I notice that you use the word "crazy" a lot when it comes to learning English. On what basis can you say that you are crazy about learning the language? What qualities make you crazy that others lack when it comes to learning the language? How are you so different? It's a personal question and if you can define your day to day activities that can inspire me to "suck myself in" in the language(btw, I stole that word from your recent article. I liked it). Thanks a ton!
Tom, What Crazy means to you?
You can never grasp a meaning of the word crazy of learning if you never ever loved English so much that you wish to become like an average Englishman. You can never understand the word crazy if you don't fall in love with English. You can never understand the word crazy if you don't put al your priority in English language studying. You can never understand the word crazy if you don't spend most of your time trying to imitate someone's accent, reading one article more than few times just to hear how does it sounds your voice. You can never understand the word crazy if you were never being in English speaking language when you have to talk to only in english, when you have to listen only in English, when you have to think only in english. Finally you can never understand the word crazy if you have never being touched by the English culture. It's called motivation of studying. You can never understand the word crazy if you never started to dream in english, to think in english. OK.
I still want to read his views. Thanks for your valuable words, though!
When I learned english in some other time few years ago I devoted whole myself to english language. Lessons were not enough. They were very expensive, but they weren't worth for nothing, by the time I didn't get the things in my own hands. I had two tapes and I was listening so many times, where I had free time I used it to read articles and to translate the words in my own language, then start to learn that words and then started to read them in the article. Not so easy process. I was obsessed with english. I wanted it to know it so much. Engilsh was my dream. That's my reason to come here few years ago. I wanted to talk to in english with native speakers. My english wasn't so good, but those people from here encouraged me to write what I think. I thought that they laughed with my language, because sometimes it was difficult to understand. But they said to me 'you made a big progress, comparison with the beginning'. English meant to me so much. I had just a dream to go in England and to drink thick black beer (guiness) and to talk in english. That was my dearest dream. But it became reality. I lived few years abroad. I've got to know much more that I expected to know. So why did I write about that it's because you have to have your own motivation to study english otherwise it's not worth for anything.
Some examples of "crazy" things you will have to do if you want to learn English well are given in my article on motivation:
http://www.antimoon.com/how/motiv-intro.htm
http://www.antimoon.com/how/motiv-intro.htm
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This was one of the "crazy" things listed.
It might be necessary for speakers of Polish and other Slavic languages but I don't see the relevance for speakers of, for example, Western European languages.
People will have different problems according to their individual situation, such as mother tongue (as in this case).
This was one of the "crazy" things listed.
It might be necessary for speakers of Polish and other Slavic languages but I don't see the relevance for speakers of, for example, Western European languages.
People will have different problems according to their individual situation, such as mother tongue (as in this case).