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’Must have languages’ for polyglots? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| sprachefin Triglot Senior Member Germany Joined 5688 days ago 300 posts - 317 votes  Speaks: German*, English, Spanish Studies: French, Turkish, Mandarin, Bulgarian, Persian, Dutch | Message 113 of 149 03 April 2009 at 12:00am | IP Logged | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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I think that the most important language that is necessary for a polyglot to learn is the one that he/she is
interested in. The must also have a reason if not just interest. Knowing a major world language is nice, but it is not enough to call yourself a polyglot. A TRUE polyglot goes out of their way to learn a language that drives them to from interest, 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| monkeykoder Newbie United States Joined 5667 days ago 10 posts - 10 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese | Message 114 of 149 03 April 2009 at 8:07am | IP Logged | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The answer to the original question is trivial.
English: Hey Americans are the best people in the world and everyone should have to learn our language we don't need to learn theirs. Japanese: Because who doesn't get tired of waiting for fan-subs or dubs of your favorite anime. </sarcasm> 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Suriya Tetraglot Newbie Thailand Joined 5732 days ago 34 posts - 38 votes Speaks: Thai*, Laotian, English, Japanese Studies: Spanish, French, Welsh | Message 115 of 149 03 April 2009 at 11:16am | IP Logged | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Juan M. Senior Member Colombia Joined 5841 days ago 460 posts - 597 votes | Message 116 of 149 03 April 2009 at 6:42pm | IP Logged | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
If it only were that easy. Out of the sixty or so channels my cable company provides, some fifty feature American programming, about five are Latin American, and I'm lucky to get five European ones. There is no alternative to this. No company offers anything other than a deluge of American programs, with only a smattering of more interesting offerings. If I want the five or six European channels I use for language learning, I *must* pay for the other stuff which doesn't interest me in the least. Escaping the influence of American culture is not always easy. 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| jbbar Senior Member Belgium Joined 5742 days ago 192 posts - 210 votes Speaks: English | Message 117 of 149 03 April 2009 at 7:40pm | IP Logged | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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And what the heck does this have to do with ANYTHING here at all?
Thanks so much you "Asiacentrists" for hijacking this otherwise most interesting thread. I agree with Portunhol on that silly anti-Americanism. And regardless of whether he agrees with my points or not, I thank him for pointing out that my usage of the term "global" is correct English indeed. Now if we could all return to the original topic, please? Those who wish to prove their point that there are no must-have languages, that English somehow isn't a global language or that Asia is to be the measure of all things, including for the importance of languages - are kindly asked to create their own thread. Thank you all very much. jbbar Edited by jbbar on 03 April 2009 at 7:41pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| portunhol Triglot Senior Member United States thelinguistblogger.w Joined 6194 days ago 198 posts - 299 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: German, Arabic (classical) | Message 118 of 149 03 April 2009 at 8:09pm | IP Logged | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
How is that not easy? All you have to do is change the channel! You don't even have to get up out of your chair. That's all it takes to shut down "American Imperialism" in your home. Is your complaint that you don't have enough variety on TV in your country? That's between you and your cable provider. Stop blaming me and the rest of America for a service that a company in your own country provides you. That's all I'm saying people. My country is not blameless, I'm well aware of that, but I'm sick and tired of getting blamed for things that have nothing to do with me and only very little to do with my country. I apologize for participating in a discussion that is so off topic but if you were Thai or Colombian, wouldn't you resent being blamed for all the world's drug problems; if you were British, wouldn't you resent being blamed for the racial problems in the USA, Australia and South Africa? What does any of that have to do with you and your language? I would feel guilty if I didn't comment about something that actually has to do with this thread. I think that English is a "must have language" for all serious polyglots these days not because English is better or worse than any other language but because it is currently the most widely spread language. If we were having this discussion three hundred years ago, I would say the same thing about French. I also feel strongly that polyglots should learn at least one language that has nothing to do with their own native language and that comes from a very different culture. For me, that language is Arabic, which I hope to start studying once I've got a good handle on German. Edited by portunhol on 04 April 2009 at 3:46am 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| jimbo baby! Senior Member United States Joined 5919 days ago 202 posts - 208 votes 2 sounds Speaks: English* | Message 119 of 149 03 April 2009 at 9:25pm | IP Logged | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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It wouldn't make much sense to be a polyglot in a bunch of obscure or dead languages. If you have personal reasons for wanting to know those languages, like you want to get to know about a particular culture and its history, then maybe it would be worth it. I would like to know languages that I can use actively with people of different cultures and nationalities. I would also like to travel and be able to speak to people in their language. That is what a "must have" language means to me.
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| Raчraч Ŋuɲa Triglot Senior Member New Zealand Joined 5760 days ago 154 posts - 233 votes Speaks: Bikol languages*, Tagalog, EnglishC1 Studies: Spanish, Russian, Japanese | Message 120 of 149 04 April 2009 at 3:23am | IP Logged | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
I might have started the mudslinging in this forum due to a misunderstood word usage but I already retracted that. I APOLOGIZE to whoever is offended.
I don't have to be Iraqi or Afghan to feel oppressed. I can be Palestinian. I can be a symphatizer. And its doesn't have to be military occupation. Historical wrongs sometimes are hard to forget.
Really? Why has USA blocked UN moves to end the death penalty? Why USA haven't joined the Kyoto Protocol? Why had USA blocked UN Security Council action in Gaza, or UN resolution critical of Israel? Why is USA refusing to give up USD as the reserve currency? Tell me what I can do as an individual so USA will REALLY change and the world will be a better place.
Totally muddled and confused. Its not the American culture that I resent. But if there is something I don't like in it, I supplant it with something from another culture. That is what my foreign language learning is for. And travels.
If we stick to what I have said, then you won't feel so offended. That "America is on its way out" is probably premature but that is not what I said. I said that USA is "in decline" and that is not premature and is happening in front of our very eyes. USA used to be a model country with respect to human rights. It used to own a large share of the world market. It is not now. I would assume you know why. Besides, its all over the internet (an example and another), so how come I become "tactless"? This reminds me of saying "the emperor has no clothes..." LOL. We are in a forum and not in a dinner, are we? If its the manner how I said things, I would love to hear it. I admire and respect American culture. Its a huge achievement. But it is being surpassed in certain areas..... It's natural. Which ever is the last in line has better achievements. The next one builds on top of the other.
Its true, many words are polysemous. But words don't exist alone, its the context which tells which meaning applies. Take your example "universal". In the phrase "Newton's law of universal gravitation", the applicability of universal is different than in the sentence "rap enjoys universal appeal among teenage boys". In the same way, global is different in "global language" and "global war on terror". Unlike language which is present where ever there are people, war on terror is not and need not be. Its not asinine, its critical thinking.
Its putting the cart before the horse. Just study whatever language interests you or you needed. From there flows the statistics of which language is mostly studied. There are no "should" be widely studied, Asian or European, languages. So I don't have the thinking that European languages shouldn't be so widely studied. Or even the thinking that Asian languages should be so widely studied.
Solution? Which problem?
I agree, since I am not "attacking" which language or culture as not important for a polyglot. Rather, I am arguing if there really is a global language and the motivations of people who think there is.
I can emphatize with you on that one. In the same way that all Middle Eastern looking people feel sick and tired for being typecasts as terrorists after 9/11. But it's a human constant to put a face/individual to represent something. By the way, I don't blame you. I'm nicer now. Edited by Raчraч Ŋuɲa on 04 April 2009 at 3:59am 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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