Learning another language, a waste of time?

[Lights]

I'm considering learning a new language, either French or Japanese, but I'm not really sure they would be useful for everyday life. besides being a translator. I think Japanese would be more useful for me than French, since I am considering to live there in the far off future. But French is widely used in Europe, and is more relevant here in the USA and Canada.

if any other language suggestion please say so.

 

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[av1atic]

Learning Chinese seems to be a promising process. It's what I personally plan on learning over the next few years.

 

[Lights]

Why are you learning Chinese for versus other languages?

 

[Rawr]

Know another language = learn to speak differently = learn to think differently = value for life

 

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[treinjapan]

I'm learning Japanese and have learned Chinese as well. Depends on what you what to do in the future, but IMHO learning another language has so many other benefits besides the obvious things like doing business in those countries in the future.

 

[Jake]

I'm learning Japanese and have learned Chinese as well. Depends on what you what to do in the future, but IMHO learning another language has so many other benefits besides the obvious things like doing business in those countries in the future.

I picked up a little bit while I was there but have since forgotten most (it's been 7.5 years) I found Katakana very easy to learn but Hiragana was a lot more difficult. Kanji...forget about it. Reading Katakana also made it ridiculously easy to strike up a conversation with a Japanese girl. Point at a character on a wall, ask her what 1 of the characters is, proceed to pronounce the word. haha..it had it's benefits.

 

[Greystone]

Learning French can be especially useful if you travel a lot or if you want to come living in France or in a French speaking country. It is spoken on almost every continent and on a lot of small islands. So for a big traveler, it can help. Somebody who likes history of Northern America could find French useful too as there are many cities and places that have French names.

As a business point of view, well I wouldn't say that's the best language to learn. I would rather go for Chinese or Portuguese for example. What could be interesting too is to learn a language that not many people learn (Portuguese or Arabic for instance) to differentiate from others. Learning a foreign language is always useful, good decision. :eusa_clap:

 

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[vtlambo]

In 2012, I told myself I have to learn at least the basics of Spanish. Reason is because my head office is based in Houston and I've a got customers/buyers who speak both English/Spanish and being able to speak to them Spanish built better rapport. In doing so, my sales this year increased exponentially at a rate I didn't even think was possible.

For 2013, I'd like to continue learning Spanish and start some Chinese, I probably will take a trip over there for a month or so and visit some of my suppliers as well.

You can never go wrong in learning a new language, it's definitely something of value over a lifetime.

 

[FastNAwesome]

Know another language = learn to speak differently = learn to think differently = value for life

+1

There's a saying:

"To learn a new language is to gain a new soul"

I'm learning a foreign language right now, started for practical reasons, but now I enjoy it very much and plan to learn many more. The choice of language is up to you and depends on your plans.

About your proposals:

French - spoken in France, Switzerland, Canada, Monaco and many many more (List of countries where French is an official language - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Also it used to be (maybe still is) a diplomatic language of the world.

And also, French people very much prefer their language to English. (Alty can you confirm?),
so there is definitely a fastlane opportunity too. I once met a graphic designer, who, besides being
great at design, learned French. Now, the internet is full of designers, but this gave him an edge,
as he acquired many clients in France who preferred to communicate in their language.

Japanese - this sounds cool too. How many people do you know speaking Japanese? I used to be interested in Japanese culture and it's very different and very impressive. If you want to learn it why not. You can never know all the ways it could become useful to you in the future, but is definitely an asset.

 

[Alex Barboza]

I would suggest my first language: Spanish. It's got to be the second most spoken language in the US so I gues there can be more business for you if you can target Spanish speaking people there.

 

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[The-J]

Depends on why you want to learn a language.

If you want to get around in a different country, you shouldn't be surprised when most people do not speak English or will not speak English to you. So learning the basics at the very least is something you should invest time into before going to travel (if you don't have an interpreter, of course).

I think everyone should gain mastery of an alien language (that is, one that's not spoken in their country or by their family) just to have a different point of view. When you learn a language, you learn about a new culture and about how the people think and communicate. That in itself is priceless.

I decided to get back on my Chinese courses because of this. I don't know if I'll ever find myself in China.

 

[dinoalexit]

Go ahead with the Japanese. Learning an entirely new language has several underlying benefits. Japanese doesn't share any similarity (except from phonemic) with European languages. It'll open your brand new perspective on a language and its processing.
Good Luck!!

if any other language suggestion please say so.

