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Answers to "Why do you learn L xxx" | ||
Tags: Reasons for study | Usefulness | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| Solfrid Cristin Heptaglot Winner TAC 2011 & 2012 Senior Member Norway Joined 5134 days ago 4143 posts - 8864 votes  Speaks: Norwegian*, Spanish, Swedish, French, English, German, Italian Studies: Russian | Message 1 of 49 02 December 2011 at 11:38am | IP Logged | ||
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I am sure that you have all been there. You have started to study a new language, and are really excited about it, and want to share the news with a friend or relative. And then you get the look. The "You-crazy-woman,-what-do-you-want-to-learn-that-for"-look. Or they may be quite explicit and saying that they think you should learn another language, or that you have learned enough languages, or some other totally unhelpful statement.
Now I consider myself a very truthful person, but in cases like these I allow myself to draw on - let us say my creative side... I will therefore come up with an answer that shuts them up. I am afraid I am still not able to do the sensible thing, which would be to just throw my hair back "Miss Piggy style" and walk away. My main answer will therefore always be: I need it. This one always works. How can anyone advice me not to learn a language that I really need to learn? And need, my friends, is a very relative and personal term :-) - I needed to learn German, because I am European, and German is the most important language for business after English. - I needed to learn French because it is the second most used language in EU. - I needed to learn Spanish because it is spoken by a considerable part of the people in Europe and the Americas. - I needed to learn Hebrew because I was going to Israel. - I needed to learn Russian because the organisation I work with in France has more and more Russian speakers. I struggled a bit with Italian and Dutch, because it is harder to pretend that I needed them, but I finally just said that they were so close to the languages I knew already, that it would simply be wasteful not to try to learn at least a little, as it would be so little effort involved. And in Norway,being wasteful is a grave sin:) So what is your favourite explanation, or do you make a new one for each language ? 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
 Fasulye Heptaglot Winner TAC 2012 Moderator Germany fasulyespolyglotblog Joined 5647 days ago 5460 posts - 6006 votes 1 sounds Speaks: German*, DutchC1, EnglishB2, French, Italian, Spanish, Esperanto Studies: Latin, Danish, Norwegian, Turkish Personal Language Map | Message 2 of 49 02 December 2011 at 12:20pm | IP Logged | ||
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I just learn the languages I want to and don't defend myself. It would be the same question to ask me: "Why do you play the guitar and not the piano?" or "Why do you go hiking instead of swimming?"
So my choice is my choice and I don't really discuss this with other people. Fasulye Edited by Fasulye on 02 December 2011 at 9:10pm 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| KSAKSA Groupie Australia Joined 4945 days ago 65 posts - 99 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Arabic (Gulf) | Message 3 of 49 02 December 2011 at 12:37pm | IP Logged | ||
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I don't usually let people question me...people know I'm crazy anyway :) hahahaha. If push comes to shove though I usually say, 'are you kidding? who wouldn't WANT to learn another language? it's so interesting and you get an insight in to other country's cultures, history and it's also just damn good for the brain - you know what they say about if you speak a 2nd language it inhibits alzheimers'. Turn it around on them and let THEM be the ones who look foolish because they thought education finished at leaving school.
I'm pretty lucky though, my mother's side of the family have always been 'learners' even after establishing careers, having families etc. Learning is like breathing...why wouldn't you want to learn something new? Edited by KSAKSA on 02 December 2011 at 12:39pm 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| iguanamon Pentaglot Senior Member Virgin Islands Speaks: Ladino Joined 5062 days ago 2237 posts - 6731 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Creole (French) | Message 4 of 49 02 December 2011 at 12:42pm | IP Logged | ||
As a native English speaker, I don't need to learn languages. So yes I do get that question. I guess where I differ is that I don't feel the need to justify what I choose to do for my own enjoyment or use. When people ask me that question, I answer truthfully- "because I want to, because I like learning a new language and enjoy using it to more fully appreciate another culture. The fact that Spanish is an important language in the western hemisphere, where I happen to live, is not necessary to justify why I learned Spanish nor is the fact that Brazil is a rising power necessary justification for why I am learning Portuguese. I learn languages because I like it and enjoy using them to better understand, appreciate and communicate with their speakers and the cultures they represent. I couldn't care less if they think I'm crazy for doing so. That's my response to family, friends, acquaintances and everyone. If they can't accept my explanation, if they can't stretch their minds to grasp that concept then so be it, I'm sorry for them. Nobody needs to justify why they learn, want to learn or have learned any language. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Ari Heptaglot Senior Member Norway Joined 6382 days ago 2314 posts - 5695 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin, Cantonese Studies: Czech, Latin, German | Message 5 of 49 02 December 2011 at 12:57pm | IP Logged | ||
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I usually just shrug and say something like "Because video games bore the hell out of me".
13 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| FuroraCeltica Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 6665 days ago 1187 posts - 1427 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, French | Message 6 of 49 02 December 2011 at 1:35pm | IP Logged | ||
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The first man who climbed Mount Everest was once asked, why did you do it. His reply was "Because it was there". You can apply that to language learning. You don't need a reason - the language is just there, so you might as well
8 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| geotrismegistos Triglot Newbie Greece Joined 4620 days ago 4 posts - 12 votes Speaks: Greek*, EnglishC2, SpanishB2 Studies: Portuguese, Japanese, Italian, Arabic (Egyptian), FrenchA2 | Message 7 of 49 02 December 2011 at 1:35pm | IP Logged | ||
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I get asked a lot why i learn arabic. My answer: To meet and marry an arab girl whose father has petrols
9 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Solfrid Cristin Heptaglot Winner TAC 2011 & 2012 Senior Member Norway Joined 5134 days ago 4143 posts - 8864 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, Spanish, Swedish, French, English, German, Italian Studies: Russian | Message 8 of 49 02 December 2011 at 1:46pm | IP Logged | ||
I agree, and if I had learned one or two or three languages, I guess nobody would have said anything. But I dabble in a lot of different ones, and then it is quite useful to be able to give them a "reasonable" explanation. When a friend of my husband who visits us regularly, has come to my kitchen where I am listening to my language CDs in Russian, Greek, Turkish, Swahili and Slovak, all within the time frame of 6 months, you are just bound to get that question. Other people watch reality shows or taste new wines, I taste new languages. I am sure my pleasure is greater than theirs. 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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