I hate learning languages. How can I learn to love it?

I need to learn a language for collage, and I just cannot remember anything that I've learned, and I know it's because I hate learning it. How can I change that?

It is hard to succeed at anything that you "hate." You cannot be committed to an endeavor; your heart will just not be in it, if you just don't care. So somehow you are going to need to change your attitude. You don't mention learning a specific language, so do you just need to learn any language? If that is the case, perhaps you can choose a language that is spoken in a place that interests you. For example, if you are an artist, you would probably appreciate The Louvre and the other great art venues in France, the great french artists, and the places where they painted. So learning French with the idea of learning and understanding more about these places and people, and perhaps with the long term goal of traveling to see them and being able to speak the native language, would motivate you to learn. As for me, I am learning Spanish because I have long wanted to become bilingual for my own satisfaction, because I love learning and I think it keeps my brain younger and more "fit,"and because I want to return to Cuba next year and be able to speak for myself. I hope I did not sound too preachy, but you did ask for advice. Good Luck! Dan

Dan has offered up great advice and he is absolutely correct. Rich

I'm trying to learn Spanish right now (I don't hate the language, just learning a language!). I need to have it for a college credit, and I'm homeschooled. I don't hate learning at all either, and I do fine at everything else, but I don't have a brain for languages. They just seem to go in one ear and out the other. Thanks for the advice, though! I'll try to find something that connects to Spanish to heighten my interest in learning it. Thank you so much, Dan!

Wow! I absolutely love learning Spanish so it's hard to put myself in your shoes. But, you might try finding a native speaker to talk to. When I'm around native speakers I find it quite exciting to try to speak with them in Spanish. That alone isn't going to jump-start your love for learning the language but it may be a beginning. Eating in Spanish restaurants occasional and just being around that type of atmosphere may help. diranu

I agree wholly with diranu about speaking with native speakers. I live near Mexico so there are a lot of Spanish speakers around here, but if you don't have many, you could try learning with another person. Another fun thing to do with languages is read books in that languge. If you're a beginner, don't feel bad reading children's books. Everybody started out that way!

Yesterday my husband and I ate at a Mexican restaurant so I practiced my Spanish on our waiter. He told me that my Spanish was very good! Wow! What a compliment! He asked me where I learned it and I told him "in a book". He said it must have been a very good book. :) That, of course is not all true. I have used all types of sources including children's books as Naomi T2 suggested. Rocket Spanish has been great just for being able to record and hear myself. I've improved a lot just from that!!! Another great source is LoMasTV.com You have to pay per month for that but it is well worth it. They do give you a free trial which is worth trying to see if you like it. If you don't have a source to be able to listen to, LoMasTV is good for that.

I used LoMas and enjoyed it as well, budget issues didn't allow for it on a regular basis, but it's very helpful. I have posted before elsewhere that there is a program titled Destinos an Introduction to Spanish that progresses in level of difficulty. It's free and is offered from an educational foundation. I and others on the forum have watched it over and over. Each time my listening comprehension improves and it's never boring. I recommend it highly and after that Nuevos Destinos, a sequel. Also Casa Rojas which offers a one time free series of the Day by Day lessons. Those start at absolute beginner and move right up to the subjunctive etc. Give those a search and a try. I too am complimented on my Spanish, most recently by bilingual nurses at the doctor. I can recall when I started how shy and nervous I was to speak. Stick with it and perhaps it will become a joy. ¡ Espero que sí! Buena suerte a todos. Saludos, Rich

I second Rich's recommendation for "Destinos." My habit is to study Rocket Spanish early every morning when my brain is as fresh as it will be, then I try to watch an episode of Destinos most afternoons or early evening. I think of Destinos as more of a passive learning strategy. When I am studying an RS lesson, I am paying very close attention, studying very hard, going back over things several times, looking up words or phrases to get a context, and trying to understand every word. On the other hand, when I am watching an episode of Destinos I tend to let the conversation flow over me, catching the words that I understand, and letting those that I don't pass me by. Since we are patting ourselves on the back, I will say that just today the tutor that I meet with one hour a week (una peruana), complimented me on how much my pronunciation has improved since we started a month or so ago. I noticed that she did not compliment my grammar, but that is coming along too, if more slowly! ¡Tenga buen fin de semana!

Thanks everyone! I hope your advice will help. I know someone I work with whose first language is Spanish, and maybe she can help. I will also try to find Desinos. Is it on youtube? Thanks again! You are all awesome!!!

Katherine: you are very fortunate to have a workmate whose first language is Spanish. Become her new best friend! It seems that Spanish speakers are delighted when a "gringa" is trying to learn their language, and they will usually bend over backward to help you. Destinos, as far as I know, is not on You Tube. Here is the link to the site: http://learner.org/series/destinos/

Thank you, Dan! I'll get right on it!

Katherine: De nada. Buen suerte!

You may or may not have noticed this- When you learn a language, especially Spanish or Latin, you can read tons of stuff... even things in other languages! It feels amazing. All of a sudden I can understand French, because their words are close to those in Spanish and English. You can also understand the origins of English words better when you know some Latin or Greek.

I have also noticed that other languages descended from Latin are more understandable now that I have learned some Spanish. Except French, at least not for me. The French learners here will probably take issue with me, but I can't help it. Every time I look at something written in French, I cannot believe that it is related to Spanish. Whereas Spanish is very phonetic (why is that word not spelled fonetically) French seems to delight in putting a bunch of extra letters in words, then not using them.

Yeah, that's the hard thing about French... but if you can get past all those weird letters, and if you hear it a lot, it gets easier. They are annoying, though.