 

[Graham Chong]

For practical purpose I would suggest Spanish or Mandarin Chinese (don't go for Cantonese unless you just want to limit yourself in Hong Kong)

If you want something alternative but still somewhat useful I would suggest Malay/Indonesian. Malay/Indonesian is what I think the easiest Asian language to learn

 

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[treinjapan]

Here's an interesting thing to think about. Chinese grammar is actually really similar to English's grammar, but the pronunciation is difficult for most westerners. Writing is fun once you get the hang of it. Japanese on the other hand has a grammar structure that's almost opposite to English (along with Korean) and has a few different alphabets. Because of the alphabets, you can get further without knowing so many characters, whereas in Chinese, everything is in characters (ie picture-words).

Learning either one will open your mind up to a whole new world, but I've found Japanese to be more mind-blowing both in terms of difficulty to master and learning neat new cultural things.

 

[The-J]

If you want to live in Japan, why not do it now?

You seem to have little idea what to do with your life, so join the JET program or something. Ever considered teaching English in Japan?

JET Program - Official Website (USA)

You have a year to prepare for the application if you want to do it. The application, according to the site, is released next October. It's for people who want to start teaching in 2014 (2013 deadline has passed)

You seem like a bit of a Japanophile who doesn't do much with her time anyway so you probably know a fair bit about this program. If you don't, there's some resources on YouTube.

 

[GuestUser8117]

Italian is a beautiful language, worth learning if you want to live in italy someday. That's my dream.

 

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[treinjapan]

Yeah, if you're considering Japanese, it's best to get the ball rolling ASAP. When I studied Chinese in college, I was able to carry a conversation and follow my friend's conversations pretty well after just 3 quarters in college. Life in Japan is so different it's ridiculous. I'm almost at 4 years, and I still understand very little when i try to watch the news. There are so many niches to the language it's insane. They say the minimum amount of time it takes a Westerner to become fluent at Japanese is 7 years in immersion, just because of the complexities of it. So get started NOW!

Nothing matters until you start taking committed action!

 

[Greystone]

And also, French people very much prefer their language to English.

Yes, the average level in English of French people is not very high, so a lot of people will be relieved if you try to talk to them in French.

 

[Greystone]

(List of countries where French is an official language - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Wow, I was not expecting that many. That's about 40 different places in the world (countries + independant entities) that use French as their native language. Not that bad.

 

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[xhcsurge]

French people very much prefer their language to English.

That is true. To illustrate this: When (for example) a German or a Dutch visits China, he will get off the plain and think "aaahh.. Too bad I don't speak Chinese". When a French gets off the plain, he will think "too bad the Chinese don't speak French".

The French really love their language and they (still) think it's the most important language in the world. Speaking French gives you a major advantage when doing business in France and other French speaking countries.

 

[AndrewNC]

If you really want to master the language, don't just learn it on your own. Immerse yourself in their culture. A friend of mine is fluent in Spanish from doing missionary work in Central America for 6 months. I learned more Spanish from talking to dishwashers at my waiter job during college than I did in 4 years of high school.

Make sure it is a language you ENJOY learning.

 

[nation]

In 2012, I told myself I have to learn at least the basics of Spanish.

What did you end up doing to lean Spanish? What will you do in 2013? What would you suggest to me who knows practically no Spanish?

I would suggest my first language: Spanish. It's got to be the second most spoken language in the US so I gues there can be more business for you if you can target Spanish speaking people there.

Same basic question to you Alex, how would you go about learning Spanish?


One note, I typically do better with learning through any method other then reading ... One thought I've had is finding a podcast based on Chilie, because it's the primary country I want to explore in 2013 to early 2014 time frame.

 

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[stranger]

spanish
arabic

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Learning another language is like P90X for your brain --highly recommended with lifetime benefits, quite possibly a Life Altering Decision.

 

[Rawr]

I would like to say that without going into the culture and seeing the semiotic impact of the language on thinking you won't be getting much effect, nevermind cementing the knowledge.

Hence, get into a group where people speak the language - no excuses they are around you, in you are in a metropolitan area. Classes, girlfriends, cultural fests, etc.

It is scary how big the difference can be in thinking when you switch from one to another, and it's really neat. you can look at the same issue in two different perspectives at once.

 

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[mayana]

I am so passionate about the benefit of learning a second (third, fourth, etc) language. It's never, ever a bad idea or a waste of time.

Just a word of warning (haha not really) - learning another language fluently CHANGES YOUR LIFE. In order to really, really learn it, you've got to immerse yourself in the culture, the people, the music, the foods of the countries that speak it. It's an absolutely amazing experience.

