Tally Bilingual Diglot Senior Member Israel Joined 5608 days ago 135 posts - 176 votes Speaks: English*, Modern Hebrew* Studies: French
| Message 1 of 15 14 April 2010 at 9:33pm | IP Logged |
I was wondering if love of languages usually comes with love of traveling and seeing the world.
I know that for me it does. Ever since I can remember myself, I dreamed of traveling and speaking foreign languages. I used to sit with an atlas at my nose and just stare at it for hours! I always felt that I wanted to live everywhere and I got depressed because there were too many places and too little time.
Anyway, what I’m asking is, do these two things go together or can love of languages come alone?
I'm not saying one can't just love languages, but usually people who are interested in foreign languages are interested in foreign lands too right? What do you think?
Edited by Tally on 14 April 2010 at 9:35pm
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Smart Tetraglot Senior Member United States Joined 5339 days ago 352 posts - 398 votes Speaks: Spanish, English*, Latin, French Studies: German
| Message 2 of 15 14 April 2010 at 9:45pm | IP Logged |
Certainly. This has always been the case :)
For me, my interest in languages like French and German will definitely force me to go all over both countries (France & Germany) as well as Austria.
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ManicGenius Senior Member United States Joined 5481 days ago 288 posts - 420 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Esperanto, French, Japanese
| Message 3 of 15 14 April 2010 at 9:57pm | IP Logged |
I know I am. I don't really study a language for economic reasons.
Usually its a number of other reasons: like the food, like the people, etc.
Number one is usually a goal to eventually visit the countries that speak the language.
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OlafP Triglot Senior Member Germany Joined 5435 days ago 261 posts - 667 votes Speaks: German*, French, English
| Message 4 of 15 14 April 2010 at 9:58pm | IP Logged |
I'm not at all interested in usual touristic travels with sightseeing tours
and so on. The reason why I learn languages is that they force me to think
in different ways and therefore to look at things from different
perspectives. The most important things to me are whether I like the sound
of the language and whether I'm interested in its literature. One of these
criteria would be reason enough, if both conditions are fulfilled it is
ideal.
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vikramkr Diglot Senior Member United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6069 days ago 248 posts - 326 votes Speaks: English*, Portuguese
| Message 5 of 15 14 April 2010 at 10:04pm | IP Logged |
I learn languages because I'm deeply interested in culture and travel.
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Tally Bilingual Diglot Senior Member Israel Joined 5608 days ago 135 posts - 176 votes Speaks: English*, Modern Hebrew* Studies: French
| Message 6 of 15 14 April 2010 at 10:05pm | IP Logged |
OlafP wrote:
I'm not at all interested in usual touristic travels with sightseeing tours
and so on. The reason why I learn languages is that they force me to think
in different ways and therefore to look at things from different
perspectives. The most important things to me are whether I like the sound
of the language and whether I'm interested in its literature. One of these
criteria would be reason enough, if both conditions are fulfilled it is
ideal.
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Well i agree with you about the usual touristic tours, that's not what i'm interested in, and not why i like languages.
What I meant really is more of a fascination with different cultures, which naturally leads to a love of traveling.
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Saif Bilingual Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 5612 days ago 122 posts - 208 votes Speaks: English*, Arabic (Levantine)*, French
| Message 7 of 15 14 April 2010 at 10:07pm | IP Logged |
Quote:
I was wondering if love of languages usually comes with love of traveling and
seeing the world. |
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I think so. I'm interested in languages mainly for cultural reasons. I'd like to visit
the countries of my target languages and interact with native speakers. The prospect of
travel is a significant factor for many language learners. =)
Edited by Saif on 14 April 2010 at 10:10pm
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canada38 Tetraglot Senior Member Canada Joined 5495 days ago 304 posts - 417 votes Speaks: English*, Italian, Spanish, French Studies: Portuguese, Japanese
| Message 8 of 15 14 April 2010 at 10:55pm | IP Logged |
It's definitely the reason I study languages. I am only really interested in learning
the Romance languages, and not others, because Southern Europe fascinates me. Catalan,
and to a lesser extent Italian, are almost exclusively useful for me only for
travelling, or perhaps immigrating to an area where one is spoken. I'm not much of a
reader either; reading the great literary works of the world doesn't interest me very
much, except perhaps as study material.
On the other hand, even though I'm learning Spanish for the same reason, an added
benefit is that it is potentially useful for me economically. Similarly, I want to
learn German, but I have no interest in German or associated culture. I only want to
learn it for career related reasons.
Edited by canada38 on 14 April 2010 at 10:58pm
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