Is there a difference between losing weight and learning German?

Is there a difference between losing weight and learning German?

This question came to my mind this morning while I cleaned out the chicken house ( Don’t ask why THIS question, no idea!). So I decided to compare those two –

Losing weight:
Imagine, you decide to lose some weight because you either just feel you’d like to lose a few pounds or because your doctor told you that you must lose some weight because of health reasons.

The first thing you may do is go on a strict diet plan.  You lose a lot of weight but then you get back to eating all that unhealthy food.  

You may start eating healthily and gradually you lose the weight and feel better. There are setbacks when you feel the urge to eat junk food and you put on weight again and you feel you failed and give up! You obviously weren’t meant to be slim!!!

You may start eating healthily, you do have some setbacks but you always get back on track and eventually you get to your ideal weight. You then feel like celebrating!

Afterwards there are two choices, you either go back to eating as before and gradually all your hard work disappears, or you continue eating healthily. A well-rounded diet boosts satiety, helps in reducing calorie intake, and regulates blood sugar levels. Eating healthy foods such as whole grains and fiber-rich foods slow the absorption of carbohydrates, preventing overeating, and reducing the risk of insulin resistance.

Now learning German:
You decide you want to learn some German, either because you have German friends or just like the language, or you need to be able to speak German for work.

You may get one of these ‘Learn a language in 24hrs’ CDs (I am exaggerating). You learn a lot of words and phrases really quickly, but that’s only enough to get by as a tourist, so you give up and forget about everything you’ve learned.

You may start to go to classes and gradually you begin to understand and speak German. But sometimes there are more important things to do, so you don’t go to the classes. You miss one lesson, then two, then three and after a while you don’t dare to return to the lessons. You then give up completely. You just don’t have a flair for languages!

Or you may start going to classes and gradually begin to understand and speak German. There are occasions when you can’t make it, but you try and catch up each time. There are setbacks when you feel like giving up, but gradually you feel more and more confident until one day you reach the level you wanted to achieve. You feel like celebrating (with a glass of German beer or wine, of course!)!

Afterwards there are two choices, you either think you now know how to speak German and put all your books in the attic, or you continue speaking German, or read things in magazines or on the internet – and feel good!

Not much difference – what do you think?

4 thoughts on “Is there a difference between losing weight and learning German?”

  1. You are absolutely right! To maintain our accomplishment—whether getting slim or learning a new language—we have to keep practicing the skills that helped us do it.

    Reply
  2. Great lateral thinking, Angelika… 

    And I guess you could apply it to most anything you wanted to achieve that you know will take some kind of sustained effort, and you believe is important enough to you to go for it. Nice one! 🙂 

    Sorry, could only find an old photo! 🙂

    Reply

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