Interesting Quotes on Language Learning

"If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart."

‒Nelson Mandela

"One language sets you in a corridor for life. Two languages open every door along the way."

‒Frank Smith

"The limits of my language are the limits of my world."

‒Ludwig Wittgenstein

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"Learn everything you can, anytime you can, from anyone you can; there will always come a time when you will be grateful you did."

‒Sarah Caldwell

"Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere."

‒Chinese Proverb

"You can never understand one language until you understand at least two."

‒Geoffrey Willans

"To have another language is to possess a second soul."

‒Charlemagne

"Those who know nothing of foreign languages know nothing of their own."

‒Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

"Language is the road map of a culture. It tells you where its people come from and where they are going."

‒Rita Mae Brown

"Language is the blood of the soul into which thoughts run and out of which they grow."

‒Oliver Wendell Holmes

"Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends.” (Maya Angelou)

“ Pick a destination, go there, be open-minded and talk to the locals. Eat the things they eat and go where they go. You don’t need to be fluent, just as long as you’ve got a smile on your face- people will be jumping over themselves to show you the stuff they’re proud of.” Jamie Oliver

“They wound their way through a labyrinth of streets, partly following their noses, partly the orientation of the map. Jardines, Mirasol, Cruz, Puentezuelas, Capuchinas…

Each word held its magic. They were like brushstrokes painting the landscape of the city, each one helping to build up a picture of the whole” “The Return”, Victoria Hislop

…the only normal way to begin speaking in a new language is to begin speaking badly!! –Greg and Angela Thomson, Growing Participator Approach

Never make fun of someone who speaks broken English. It means they know another language. –H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

Learning languages is like learning history from the inside out. It encompasses the battles of ethnicity, religion, compromise, politics. So much can be learned from language because it’s been shaped by history. –David Webb, The Bourne Sanction, Eric van Lustbader

“Each language you learn is another set of opportunities.”

~Skylar Harrington

Speech Is the source of misunderstanding …. language that of mis-inerpretation.

“My language is my homeland” – Fernando Pessoa, Portuguese Poet.

Here is my reflection on language learning:
 

In fact, learning new languages is having the world in your hands. All the doors are open to those who are efficient in communication. You don’t have to be a perfectionist in grammar in order to communicate efficiently. In every language , there are shortcuts & key words that allow you to understand & make yourself understood in that language . You shouldn’t learn another language just so people can understand what YOU are saying to THEM. Enlightened language learners recognize the importance of understanding others speaking their own language.

By listening to someone who speaks his or her native language, we learn about our own language too. For example, to leave a door wide open versus to leave a door “great” open (the latter is a translation). Even various pronunciations of the same sentence can impart different meanings.

Learning a second  language really requires discipline and a lot of hardwork….but the quotes are refreshing like a cold cup of water in a middle of the extremely hot dessert! 

 

Nice quotes that keeps me focused on how to increase my proficiency and help my students learn English. 

Learning a new language is one easy way to open a new door. It’s so hard but interesting.