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Ever been asked NOT to learn a language? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| sillygoose1 Tetraglot Senior Member United States Joined 4423 days ago 566 posts - 814 votes  Speaks: English*, Italian, Spanish, French Studies: German, Latin | Message 17 of 35 05 April 2012 at 2:06am | IP Logged | |||||
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My Italian dad told me not to learn Italian because it was useless compared to Spanish in the US.
I'm going to learn it anyway, eventually. I'd like to read The Divine Comedy in the original. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| koba Heptaglot Senior Member AustriaRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5655 days ago 118 posts - 201 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, English, German, Italian, Spanish, Hungarian, French | Message 18 of 35 05 April 2012 at 3:40am | IP Logged | |||||
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If you're learning an unusual and complex language (e.g. in my case, Hungarian) it's
very likely that at some point you will meet natives who regard it as the most difficult task in the world and they will often discourage you with that, specially if you are at the beginner stages or don't know how to speak the language so well yet. I don't want to generalize because actually it's quite the opposite. Hungarians are in general very supportive and ready to help, but again, I've met natives and when I told them that I was interested in the language, by their reaction, it was almost as if they didn't want me to learn it. "Why? It's too complicated and practically useless. Ok, you want to learn it, but bear in mind that it won't be easy. Oh, and by the way! Did you know that Hungarian has 26 cases?" These also happen to be the ones who correct every mistake you make and keep emphasizing the difficulties of the language. Not helpful. Fortunately, in my case, this only happened a few times when I was learning Hungarian and when it did, I knew already enough to make myself understood and not to give up. I'm a big Krashen supporter and I believe it really makes a big difference if you have a native/tutor supporting you throughout the learning process. It's awesome when people come to you and are willing to talk, no matter how well you can speak their language. 3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Tecktight Diglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member United States Joined 4763 days ago 227 posts - 327 votes Speaks: English*, Serbian Studies: German, Russian, Estonian | Message 19 of 35 09 April 2012 at 5:36am | IP Logged | |||||
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My father is generally against me learning any languages beyond what I need for school, as he believes it distracts
from my studies. Then again, he holds that opinion no matter /what/ I'm doing. If I draw a masterpiece, it's "Oh, yes, that's nice, but you should be studying." Sigh. My mother wasn't too fond of my German studies, at first, but she warmed up after she realized me going to Berlin means she'll get to easily drag me to her favorite place on the planet, Vienna, for Apfelstrudel. Not that I'll be complaining... And, of course, no one really supports Estonian. But, I'll show 'em. It might take me years, but it'll happen. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Wulfgar Senior Member United States Joined 4458 days ago 404 posts - 791 votes Speaks: English* | Message 20 of 35 09 April 2012 at 7:39am | IP Logged | |||||
Hmm...another interesting topic by Solfrid Cristin. I'm a competitive person by nature, and have used this to my advantage in learning languages. But I have to admit if I was in her place, having 4 years under my belt, there was a time I would feel a tiny bit threatened that my litter sister could pass me up and show me up in one of those imaginary cocktail parties where everyone is demanding displays of language abilities. I'm also a showoff by nature. But these days when I hear someone I know is learning one of my languages, I try to help them as much as possible. This gives me great satisfaction; I like feeling useful and being in a position of superior knowledge. I learned long ago that I'm a slow language learner, and most serious learners will pass me up eventually, provided they stick with it. So getting some benefit from their learning, before they eventually compete with and defeat me, is sort of a useful compromise that saves my ego a little bit. To answer your question though, nobody has ever told me to stay away from a language. Such is the life of a Dragonsbane.
It can be, depending the learner. In my case most forms of competition are useful. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| onurdolar Diglot Groupie TurkeyRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4439 days ago 98 posts - 147 votes Speaks: Turkish*, English Studies: Italian, German | Message 21 of 35 09 April 2012 at 1:01pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Well not sure if this counts but my brother asked me to stop studying German and threatened to beat me if i ever tried to speak German in the house because appereantly it sounds horrible.
2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Solfrid Cristin Heptaglot Winner TAC 2011 & 2012 Senior Member Norway Joined 5121 days ago 4143 posts - 8864 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, Spanish, Swedish, French, English, German, Italian Studies: Russian | Message 22 of 35 09 April 2012 at 2:35pm | IP Logged | |||||
Well that is certainly a new twist. I remember my sister was annoyed, but she didn't threaten me with physical violence. But then again, when you are in your 30ies, you are a bit passed the point where you beat up your sister :-) 3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| mick33 Senior Member United States Joined 5711 days ago 1335 posts - 1632 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Finnish Studies: Thai, Polish, Afrikaans, Hindi, Hungarian, Italian, Spanish, Swedish | Message 23 of 35 09 April 2012 at 10:12pm | IP Logged | |||||
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No one in my family has ever asked me not to learn a language, but if they ever do make such a strange request I will ignore it. Edited by mick33 on 09 April 2012 at 10:13pm 4 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| cathrynm Senior Member United States junglevision.co Joined 5912 days ago 910 posts - 1232 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese, Finnish | Message 24 of 35 09 April 2012 at 10:23pm | IP Logged | |||||
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People seem to understand about Japanese, but Finnish? My brother told me 'don't learn Finnish' -- maybe he thinks Finnish isn't useful. I can't imagine why.
2 persons have voted this message useful |
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