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Would you learn a language only for Love? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| zerothinking Senior Member Australia Joined 6372 days ago 528 posts - 772 votes  Speaks: English* | Message 33 of 59 31 October 2011 at 9:55pm | IP Logged | |||||
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If some gorgeous foreign girl fell madly infatuated with me and she spoke another
language and perhaps not very good English, it'd probably be the greatest intrinsic motivation to learn it. My command of the language would no doubt quickly surpass all other languages I've studied. Then we'd make beautiful bilingual children. lol Nerdy weirdos like me might fantasize about such ridiculous scenarios. Edited by zerothinking on 31 October 2011 at 9:56pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Lugubert Heptaglot Senior Member Sweden Joined 6867 days ago 186 posts - 235 votes Speaks: Swedish*, Danish, Norwegian, EnglishC2, German, Dutch, French Studies: Mandarin, Hindi | Message 34 of 59 07 November 2011 at 5:50pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I haven't yet put the question to the test, but, as a language nerd with a nice percentage on the test, I have taken up languages on way flimsier reasons/excuses than love.
Right now, I'm tempted to learn Welsh. No, my SO doesn't speak it either, despite having had parents with Welsh as 1st language, but I partly live with her in Wales. She learned Swedish (my mother tongue) partly via her dual profession, translator and educator, partly through love, years ago.
Well said, dear colleague. But don't discount the drive from the intellectual challenge to learn as many (major) languages as possible, with or without the added incentive to be able to communicate with as many people as possible in their own languages.
My inveterate father, the sea-captain, used the phrase "sleeping dictionary". Edited by Lugubert on 07 November 2011 at 5:52pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Leipzig Hexaglot Newbie Wales Joined 4803 days ago 22 posts - 33 votes Speaks: English*, FrenchC2, Lowland Scots, SpanishC2, Portuguese, Catalan Studies: Welsh, Tok Pisin, German, Italian | Message 35 of 59 07 November 2011 at 10:01pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I have learnt a language out of love, and would certainly do it again. It doesn't take
much to make me want to learn a language, and indeed one of my biggest problems with language learning is having the impossible desire at the back of my head to learn every language, and now already. If the mere sound of a language, or an interest in its associated culture(s), or merely a whim can inspire me to learn a language, can you imagine what a motivation falling in love with someone whose mother tongue is different to my own? I recall what Mandela said, about how talking in a language someone understands goes to their head; talking in their language goes to their heart. In my view of the world, I feel like I never truly know the full extent of a loved one's soul without knowing the language intrinsic to them. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| exit Hexaglot Newbie Slovakia stranka.ostrope.sk Joined 4864 days ago 3 posts - 3 votes Speaks: Slovak*, English, Romanian, Polish, Russian, Bulgarian Studies: Turkish | Message 36 of 59 08 November 2011 at 6:54pm | IP Logged | |||||
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From my own "love" experience (on-going), I can only say this: yes, I would. I didn´t start to learn it out of love though - I came to study in Romania and I started to learn Romanian immediately, because I wanted to communicate with people properly. And, also out of curiosity. A bit later I met my boyfriend and of course, it became even more important to learn the language.
Paradox: Even though I understand Romanian perfectly and I have no problem to use it anymore, now me and my boyfriend speak only English together. We realized that we both find it unnatural since when we met we spoke both English and got used to it. When we switch languages, it seems like we turn into different people. We even speak different way, in different tone and style, different phraseology. :) 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Wylen Newbie United Kingdom yourlearningmentor.b Joined 4846 days ago 5 posts - 5 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German | Message 37 of 59 12 November 2011 at 10:00pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Yes, I suppose I am kind of doing that at the moment. I say kind of, because I am more doing it for myself than
her. She speaks English like native and so I've no need to learn German to communicate with her. However, I find it really frustrating when I'm with her and her friends and they all speak German and I understand nothing. It feels pointless that I am even there! Also, her family don't speak much English and find it a lot of effort, so they encourage me to speak German (which is only fair). I think she appreciates the effort, but I think she's skeptical as to whether I will ever have any meaningful grasp of the language - I know I'm a long way off being able to understand and join in with conversations between friends and family - I'm probably only just approaching A2 level at the moment. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| tpark Tetraglot Pro Member Canada Joined 7046 days ago 118 posts - 127 votes Speaks: English*, German, Dutch, French Personal Language Map | Message 38 of 59 13 November 2011 at 3:10am | IP Logged | |||||
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I can relate to wanting to understand what is being said - my wife speaks Dutch as her first language but speaks and writes English at a native level. When I was in the Netherlands for the first time, everyone made an attempt to speak English around me, but every so often I heard blah blah blah Ted blah blah blah, so naturally I was somewhat inclined to learn the language.
When we speak, it's mostly English except that when there are people who speak Dutch only, we speak Dutch. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| LebensForm Senior Member Austria Joined 5050 days ago 212 posts - 264 votes Studies: German | Message 39 of 59 13 November 2011 at 7:20am | IP Logged | |||||
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Ya,I am learning German, not just for him but for me and my own personal reasons. But sharing the language with someone really helps. He is a native speaker and well me-not so much lol. But he helps me which only helps our relationship. Love certainly wasn't the main factor but more like a bonus for learning German, and honestly I do find German to be rather romantic, even him saying "ich liebe dich" sounds sweet ;)
1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| stout Senior Member Ireland Joined 5371 days ago 108 posts - 140 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French | Message 40 of 59 16 November 2011 at 4:39pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Yes I am learning French because I like the sound of the French language very much.
1 person has voted this message useful |
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