Time to Complain

I am not one who likes to be negative.  When I write I like to put my time in to helping point people in the right direction according to my opinions.  I don’t write negative reviews of products and I don’t make controversial posts to generate a lot of comments.  That’s just not how I roll.

Despite all that, there are just some things that irritate me to no extreme!  And I have chosen to remain silent, because of my desire to stay positive.  Then I realized, it’s not the sources that makes me annoyed, it’s the people who keep going back to these sources.  So I have chosen to go on this rant, not to put anyone person our thought down, but to point out where I think you shouldn’t go.  I wont name any names in this, just concepts I am not a fan of.

Do your homework!

There are those who like to make fantastical claims and of superfast learning.  They go on these missions to learn a language super fast and if you follow their blog or buy their product, then you will figure out these same tricks.  

Let me tell you, there is no shortcut, there is no “Hack” and there is no way to get there in less time.  Yes there are ways to be more efficient to learn things, but you are going to have to put in the time.

On that same subject, listen and follow those people who actually live lives.  If you like reading expat adventures in some far of country, be my guest.  At the same time, don’t expect them to have any understanding of what it means to try to learn a foreign language while keeping your 9 to 5 job, Which you can’t just get rid of because you have kids to feed and a mortgage to pay.  Then you spend the rest of your free time with those little ones speaking what?  English.

So in short, do your homework.  Have anyone of these people you follow actually accomplish these missions and do anyone of them do it while holding obligations that keep you from your goal?  If not, then don’t follow them.  It’s a waste of time.

Input is Better…No Output

The other pet peeve of mine is you need to do more of one or the other type of language study.  I personally believe that one should try to balance the two out, but I do know that we are all different.  There are some one who recommend never talking for months.  Others say, jump out and start talking.  Who is right?

It depends on who you are.  Your personality will gravitate to one or the other.  The trick isn’t knowing which one is better.  The trick is to figuring out how to use one to help the other.  If you are shy and more of an introvert, a lot of input might seem more useful.  So go ahead.  Listen and read to your heart’s content.  Don’t stop there, find a way to listen to real conversations and practice them.  Then you can be ready when a real conversation hits.

Same goes for Output.  Maybe you are outgoing and enjoy social experiences.  This does not make you better for being that way.  That just means you need to make sure you are listening to what is being said as much as you are saying it.  Don’t dominate the conversation all the time.  Let the conversation move into areas you are less familiar with.

Now I feel better, I got it out of my system and I hope you are all the better for it.

Do you have any pet peeves?  Share them in the comments below.