Vu Nguyen
Only Language Learners Do This.

People generally don't take a few math classes and expect to become a mathematician or some physics classes and expect to become a physician.  At some point, they realize they reach their limitation and will tell themselves "I have enough of that" and move on.  This is not true for language learners.  This group is a special bunch.  After a couple of years of learning a language, they usually get upset when they don't improve any further because invariably their expectation is to become a native.  Anything less won't suffice.  For some odd reasons, the difficulty of mastering a language does not exist like it does in the other fields of study. If I were a language, I would be offended because people think I am so easy.


By the way, that physics classes and physician bit is an attempt at humor.

May 3, 2019 5:56 PM
Comments · 3
1

Phil, you raised a good point. We were born into our first language. Most people forgot about that.

Vera, being understood is what most learners could ever hope for. It is my goal.

May 4, 2019
1
I didn't want to be like a native, but I did hope the English language would help me to develop in my career. It never happened. I can't say I feel bad about it, not at all. I feel that the language became a part of me in a way. I don't need to go through exams and prove something to somebody. I know my English is not perfect and it's too far from perfection, but it's absolutely understandable to native English speakers which is good. 
May 3, 2019
1
Well said, Mr Nguyen. Everyone here has already learned a language at least once, so they figure “how hard can it be?” The difference is that a baby learning its native language is highly motivated to learn — failure is not an option. (And it takes the baby five years of total immersion to reach the level of a five-year-old child — forget about C1.) Once you know one language, additional languages seem more like a luxury, so motivation falls. As an analogy, let's consider that everyone needs a brain to live, but having two brains would not necessarily improve one's standard of living :)

Edited for typos.

May 3, 2019