Challenging myself - Russian lessons
Learning another language is something which I've occasionally thought I should do, but never gotten around to. I seriously looked at taking Russian when I started University, but there was just no way a language paper fitted into my science-and-maths loaded timetable.
Now opportunity, finances and motivation have all aligned. However said motivations are rather more complex than just revisiting an old desire.
- there are parts of my brain that have lain neglected for to long, probably since I stopped having or finding the time to read for pleasure on a regular basis. Learning a human language will provide stimulation and exercise to those.
- I suffer from a common flaw of the bright child - I never learned to study, and that has come back to bite me repeatedly. As a result many things get put in the too-hard basket; I often do not deal well with being asked to do something where I will need to knuckle down and learn something I am not interested in / quickly proficient at. I know I will not succeed in learning a language without also developing some of those skills. (Better late than ever ;) )
The first lesson was yesterday, a class of five (including myself) mostly consisting of friends I have known for years and who all put their hands up when I asked who else might be interested. I was a little surprised by the amount of interest actually, I had expected maybe one or two people from my wider circle. The calibre of the company makes me far more optimistic about the likelihood of long-term success.
It was never in question that learning a new language was going to be challenging. Only halfway through the lesson my brain started going "nope" and refusing to process any input it didn't recognise - a characteristic I'm well familiar with and exactly one of the things I hope to improve on. To be fair to my brain I wasn't at my sharpest to start with after a long several days and a night of little sleep.
More positively it was only shortly after the lesson that turning over and examining the bits I had retained started. Revision will hopefully catch the rest -I have just completed my first pass and already some more things seem to be clicking.
Now opportunity, finances and motivation have all aligned. However said motivations are rather more complex than just revisiting an old desire.
- there are parts of my brain that have lain neglected for to long, probably since I stopped having or finding the time to read for pleasure on a regular basis. Learning a human language will provide stimulation and exercise to those.
- I suffer from a common flaw of the bright child - I never learned to study, and that has come back to bite me repeatedly. As a result many things get put in the too-hard basket; I often do not deal well with being asked to do something where I will need to knuckle down and learn something I am not interested in / quickly proficient at. I know I will not succeed in learning a language without also developing some of those skills. (Better late than ever ;) )
The first lesson was yesterday, a class of five (including myself) mostly consisting of friends I have known for years and who all put their hands up when I asked who else might be interested. I was a little surprised by the amount of interest actually, I had expected maybe one or two people from my wider circle. The calibre of the company makes me far more optimistic about the likelihood of long-term success.
It was never in question that learning a new language was going to be challenging. Only halfway through the lesson my brain started going "nope" and refusing to process any input it didn't recognise - a characteristic I'm well familiar with and exactly one of the things I hope to improve on. To be fair to my brain I wasn't at my sharpest to start with after a long several days and a night of little sleep.
More positively it was only shortly after the lesson that turning over and examining the bits I had retained started. Revision will hopefully catch the rest -I have just completed my first pass and already some more things seem to be clicking.