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Would you study a language.. | ||
Tags: Reasons for study | Usefulness | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| Delodephius Bilingual Tetraglot Senior Member Yugoslavia Joined 5403 days ago 342 posts - 501 votes  Speaks: Slovak*, Serbo-Croatian*, EnglishC1, Czech Studies: Russian, Japanese | Message 17 of 29 21 February 2010 at 10:55pm | IP Logged |
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I categorized my targeted languages. Some like Japanese which I'm learning now I doubt I'll use in the near future, so it is just for fun. Other like German I soon plan to learn for practical reasons, and Latin and Ancient Greek for professional reasons. Most languages I plan to learn are mostly for fun.
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| psy88 Senior Member United States Joined 5591 days ago 469 posts - 882 votes Studies: Spanish*, Japanese, Latin, French | Message 18 of 29 22 February 2010 at 3:18am | IP Logged |
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Yes. I have been studying Spanish and have many opportunities to chat with native speakers. I have now been inspired by this web site to add a second language. I have begun French. Will I go to Europe or Africa? No. Canada? Perhaps. Never say never, I guess.
So why learn? I have come to enjoy the challenge of learning for its own sake. I am interested in languages and I like the idea of being able to have the potential at least of communicating with others in their native tongue. I also have a curiosity and a fascination about how Latin (which I studied in high school) gave birth to the other Romance languages. PS I am not sure how to update my profile to show the addition of French. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Journeyer Triglot Senior Member United States tristan85.blogspot.c Joined 6868 days ago 946 posts - 1110 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, German Studies: Sign Language | Message 19 of 29 22 February 2010 at 4:48am | IP Logged |
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Yes, absolutely. Although I usually hold hopes of going to where the languages are spoken or somehow using them with native speakers, I learn them primarily because for me the thrill is in the actual learning itself. Therefore I can learn any language, alive or dead, nearby or isolated on some island somewhere, organic or constructed with zero guilt.
I usually try to explain this to people by saying "Why do people read books, or build models, or have other hobbies?" If I ever do feel stressed about what I learn, I point out already know English, German and Spanish, which are hardly abstract and "useless" languages. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Levi Pentaglot Senior Member United States Joined 5567 days ago 2268 posts - 3328 votes Speaks: English*, French, Esperanto, German, Spanish Studies: Russian, Dutch, Portuguese, Mandarin, Japanese, Italian | Message 20 of 29 22 February 2010 at 5:33am | IP Logged |
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Yup. I learned Esperanto, and in my whole life I've only met one other Esperanto speaker in person, exchanging only greetings and then conversing in English.
As for my other languages, I only ever get to use two of them around here in the United States: French and Spanish. And French only because I live next to the Quebec border. My main reason for learning languages is simply that I enjoy it. I also hope to get some utility out of them eventually, but I'm not really focused on the near future so much as the long term. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Johntm Senior Member United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5422 days ago 616 posts - 725 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 21 of 29 22 February 2010 at 6:35am | IP Logged |
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Some languages are just interesting. I am not learning one right now where I don't plan
to visit a country where it is spoken, but I'm sure I will eventually/ 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| lichtrausch Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 5960 days ago 525 posts - 1072 votes Speaks: English*, German, Japanese Studies: Korean, Mandarin | Message 22 of 29 22 February 2010 at 5:16pm | IP Logged |
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Until now I haven't learned such a language, but I plan to study Modern Indo-European at some point. However I am hopeful that one day I will be able to travel to countries that use it. Considering the amount of time and energy it takes to become proficient in a language, I like to be rewarded handsomely with lots of interaction with the language.
1 person has voted this message useful | |
 Iversen Super Polyglot Moderator Denmark berejst.dk Joined 6703 days ago 9078 posts - 16473 votes Speaks: Danish*, French, English, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Swedish, Esperanto, Romanian, Catalan Studies: Afrikaans, Greek, Norwegian, Russian, Serbian, Icelandic, Latin, Irish, Lowland Scots, Indonesian, Polish, Croatian Personal Language Map | Message 23 of 29 23 February 2010 at 7:29pm | IP Logged |
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I spend time right now on Irish Gaelic, which even the Irish themselves don't speak.
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| Johntm Senior Member United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5422 days ago 616 posts - 725 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 24 of 29 24 February 2010 at 5:33am | IP Logged |
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For most of the laguanges I plan to learn, I want to visit the country where it's spoken. The exceptions are an African click language, Cherokee (I live in North Carolina, there should be plenty of Cherokees here, but I doubt I could find speakers too easily), and Irish Gaelic. Well, I want to visit Ireland, but it'd be hard finding speakers of Irish :(
1 person has voted this message useful |
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