this post was submitted on 10 Nov 2023
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I'm really embarrassed being a communist and not knowing a second language. (lemmygrad.ml)
submitted 1 year ago by TeezyZeezy@lemmygrad.ml to c/comradeship@lemmygrad.ml
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I dropped Spanish which was the only language offered during my high school years. I regret it, and now I'm embarrassed to start learning as a uni-aged guy. I want to learn Mandarin because then I would know English and Mandarin which would cover like 50% of the populations speaking abilities.

Basically I just feel like a dumb American and being a Marxist I need to know another language.

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[–] redtea@lemmygrad.ml 2 points 1 year ago

Similar story to me. I had tried learning Spanish many times but failed. Now I know the only thing I failed at was consistency. You can learn a language at any age. It just takes time. The younger you start, the younger you are when you 'finish'; but that's about all.

It was also when I started reading Marxists that I realised I had a real reason to learn another language. Same as you, I think: to open up another world of literature and speeches and to communicate with other workers. If it's an international working class, I better meet some of them halfway.

You can do it if you put your mind to it. Learn the basics, then immerse yourself in the language. Books, news, music, movies, everything. You won't understand everything but if you can comprehend the message, your mind will do the rest for you. Then, keep topping up your grammar and vocab alongside engaging with 'the native stuff'. All those quantitative improvements and one day you'll make the qualitative leap. It's frustrating but it's fun if you let it be.

The rest of this comment, I wrote elsewhere, but it may be of help to you, too:

I'm no expert but I am am enthusiastic learner. It's never too late. And you have advantages that kids don't have. E.g. if you read Spanish world news, you'll recognise half the vocab because it's the same as formal English (which is mostly from Latin rather than German) or it's 'international' language (like brands and international bodies with the name in a different order). So after a little bit of study, you can read Spanish to get the gist reasonably soon.

To get that start, Language Transfer Spanish is a great free course and will give you a big leg up. (Just be sure to start the playlist at the first episode as the SoundCloud link sometimes starts halfway through!)

Here are some answers I've given others: