Learning a New Language

[Lt. Col. Fantastic]

I'm learning French in school, and really only decided to learn it because, my grandpa and great grandmother speak it. Also, because Spanish and German were the only other options.

I want to learn Japanese (I want to live in Japan), but I'm pretty bad at self teaching...

 

[Algo Fonix]

I would absolutely love to actually learn Japanese. I've been trying to self-teach it for the past 4-ish years and I've gotten pretty much nowhere. I can do kana and a small number of kanji... but Jesus grammar kills me.

I'd like to learn it proper because I want to travel to Japan someday and not need a freaking translator.

 

[razorraron]

Hey all!

As someone who is currently learning two languages, French (school) and Japanese (self taught), I was curious.

What are your opinions on learning a new language? Is it worth the time and hassle? Does it improve your native language skills?

I've only learned one other language and it was Italian, I am looking forward to learn Spanish though. Wanna go down to Mexico one of these days and see how they live. I think if you learn another language you are just preparing yourself for the future. Best of luck :)

 

[soulavenger]

Learning anything new, be it a new language, a new skill or something else is always a good thing even if you will never use it in your daily life.During my school years aside from my native language ie,Hindi, and English, we all had to learn one other language.In my case it was Sanskrit(One of the oldest existing language of the world right next to Greek and Latin). Now, I have chosen to study Japanese in my University along with French.
Also learning something new everyday stimulates our brain and further develops our thinking capacity.

 

[Honest]

A graduation requirement my school places is 3 years of a foreign language. So yeah, I have attempted to learn a new language, namely Spanish. My opinion of it? I can see why one would wanna take a new language, but I feel it shouldn't be forced upon him/her. I started of struggling, and nearly failed, too. But ever since then, I've managed to pull my act together and get an 85 in the class. Did I learn Spanish? Yup, I actually did. Was it useful? For the longest time, I didn't think so, but then about a week ago, during work, some dude needed a Spanish translator on the fly, and he asked me. Wouldn't you know it, I was actually able to help. Still, I wouldn't go out of my way to learn a new language. And I took Spanish, which a lot of people I know consider an easy language. I don't think I could ever learn Japanese, definitely not on my own. My friend took Japanese, and looking at her work, it seems really hard. All those Kanji look the same to me...

On the bright side, it's only 3 years, and my third ended in June. So I'm officially language free now!

 

[Mentalii]

I love learning languages. Really. I could do that all day. I learn english at school, and I also try to improve it home, mainly thanks to the internet. I signed up here notably because it is an English-Speaking Forum, so it was perfect to finally communicate with real english-speaking people. You know, just being good at school is not enough, there's a moment where you really want to use your skills.
Then I learn Spanish, only at school this time. I was pretty good at spanish two years ago, but I had a teacher that disgusted me from the language. I mean, I still love it, but I don't learn it with the same passion as before... Anyway, I've decided that at the start of the school year, I'll do everything to catch up.
Finally, I'm self-teaching japanese. It's hard, mainly because of one of the three alphabets (the Kanji), but it's a beautiful language. So I'll do my best to know it, even if I'm at the beginning of this learning.

 

[SD.]

i would give myself a chance to learn japanese or chinese if i was more smart etc

so ill just keep it at english for a 2nd language
doing just fine, hopefully x]​

 

[Livewire]

I wish I was better at the language(s) I already know, or 'kind of' know. For somebody who's studied French since he was 15, I'm not nearly fluent enough to look the part. :/

/wants to learn like German or Japanese

 

[rayan.b]

i speak 2 languages ( english and arabic )
and I'm learning the third (mandarin,chinese )
those 3 languages are three of the most 5 languages use in the world but thats not the main reason i studied/studying those three languages
my mother language is arabic and the english language is almost a must now a days if your seeking knowledge ( since,physics,biology,chemistry,etc )
and i grew an interest into the chinese language so you can say its either luck or fait that they are 3 main use languages in the world ^.^
spanish and indy are the other 2 in the top 5 by the way

 

[Reshy]

I think learning languages can be very very helpful in your life. As a person who speaks English, Russian, Hebrew, some French and learning Japanese, I find it that it helps you a bit now and then. Especially once you would start looking for a job, saying you can speak more than one language fluently on your resume will score you some major points and plus languages kinda 'upgrade' your brain and make it 'stronger' and what not, which is always healthy. Nothing bad about learning languages, especially if you love the language you're learning or just enjoy having lots of knowledge.

