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Languages you disliked but grew on you? | ||
Tags: "Louche" Languages | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| Avid Learner Diglot Senior Member Canada Joined 4444 days ago 100 posts - 156 votes  Speaks: French*, English Studies: German | Message 1 of 39 28 October 2013 at 4:03am | IP Logged | ||
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Has anyone here learned a language that they wouldn't have considered learning previously because they really didn't like it?
I always wonder when I happen to read somebody who says he doesn't like language X. Obviously, we're all different so it's perfectly normal, but I sometimes wonder if, someday, something (a song or a friend, for example) might occur and contribute to a change of perspective. In my case, I've never really disliked German, but I didn't especially liked it either. It is not a language I would have thought of learning after English. I was conviced that if I ever learned another one, it would be a latin language... but no, in the end, German turned out to be the language I badly wanted to learn! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| eyðimörk Triglot Senior Member France goo.gl/aT4FY7 Joined 3881 days ago 490 posts - 1158 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English, French Studies: Breton, Italian | Message 2 of 39 28 October 2013 at 9:20am | IP Logged | ||
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When I was a fledging celtophile at the age of 14 I had just decided that I was going to plan all of my future schooling around getting into a Scottish university and doing an honours degree in Celtic Studies/Gaelic.
I pretty much felt that the brythonic languages were the redheaded stepchild of the Celtic world. It probably had a lot to do with the way these languages were treated in the anglophone literature; always secondary to the goidelic languages, and the repeated mantra about how all Welsh mythology was probably "imported" from Ireland anyway. It was not until I was actually doing my honours degree in Celtic Civilisation 5 years later, when we studied the fall of the Roman Empire in Britain, that I really came to appreciate Welsh at least as a full member of the Celtic language family. I still didn't see the value of its mythology, though; I had to study far longer for that, and couldn't for the life of me think of a single reason why anyone would want to study Breton. I mean, how Celtic could it be anyway? Brythonic AND in a romance country? Puh! I skipped anything in Celtic literature that had to do with Breton. And here I am. I've forgotten all of my Gaelic and have no interest in brushing it off, but I'm very passionate about Breton. Whereas with Gaelic I felt that I had to learn it (because that's what you did if you wanted to understand Celtic culture, you learn one of the languages), with Breton it's about love, and values, and a bit of politics. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| montmorency Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4610 days ago 2371 posts - 3676 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Danish, Welsh | Message 3 of 39 28 October 2013 at 2:46pm | IP Logged | ||
Good for you :-) And if Breton is characteristic of the Celtic language(s) that were spoken in at least part of Roman Gaul, (or partially spoken in Roman Gaul), then it's important to keep alive that link with European history at a very formative stage. And when you've got Breton under your belt, you might think about Cornish, and, er, Welsh. :-) 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| montmorency Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4610 days ago 2371 posts - 3676 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Danish, Welsh | Message 4 of 39 28 October 2013 at 2:49pm | IP Logged | ||
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I was initially exposed to Dutch (actually Flemish more so than standard Dutch) before I
had much exposure to German. When I (much later) started studying German seriously, I really disliked the sound of it compared to Flemish / Dutch. But the more I got exposed to it, the more I got to like hearing it, and nowadays I prefer the sound of German to Dutch. However, I'll go back to Dutch one of these days, and that will probably change the balance yet again. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| eyðimörk Triglot Senior Member France goo.gl/aT4FY7 Joined 3881 days ago 490 posts - 1158 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English, French Studies: Breton, Italian | Message 5 of 39 28 October 2013 at 3:16pm | IP Logged | ||
Unfortunately, there is probably very little Gaulish in Breton since it came over from Britain at a time when it's uncertain that there were any Gaulish speakers left. Breton is more King Arthur and less Vercignetorix. :) I definitely wouldn't mind getting closer to Breton's close cousin Kembraeg (Cymraeg)! Cornish is definitely interesting, and wanting to save the language is a worthwhile cause, though I'm not sure if it's a worthwhile project for me personally. I try to stick with languages I have a practical use for. :) I live in Brittany and my neighbours speak Breton, but I'm not sure I could find a Cornish speaker to talk to even if I started taking annual holidays across the channel, alas! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6379 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 6 of 39 28 October 2013 at 4:23pm | IP Logged | ||
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From neutral to positive - Portuguese, Romanian, Catalan, Ukrainian, Danish.
As for actual dislike, hmmm written French? I still don't like the sound of it but now that I have a lot of experience with its neighbours and ancestor(s), it's much more fun to read it. But I pronounce most of things like Portuguese and some words like Romanian (for example aici). Oh and I used to adopt the Finns' disliking of Swedish, mostly because of the pain associated with the Finland-Sweden matches (especially in ice hockey). But nowadays my plan is to learn Swedish better than most Finns speak it, as I want to move to Finland but I don't want Russian to be my main advantage on the job market. Edited by Serpent on 28 October 2013 at 4:27pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Henkkles Triglot Senior Member Finland Joined 4035 days ago 544 posts - 1141 votes Speaks: Finnish*, English, Swedish Studies: Russian | Message 7 of 39 28 October 2013 at 4:31pm | IP Logged | ||
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I used to hate English until I came to terms with its history and learned it to a sufficient level.
I think it for some reason is a part of the Finnish mentality to not have a high interest in Swedish but it's grown on me, even though I still am not a huuuge fan of it (I like inflection too much ._. ) 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| cacue23 Triglot Groupie Canada Joined 4081 days ago 89 posts - 122 votes Speaks: Shanghainese, Mandarin*, English Studies: Cantonese | Message 8 of 39 28 October 2013 at 4:39pm | IP Logged | ||
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I used to dislike English a lot. When I was about three I started learning English with my Dad, who was pretty impatient when it comes to teaching me English. But it was effective in its way, primarily because of the early exposure to the language, and as a result I was pretty good at English by the time we started having English classes at school. Now that I live in an English-speaking country and use English everyday, I don't think I dislike English anymore, but that's just a neutral attitude. I wonder when I would start actually liking it though.
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