What's the biggest language learning obstacle for you?

Although the first few hours of conversation are perhaps the most painful/intense part of learning languages for me, this is over in only a few hours. Listening, on the other hand, takes hundreds if not thousands of hours to reach the point that I'm comfortably able to watch TV, for example. What's the biggest obstacle to you?

For me, it's pronunciation. There are several words that i recognize in french and Spanish. When you say them, i know what you mean, pronouncing them is a whole other thing for me. I'm still struggling with that but I'm swimming right outta that zone as i type 

I voted "listening", with the second being "making time". In my defense, I generally just suck at listening in all languages. Making time is tricky. I think unless I intentionally prioritize it, I have a tendency to forget about it, and before I know it, the day is over, and the day turns into a week. Maybe someone can invent a device that delivers mild electric shocks if you don't do your language lessons on a daily basis?

I choose pronunciation, next is grammar. I know its difficult and awkward to really say the words with the correct pronunciation. When I use Duolingo and pronounce the spanish words, my tongue seems to twist and more air seems to come out of my mouth. Haha! 

I am also struggling now with spanish grammar because of the irregularities of the words. Comprehending spanish grammar rules just won't go easy on me or perhaps I'm just not so focus on understanding it. 

Not being able to express myself in a real conversation with the natives. After all years of German language learning I still feel lost and embarassed at times when I can't find the right words to say what I have on my mind.

I voted for being. I find listening and pronouncing the words of a foreign language really helpful, but I get stuck once I start getting conscious of the proper grammar. Like, if I don't find any resources where I can learn the correct grammar, it's preventing me from making progress or worst, to even continue studying the language.

Rai.S. wrote:

I voted for being.

being = grammar?

Oh my. Sorry for the typo. Right. Grammar is the biggest obstacle for me.

Rai.S. wrote:

I voted for being. I find listening and pronouncing the words of a foreign language really helpful, but I get stuck once I start getting conscious of the proper grammar. Like, if I don't find any resources where I can learn the correct grammar, it's preventing me from making progress or worst, to even continue studying the language.

Personally, I tend to be quite a self-conscious person as well. However, I also believe that in conversation, sometimes, it's better to just be brave, and say whatever you can, best as you can, to communicate. 

I was watching this video about the languages of Singapore, and one thing that struck me on the Malay section - nobody speaks like that. I learned formal Indonesian in school, and when I was in Indonesia, and spoke the way it appeared in the video, people laughed at me. I sounded like an idiot by focusing too much on being accurate; simply responding in short sentences would have been more natural. 

meifeng wrote:

I was watching this video about the languages of Singapore, and one thing that struck me on the Malay section - nobody speaks like that. I learned formal Indonesian in school, and when I was in Indonesia, and spoke the way it appeared in the video, people laughed at me. I sounded like an idiot by focusing too much on being accurate; simply responding in short sentences would have been more natural.

Good point there, meifeng. I guess that's how it is for any language. It's that when we are being too bookish or being too formal, natives would think we're from the olden times. Well, I have to admit, I'm a really self-conscious person just like you.

I chose conversation but motivation is on my top list of obstacles as well. I find it difficult to even motivate myself to study a language every day and to learn enough where I can converse. 

TaylorFabio wrote:

I chose conversation but motivation is on my top list of obstacles as well. I find it difficult to even motivate myself to study a language every day and to learn enough where I can converse.

Would it help if you try and remember why you wanted to learn the language? 

I'm interested in learning French but I haven't really started studying yet (other than learning basic greetings and numbers) because I find reading and pronunciation very challenging. Those are my biggest obstacles.

Rose.Angelie wrote:

I'm interested in learning French but I haven't really started studying yet (other than learning basic greetings and numbers) because I find reading and pronunciation very challenging. Those are my biggest obstacles.

Pronunciation can be difficult when learning a new language. Just keep trying! Maybe there is a way to listen to the language. That might help. 

Rose.Angelie wrote:

I'm interested in learning French but I haven't really started studying yet (other than learning basic greetings and numbers) because I find reading and pronunciation very challenging. Those are my biggest obstacles.

From one french learner to another, keep at it, it gets better. You can pick fun words for starters, words you have interest in and then progress from there. Even if it means just speaking the words out loud. You'll find yourself gradually becoming comfortable.

For me: Making time. But secondarily I would say it greatly depends on the language.

Cantonese: 1) The Spoken Language and the Written Language are very different 2) Finding Content 3) Tones (both hearing them and producing them)

Italian: 1) maybe the Grammar? ... for me, after learning Cantonese for a while, Italian doesn't feel like it has many obstacles. It is just a matter of time on task. :-)