I remember the first time I took a language class was in 7th grade, and I lasted one year before giving up on French. I tried again with German and really didn't like it. Then came Spanish, and after three grueling semesters to meet the school boards language requirement I was done with that as well. Then I transferred into a boarding school where nobody was willing to speak English with me, and I was finally forced to learn a foreign language in a radically different way than I had previously experienced. My friends taught me curse words first, and basic knowledge came after, and by the end of the year I could surprise the average Chinese high school freshman with a simple request in Mandarin. I realized in college that languages were what I was truly interested in (failing out of econ helped me learn that) and I have done Chinese ever since. This is my first year that I am not taking a Chinese class, and so I replaced it with other languages instead. I think that what really clicked for me with Chinese is the immersion that I had at boarding school rather than than the fairly free and easy high school classes. I never really felt like I needed to learn french or spanish, but with chinese I was faced with true necessity. I'm lucky enough now to be friends with some native hebrew speakers that are willing to help with any questions or just practice, so I am excited to begin hebrew in earnest with the lessons I have learned from past languages, both failures and successes included.
My top scores in one of the surveys were linguistic and kinesthetic. The other survey said I was a mostly tactile learner, and I think those two results complement each other. I'm quite competitive and I learn best when there are real stakes and when I feel like failure/success will have a real impact on my life. I have always loved assignments that involved public speaking or answering questions in front of the class, but I am not sure how I would incorporate that style of learning into self directed study. Also, watching tv in a target language has always been effective for me, and I consider it lucky that Israeli tv is generally pretty high quality and interesting, and they also have a diverse music and art scene. Can't wait to get started!
Comments
I believe your experience of learning so many languages will help you learn a new language much more easily, so don't worry about your capability and believe in yourself! Also, I agree with the idea that watching tv in a target language helps a lot because recently I was watching a Japanese show and I unintentianally learnt lots of practical Japanese words from it. So I hope i can also find some good Turkish tv shows and learn something from it. Good luck with your journey of leanring Hebrew!