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rafaelrbp Pentaglot Senior Member Brazil Joined 6772 days ago 181 posts - 201 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, Spanish, English, French, Italian Studies: German
| Message 18 of 60 24 November 2010 at 6:59pm | IP Logged |
It's interesting to note that I'm not learning languages to communicate with other polyglots (and I assume nobody here is), as I'm unaware of any polyglot that doesn't speak English. So most here are generally learning other languages to communicate with native people ("real people") and to read/listen to native material.
But also, a lot of people learn it just for the sake of learning it (its beauty, its structure, the challenge, etc). It's not always a logical choice.
Even though it's relevant to discuss if a language is worth learning within a specific point of view (ex: business, literature, opportunities), it does not make sense to decide if one should learn it for personal reasons, and I'm completely against bashing one for his choice of languages. Why anyone here would impose which language I should or shouldn't learn?
All this said, I still think this forum is the best place to discuss language learning and get motivation to learn.
4 persons have voted this message useful
| OlafP Triglot Senior Member Germany Joined 5194 days ago 261 posts - 667 votes Speaks: German*, French, English
| Message 19 of 60 24 November 2010 at 11:57pm | IP Logged |
There is no point in learning languages if you refuse to use your vocabulary correctly: I see a lot of flirting with words like "nerd" and "geek" in this forum. These terms describe persons who go their own way, beyond the conventions of any group or society. Someone who lives that way is used to rejection and strong opinions against him- or herself, and is actually more surprised about other people's agreement. If you don't have the nerves of steel it requires to live such a life then you should draw the consequences. Be a conformist, but don't present yourself as something different: you're neither nerd nor geek, but you have interests and hobbies. Or be a non-conformist, but then don't complain about headwind.
Someone who is not a bird should not linger over the abyss. (Friedrich Nietzsche)
9 persons have voted this message useful
| hrhenry Octoglot Senior Member United States languagehopper.blogs Joined 4889 days ago 1871 posts - 3642 votes Speaks: English*, SpanishC2, ItalianC2, Norwegian, Catalan, Galician, Turkish, Portuguese Studies: Polish, Indonesian, Ojibwe
| Message 20 of 60 25 November 2010 at 12:12am | IP Logged |
OlafP wrote:
There is no point in learning languages if you refuse to use your vocabulary correctly: I see a lot of flirting with words like "nerd" and "geek" in this forum.
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I have to admit when I first saw this thread, my thought was "What's the big deal?"
"Freak", to me, isn't an insult. At least I didn't read it that way in the referenced thread. I assumed the poster was trying to be clever, no other motive. Then again, I didn't go through the entire thread, so I may have missed something.
Aside from that, most of my friends are geeks and freaks and yeah, I'm one too. So...
*shrug*.
Surely there are lots of other more important things to get wound up about.
R.
==
1 person has voted this message useful
| cathrynm Senior Member United States junglevision.co Joined 5884 days ago 910 posts - 1232 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese, Finnish
| Message 21 of 60 25 November 2010 at 2:32am | IP Logged |
I wonder if specifically the "Esperanto a waste of time" topic has, err, gone on long enough. You know...
4 persons have voted this message useful
| ellasevia Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2011 Senior Member Germany Joined 5901 days ago 2150 posts - 3229 votes Speaks: English*, German, Croatian, Greek, French, Spanish, Russian, Swedish, Portuguese, Turkish, Italian Studies: Catalan, Persian, Mandarin, Japanese, Romanian, Ukrainian
| Message 22 of 60 25 November 2010 at 2:38am | IP Logged |
cathrynm wrote:
I wonder if specifically the "Esperanto a waste of time" topic has, err, gone on long enough. You know... |
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I too am wondering how that thread is still alive after four years.
1 person has voted this message useful
| Sprachprofi Nonaglot Senior Member Germany learnlangs.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6229 days ago 2608 posts - 4866 votes Speaks: German*, English, French, Esperanto, Greek, Mandarin, Latin, Dutch, Italian Studies: Spanish, Arabic (Written), Swahili, Indonesian, Japanese, Modern Hebrew, Portuguese
| Message 23 of 60 25 November 2010 at 3:25pm | IP Logged |
The "20 Languages" thread was part of what I was referring to, also page 38 of the
"Esperanto a waste of time" thread and an emerging pattern of more and more
discouraging messages in people's logs or posts for advice. And I'm unhappy with the
policy of moving all anti-Esperanto threads into the Esperanto corner. The German
corner is a safe haven for lovers of the German language to discuss and help each
other, the French corner is a safe haven for French enthusiasts, but the Esperanto
corner is the worst place to be if you like Esperanto.
Gusutafu wrote:
I don't know about how "real life" is around where you live, but I
have yet to hear a single negative comment from anyone to anyone, about learning
languages. I can't even imagine a situation where anyone would criticise someone for
knowing languages. In my mind, if there is one thing that everybody agrees on,
regardless of background, it is that language learning is good. |
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I must have imagined the "Parents think I'm weird" thread
http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?T ID=18241
Many of us face considerable resistance IRL from relatives, colleagues or fellow
students, strangers, sometimes even friends. This resistance is the worse the more
exotic the language we're attracted to, or the greater the number of languages we
speak. Sometimes it's deemed okay to study 'useful' languages like German, Russian or
Chinese, sometimes even those will meet with irrational opposition such as being
accused of sympathising with Nazism or Communism. The forum is full of these tales and
you can count yourself lucky if you never had to deal with anything like this,
Gusutafu.
Yes, we eventually learn to deal. That doesn't mean it doesn't hurt, especially coming
from those who are important to us. From Afrikaans to Zulu and of course not leaving
out Spanish, this forum is full of people learning lots of languages for lots of
reasons or just for fun, just for the joy of discovery, the thrill of being privy to
something that very few people share. Many of us aren't planning on stopping after 1 or
2 or however many languages is considered the upper limit of acceptable where we live.
There will be plenty of ridicule and rejection in the real world; we language lovers
don't have to do it to each other.
Therefore I would like this forum to be an oasis where people can replenish their
strength, pick up materials and methods and answers and encouragement and then go out
there knowing that they are not alone in following their heart.
You don't have to have an interest in Kazakh in order to wish those well who try to
learn it. You might even have some resources or tips to share. Anyone who embarks on
the long road to fluency deserves our respect and support, because the intention to
work hard (instead of say staying home and watching TV in your native language)
deserves our respect and support. Let's not argue about our choice of languages any
more than we argue about our choice of food, or colours. If you can't say anything
positive, don't post.
15 persons have voted this message useful
| Romanist Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5041 days ago 261 posts - 366 votes Studies: Italian
| Message 24 of 60 25 November 2010 at 3:41pm | IP Logged |
Sprachprofi, I agree with almost everything you say in your most recent post.
But I still can't figure out the reason for the accusation (made in your earlier post on this thread) that there is racism at this forum.
Can you point to a specific thread where people have said or hinted that black people are not welcome at the forum? (If not, then maybe you might consider withdrawing this accusation..?)
1 person has voted this message useful
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