 

[soopaord]

Back in High School I took 4 years of Spanish, and 1 year of French. Then I took a semester of German in college, then for this fall semester I will be taking Portuguese.

Would like to learn Korean or Arabic sometime in the future.

 

[WillPowerPedro]

For me, learning a new language sucks. I don't really want to learn a new language yet because me and my family don't plan on going out of the country until our 2 year old is my age (12), so yeah. I am taking French though because I realize how many French electronic musicians there are and if I ever get to meet one we can actually converse.

 

[rayan.b]

Back in High School I took 4 years of Spanish, and 1 year of French. Then I took a semester of German in college, then for this fall semester I will be taking Portuguese.

Would like to learn Korean or Arabic sometime in the future.

i here'd that you might learn arabic so I'm going to tell you 4 things (arabic is my mother language )

1. we have a smily face letter (ت) and thats just one simple cool thing of many numerous cool stuff

2. arabic is the hardest language that we know of and has been used on this planet after ancient egyptian which proves how deep and strong the language is ( i face difficulties in the arabic language even though it my mother language *swet drop* )

3. if your going to learn arabic you have to know that because in the otman empire we had many many foreign people because Damascus was the heart of knowledge back then and because many people speak arabic in a wide range or regions there are manny manny accents that sometimes some are so different we don't understand each other and the sound like completely different languages BUT we all speak the traditional arabic because thats what we learn in school ( by the way manny accents have been created over time because of how how hard traditional arabic is )

4. if you didn't learn arabic since you where a toddler you would have some problems with some words and letter pronunciation because we have some letters that are really hard to make the sounds of if your not used to (google how to say frog in arabic ) thats the hardest simple word i could find

oh yeah theres number 5

5. i like cinnamon :)

 

[droomph]

Wow you sound like my gramma telling me about Chinese lol

Personally I don't think Arabic (or any language for that matter) is hard if you start at an approachable angle. I've tried learning Arabic but books were too hard (because EVERYTHING WAS IN ARABIC) so I'm forced to listen to it to learn it. And personally, any language, no matter how hard, is easy if you pay attention.

Oh and make your own language. It helps you learn about the intricacies of sound and voiceless palatial whatevers and stuff like that. It makes language learning quite a bit easier even if you never do finish the language.

 

[s0nido]

I've tried learning Arabic, Japanese, Korean and Indonesian, and I can tell you now that learning a language requires practice and dedication. I'm currently learning Indonesian for school. I think that it's rewarding to know more than one language, since so much is opened up for you when you're able to find more material in other languages, but it isn't easy. XD

 

[Ageha1304]

I myself am now learning 3 foreign languages: russian, english and japanese. I have to say it's definitely worth. By knowing more languages you also learn more of people and culture.
I'm sure if I have improved my native language skills but I must say that now when I can speak 3 languages as my native it's quite interesting! :)

 

[rayan.b]

By knowing more languages you also learn more of people and culture.

definitely true, and it gives an idea of whats happening around the world
it also gives you the opportunity to meet and befriend new people through learning

i like cinnamon :)

 

[Lilaaa]

definitely worth it~i would love to, but i keep giving up .______.

 

[pleb]

I can speak English and French.

 

[Darkroman]

I only speak English, but I knew a little bit of Romanian (kind of a nice language, actually). My opinion of learning languages is whether you're interested to, or not. However, if you plan on spending time in a foreign country for the long-term, you better learn the language! It shows intelligence, and respect for their culture.