Mar 11 2013: If You want to learn something more about this concept, as well as other fascinating topics which connect with the processes of learning and teaching the language, I recommend the book 'Principles of Language Learning and Teaching' by H.Brown. It describes all the processes which take place in our brains during the learning processes. It also shows how complicated and advanced our brains are.
Mar 8 2013: Languages are very important to me. I think that this is the area with which I'm planning my future career. My mother tongue is Polish, but English can be treated as my second language as I'm studying it at MA university level. In the past I've learnt many languages such as German, French, Latin and Norwegian and despite the fact that I have only the so-called 'working knowledge' in case of majority of them (for instance, I was forced to learn German at high school), I can see from the time perspective that they have influenced on my perception of the world. During my BA studies one of my lecturers familiarised me with the concept of a 'second language identity'. In those days it was quite revolutionary for me but it influneced on the way in which I'm studying the language. The idea of thinking in the other language than your native seems to be a tough challange, however, it results in something more than just being a fluent speaker. It causes that you're starting to perceive the world from the different perspective than it is in case of your mother tongue. The creation of a second language identity is not easy. I do not claim that I perceive the world in exactly the same way as an Englishman or Scot or whoever. But the gradual submergence in the foreign language, for example, through its literature, culture history etc. helps, in my opinion, in the learning process. Obviously, such a process is time-consuming and I'm aware of the fact that many people learn other languages for purely useful purposes and simply do not have time to submerge in nuances. Personally, I cannot imagine other way of learning a second leanguage than through the second identity process. Thus, I think I will not learn many foreign languages, although I would like to, because of this time-consuming factor.
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A reply on Conversation: How many languages is it possible to know?
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