Why You Actually Need A Reason To Learn A New Language

For a vast majority of us who ever attempted to ‘learn’ a language, there is often a hook that attracts us to that language. For instance, in my high school, I always wanted to learn Spanish – well, until I met my future wife and I started paying attention to Mandarin. Believe me or not, the first time I ever went to China in 2011, I couldn’t speak a word of Putonghua.

While in college, I started exploring (and falling in love with) Japanese cuisine and a trip to any of the local Japanese restaurants in Lawrence will rejig my memory for the limited Japanese I knew at that point. ‘Ebi’ meant shrimp, ‘Sakana’ meant fish – testing my limited vocabulary every time I would set foot in a Japanese restaurant was almost as delicious as the food I would order.

Later in my life, I found my calling in Korean music. I don’t fit your stereotype of a KPop Stan, but there I was pretty much listening to KPop almost non-stop while I would work or run or study. I picked up very cheesy and dramatic Korean vocabulary – thanks to the songs I’d listen. Yeah, I wouldn’t just walk up and tell anyone ‘Saranghae’ (I love you), but there I was working on my Korean vocabulary.  

Now, I probably spent more time learning Japanese than I did Chinese or Korean. I went through the Living Language series on Japanese. Similarly, in terms of exposure, I’d say I would be listening to Korean music, talk-shows or watching Korean movies more than the Chinese or Japanese ones. However, my fluency in the three languages is not at all correlated with either the amount of time I had spent actually learning the language or the amount of time I spent ‘immersing’ myself in the language. My fluency in Chinese is significantly better than my fluency in Japanese or Korean. I always wondered why is that.

For a vast majority of us who ever attempted to ‘learn’ a language, it seems an ever-daunting task to actually master a language no matter how much time we spend on that language. But maybe spending time learning a skill alone isn’t quite a clear indicator of your eventual proficiency in that skill. You need a reason to learn and use that skill. In my view, that makes a world of difference in where you end up on the curve for how proficient you end up in using that skill.

When I was trying to pick up Chinese, I had a strong reason – whether it was to talk to my wife’s parents or figuring out my way around China. With Japanese and Korean, however, I didn’t really have a strong reason to keep on practicing and using the languages consistently. My Japanese and Korean fluency would peak before we were to travel to Japan or Korea for business or personal reasons and then, eventually, it will mellow down to a basic level.

The one thing I really liked about my approach to learning Chinese was that it was less of an actual learning process but more of a back-and-forth way of listening, speaking and more importantly reacting to the situations. It was not achieved overnight. But in the back of my mind, there was always a reason to continue engaging in speaking Chinese. Whether it was going to the grocery and simply asking – “How much is it?” in Chinese, every single time I got this positive nod or the excitement from the Chinese native speakers that I can speak Chinese, that encouraged me to move forward and engage in a little longer conversation the next time around. There was always a reason for me to keep going.

I certainly don’t want to discourage any reader reading this and going – woah, does that mean I will never master Chinese? No, not at all. But the next time you blame yourself for not retaining the basics of whatever language you are learning or getting frustrated when learning a new language, know that you are not alone. Learning any skill is tough as it is. When it comes to learning a new language, it is almost equivalent to fitting an entire ocean in a bottle – which is unrealistic. When someone says they can speak Italian, I always wonder – in what context is that statement true? I don’t think that you need to know every single word in Chinese or know every grammatical construct to qualify as a Chinese speaker. So, go with the flow. Take it easy, have fun with the language that you are learning and if you can hold a conversation or two, that’s great. You can say you can speak Chinese without guilt. Don’t forget why you started learning Chinese though and enjoy what you know instead of being in a relentless pursuit of perfection. Xie xie ;)