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What would you recommend? | ||
Tags: Choosing a Language | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Advice Center |  | |
| YnEoS Senior Member United States Joined 4253 days ago 472 posts - 893 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: German, Russian, Cantonese, Japanese, French, Hungarian, Czech, Swedish, Mandarin, Italian, Spanish | Message 9 of 15 25 April 2014 at 4:12am | IP Logged | ||
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Middle English, because they could dive straight into native materials and would be less likely to waste their time if they give it up.
Or coincidentally from your language profile, Sign Language so they could communicate silently and from a distance in situations where that's more convenient. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| pesahson Diglot Senior Member Poland Joined 5727 days ago 448 posts - 840 votes Speaks: Polish*, English Studies: French, Portuguese, Norwegian | Message 10 of 15 25 April 2014 at 9:54am | IP Logged | ||
It's good you asked. What do you imagine yourself doing with that language? Daydream for a bit. Do you see yourself visiting a foreign country and using it there? If yes, then think about your favorite holiday destination. Or maybe you want to move someplace else? Where would that be? Do you see you yourself reading books in that language, watching TV? In which language you would like to do that? Would you like to work/conduct business in a foreign language? Maybe where you work there are some business opportunities with foreign countries and speaking a language would be an asset? Is there a language you find appealing just from an aesthetic point of view? Any of those reasons could be enough to get you started. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| beano Diglot Senior Member United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4621 days ago 1049 posts - 2152 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Russian, Serbian, Hungarian | Message 11 of 15 25 April 2014 at 3:42pm | IP Logged | ||
Miraculously, most of these people diagnose themselves as being "bad at languages" I learn German because my wife's family are in Germany and I enjoy using the language in real life. French just doesn't appeal to me, but Hungarian does, because I just like the idea of this little landlocked country speaking a language that is totally unique and a law unto itself. So just go for a language that suits your practical needs or simply jumps out at you. Now, which musical instrument should a learn? Guitar? Nope, tried that five times already and gave up because I have "no talent" Edited by beano on 25 April 2014 at 3:43pm 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| AlexTG Diglot Senior Member Australia Joined 4637 days ago 178 posts - 354 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: Latin, German, Spanish, Japanese | Message 12 of 15 26 April 2014 at 10:28am | IP Logged | ||
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I like the Middle English suggestion. Alot of these people are interested in learning another language for the
new experience. I remember how curious I was in high school, thinking how all the thoughts I'd ever had were in English. Thinking in a new language seemed as amazing as seeing a new colour. Middle English is low hanging fruit in this regard, they get the experience without the large time input. French, Spanish or Dutch would be the natural suggestions as lowest of the high hanging fruits. Easy enough to find a passion for the individual cultures once you start learning, no need to wait for a spark. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| rdearman Senior Member United Kingdom rdearman.orgRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5235 days ago 881 posts - 1812 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Italian, French, Mandarin | Message 13 of 15 26 April 2014 at 11:34am | IP Logged | ||
I really had a hard time not responding to this question with "Klingon" when it was first posted. But looking at the comment above about low hanging fruit then perhaps an artificial language wouldn't be a bad suggestion. Esperanto has a much cleaner and simpler grammar, and after that you only have to learn vocabulary. Klingon (I'm told) is more difficult than Esperanto, but there are a lot of artificial languages to choose from. The list of constructed languages is quite large. This would avoid the "time-sink" problem for people who just want to dabble in a language without spending significant amounts of time at it. Plus for trekies Klingon has a coolness factor. :) I haven't personally encountered anyone who has asked what language to learn, some have asked me if they should learn X or Y language, but I believe most people already know the language they want to learn. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| rdearman Senior Member United Kingdom rdearman.orgRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5235 days ago 881 posts - 1812 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Italian, French, Mandarin | Message 14 of 15 26 April 2014 at 11:47am | IP Logged | ||
I had a hard time not suggesting Klingon when this question was first posted, but after reading the comment above perhaps that wouldn't be such a bad suggestion. COnstructed languages like Esperanto have a simplified grammar and wouldn't require as much investment in time. Of course vocabulary is still an issue. A constructed language wouldn't be as much of a time sink for people that just want to dabble in languages. Personally I've never had anyone ask which language they should learn, but rather should I learn X or Y language. I believe most people already know which language they want to learn, they just want a push. :) 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6596 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 15 of 15 26 April 2014 at 4:11pm | IP Logged | ||
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But many don't love any language enough, and many others love only one language and fail when they want to "learn one more language".
1 person has voted this message useful |
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