I spoke about 5 words of (terrible) Spanish until I was 19. Since then, I learned how to speak Spanish at a native level, though it's taken me more than 10 years. I am a 100% different person. I wouldn't even recognize myself, I'm sure.

In these years, I've met hundreds of people I never could have communicated with. I've heard stories about things I would have never been exposed to, experienced foreign countries in a different way than the typical tourist. I have developed a taste for different food, music, television, culture. It's true - you do get a new soul. I have my English soul and my Spanish soul, now.

Just for a few tips on how to learn (I also have several years of experience teaching Spanish and English as a second language):

1. Watch movies, videos, etc in your target language. (My sister taught herself Portuguese watching a Brazilian novela on YouTube and reading the Twilight series in Portuguese.).
2. Listen to music in the language. This was huge for me when I started learning.
3. Find a friend who ideally DOES NOT SPEAK ENGLISH. If you are learning a language that makes finding a friend who speaks that language difficult, the internet provides a great resource for this. Speak to this friend ONLY in that language.
4. Read magazines and books.
5. USE your language skills. Don't be afraid to mess up. No one will ever laugh at you

Learning another language really well isn't something that usually happens in a few months. It all depends on how dedicated you are to studying and how much time you can dedicate to it.

 

[likeweb]

If you really want to master the language, don't just learn it on your own. Immerse yourself in their culture. ... I learned more Spanish from talking to dishwashers at my waiter job during college than I did in 4 years of high school.

Totally true!

@nation, you can start by watching Spanish speaking TV channels/movies at home, a good source if you can stand them, are those long and boring infomercials!. I'm not kidding!, I know at first you will not be able to recognize a single word, but if you pay attention and with some patience, your mind/ears will adapt to listening subtle details, in time as you learn new vocabulary from books/web courses, you'll find yourself identifying more and more words without even trying. I find infomercials useful for this purpose, because they repeat the same words/ideas over and over, and are all related to the same subject (which you'll be able to figure it out easily just by watching), and you'll end up hearing the pronunciation of words at the same time the person does the action or points at the object.

Note: if you go the movie route, make sure is a familiar movie, one that you've watched before, you can find a lot of used DVD for the latinoamerican market on Amazon/craiglist, that include the English and Spanish audio tracks (virtually all big budget American movies, do get dual audio version outside the US). Keep the "Spanish" subtitles on, so that you can read what they are saying (again, start making connections for the word sounds), and since its a movie you already watched, you'll have an idea of what they are talking about, and start making the connections.

 

[likeweb]

1. Watch movies, videos, etc in your target language.

ups, just noticed that mayana already beat me on this one, before posting my reply. Gracias!

 

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[The-J]

They say the minimum amount of time it takes a Westerner to become fluent at Japanese is 7 years in immersion, just because of the complexities of it. So get started NOW!

My theory is that 'fluency' isn't important. All that matters is that you know how to get your point across and you can understand others (to whom you would like to converse) trying to get their point across. Fluency just means that you can get more points across in different ways, which is only marginally useful.

Many successful businesspeople who live in the Anglophone countries don't speak 'fluent' English. They speak English. They can't talk about politics, religion, or medicine in English but they can negotiate in English.

treinjapan, you've been living in Japan for four years and I'm sure that you can speak Japanese to the point where you can talk about most things you care about. If you can do that, you are a Japanese speaker.

I've been speaking English all my life and there are still ideas I can't communicate or understand. I don't worry about those. I don't think you should, either.

I've heard the 7 years comment for all languages, even languages that English speakers find to be 'easy' like Dutch or Spanish. It's probably true.

Source: Speaking English all my life, speaking Spanish some of my life and studying Chinese. Had a conversational level in English and Spanish, but only sort of for both.

 

[Greystone]

1. Watch movies, videos, etc in your target language. (My sister taught herself Portuguese watching a Brazilian novela on YouTube and reading the Twilight series in Portuguese.).
2. Listen to music in the language. This was huge for me when I started learning.
3. Find a friend who ideally DOES NOT SPEAK ENGLISH. If you are learning a language that makes finding a friend who speaks that language difficult, the internet provides a great resource for this. Speak to this friend ONLY in that language.
4. Read magazines and books.
5. USE your language skills. Don't be afraid to mess up. No one will ever laugh at you

Totally true.

Watching videos on Youtubes is incredibly useful to learn a foreing language (documentaries, tw shows, songs, etc...).
Reading books is a good thing too to understand the grammar. Howerver, we have to becareful with the vocabulary used in it, as it's almost always not the same as the one people use in their every day life.

The French really love their language and they (still) think it's the most important language in the world.

Well, you're bit exagerating aren't you?