The last language you would want to learn (General discussion) Language Learning Forum

The last language you would want to learn
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346 messages over 44 pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 ... 4 ... 43 44 Next >>

reltuk
Groupie
United States
Joined 6817 days ago
75 posts - 110 votes

Speaks: English*
Studies: Spanish, French

Message 25 of 346

07 July 2007 at 4:34pm | IP Logged

SamD wrote:

I can think of a few characteristics that would apply to
that language.

1. Dead language

2. Language that had very few speakers when it was alive.

3. Language that had no written form, so there is no literature to read in
that language.

I'm sure that there have been quite a few such languages in existence.

Probably most of them! ;) Of course, we pretty much have no way of
learning such languages anyway. If you did have the opportunity though,
I actually think it might be worth it, depending on the nature of the
language involved. It's entirely possible that it would exhibit unique and
fascinating grammatical features that no one has ever seen in language
before. Then you could become famous writing research papers
debunking Chomsky's universal grammar ;).

-- reltuk
1 person has voted this message useful

Chung
Diglot
Senior Member
Joined 7157 days ago
4228 posts - 8259 votes

20 sounds
Speaks: English*, French
Studies: Polish, Slovak, Uzbek, Turkish, Korean, Finnish

Message 26 of 346

07 July 2007 at 5:30pm | IP Logged

reltuk wrote:

While we're in the process of telling people not to get offended when
their language is listed in this thread, let's keep two things in mind:

1) Many people, in many cases rightfully, consider their cultural identify
closely linked to their linguistic identity.

This link doesn't apply very well to me personally as I'm a descendant of immigrants, don't speak the language of my ancestors, and feel as part of the widespread culture of "Western civilization" which doesn't really have a specific linguistic dimension.

reltuk wrote:

2) The following two things are very different:
1) an individual not trying to learn a particular language
2) an individual specifically saying that learning a particular language
actively repulses them and that they would prefer to never do it, under
any conditions.

I realize that the prompt of the thread is "What's the last language you
would want to learn", and so the responses to the prompt are slightly less
derogatory than the statement in #2.2. Still, a response to this thread is,
in many cases, a strong statement of the rejection of a very significant
part of a particular culture.

With that being said, it's also important to realize the highly personal
nature of the responses, and to approach them for what they are: a
preference being stated, as opposed to a normative statement regarding
the worth of the mentioned language or resulting culture.

At the end of the day, the languages that we choose to study are a result
of a complex number of factors, many of them conditioned by our own
cultures, experiences and opportunities. Most of the reasons given for
languages being listed in this thread are highly personal preferences or
the result of the prior linguistic conditions of the poster, such as not
liking the sound of a language or thinking the grammar would be too
hard. Given that highly personal nature, it would be wrong, at least in
most cases in this thread, to perceive the responses as indicating any
kind of value judgement on the mentioned language or the related
culture.

Amen
3 persons have voted this message useful

awake
Senior Member
United States
Joined 6637 days ago
406 posts - 438 votes

Speaks: English*
Studies: Esperanto, Spanish

Message 27 of 346

07 July 2007 at 5:55pm | IP Logged

Just FYI, for many of us who speak/use Esperanto, the word artificial is
considered somewhat pejorative, and it is also inaccurate. The preferred
word is "planned".

:)

furyou_gaijin wrote:

Anything artificial like Esperanto.

3 persons have voted this message useful

Hencke
Tetraglot
Moderator
Spain
Joined 6895 days ago
2340 posts - 2444 votes

Speaks: Swedish*, Finnish, English^C2, Spanish
Studies: Mandarin
Personal Language Map

Message 28 of 346

07 July 2007 at 7:43pm | IP Logged

Cage wrote:

There has been much discussion about what languages that we would most like to learn. How about what language would one least want to learn and why?

It goes to show. Just a few years back I might easily have listed Mandarin as one of the languages I'd be least likely to ever consider tackling. Yet here I am, doing just that, and with fanatical relish too. I think I'd better just pass on this question ;o).
2 persons have voted this message useful

Cage
Diglot
aka a.ardaschira, Athena, Michael Thomas
Senior Member
United States
Joined 6625 days ago
382 posts - 393 votes

Speaks: English*, Spanish
Studies: French, Portuguese

Message 29 of 346

07 July 2007 at 8:06pm | IP Logged

Hencke, I have been flirting with Mandarin myself after having gotten interested in the culture while learning Tai Chi and there was a time I would have thought never because of the tones and they are not all that bad. Great post reltuk...thought provoking.
1 person has voted this message useful

leosmith
Senior Member
United States
Joined 6551 days ago
2365 posts - 3804 votes

Speaks: English*
Studies: Tagalog

Message 30 of 346

07 July 2007 at 10:12pm | IP Logged

This is a hard question. I finally settled on Klingon, but I have to admit that even it appeals to me a little.

Then again, maybe one of those unique rainforest languages with the clicking and the whistling and you have to live with no phone, no lights no motor cars, not a single luxury, like Robinson Crusoe, as primative as can be!

Gee, I hope I didn't offend anybody.
4 persons have voted this message useful

Volte
Tetraglot
Senior Member
Switzerland
Joined 6440 days ago
4474 posts - 6726 votes

Speaks: English*, Esperanto, German, Italian
Studies: French, Finnish, Mandarin, Japanese

Message 31 of 346

07 July 2007 at 10:35pm | IP Logged

leosmith wrote:

Qo'. It's clearly all about the Pentiums for you. Still, it doesn't merit "Hab SoSlI' Quch!" as a reply.

1 person has voted this message useful

Aritaurus
Tetraglot
Senior Member
Canada
Joined 6575 days ago
197 posts - 204 votes

Speaks: Cantonese, English*, Japanese, Mandarin
Studies: Spanish

Message 32 of 346

08 July 2007 at 2:47am | IP Logged

That would be French. I've had the least success with this language dispite the fact that I have studied this in primary school, secondary school and university. I guess my language learning is more strong towards Asian languages.

I still find it strange how I know so much more Mandarin and Japanese without having to ever study the language in a classroom environment.

Edited by Aritaurus on 09 July 2007 at 12:23pm

1 person has voted this message useful

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