What foreign language would you try to learn?
Asked by
dumitus (
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July 30th, 2012
I’m living in a world where English is the international one,
so I had to bite my teeth and learn it despite all the sacrifices.
But it’s still difficult to me.
I’ve recently started learning Chinese as well.
At first, It was such a boring language.
But now it’s sometimes more fun than English to study.
I also used to study Japanese and Hebrew.
French, I gave up in the process of learning alphabets.
Tapes alone were not enough for me pick up on vowels.
I couldn’t even write down a single syllable they were spitting out.
These experiences taught me that, if you’re studying a foreign
language, do it well and hard, because if you don’t, it’s no use.
which one would you study, despite all these trials and tribulations,
if you had to choose?
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17 Answers
I had Spanish in high school and college, but that was 30 years ago and I haven’t used it much since. So I just signed up for night class at the local community college, 6 hours a week for almost 4 months – I’m hoping to make real progress.
Spanish. It would be helpful to know in my community. I’m not a good language student. I can well with pronunciation, but I can’t remember the words.
Sign language isn’t universal—so I’d like to learn British Sign Language and German Sign Language. I already know snippets, but would love to be fluent.
I’d like to learn Spanish because I live in the western part of the US- it’s everywhere.
Norwegian. I got books and online resources, I’m pretty sure I could at least be able to ask where the bathroom is in Norwegian.
But when I learned how to speak English, it was by moving to a place where very little French was spoken, and I didn’t have a choice but to learn in order to get around. It’s pretty amazing how fast you can learn something, when you really require it in your everyday life.
Symbeline/ is there any advantage you have when you are good at Norwegian?
This question is pure out of curiosity.
Is your mother tongue French by the way? I think it’s a difficult language.
My SO has been learning French for the past two years, and yes, it is a difficult language to learn for many people.
As much as he would like me to learn it as well, and as beautiful as the language is, I just don’t think I’m up for the challenge. Like @syz, I would rather take another stab at Spanish.
Pied Pfeffer – do you think French is a beautiful language?
I heard some people say that. But when I watch a French movie
the pronunciations were too fast and too harsh, as if scratching my eardrums.
French songs are good to listen to. But when they speak on a daily basis,
it didn’t come to me as such a beautiful language.
@dumitus Oui. :)
Just like any language though, the person speaking it may sound harsh, as you say, or not meet the expectations of someone expecting to hear the stereotypical suave sound of a foreign language. My British bloke and his family all come from a rural region of England, and when they talk, I struggle to understand what they are saying, despite it being English. Their accent is not like the news reporters on BBC.
The SO would agree with you about struggling to understand what is being said in French films because it is spoken too quickly. Instead, he listens to a French news radio station where it often goes at a slower pace. I listen to it as well, and while I don’t understand any of it, it sounds beautiful to me.
@Pied_Pfeffer
Oh I see. I should try that French news accent.. never tried that before.
And I find it hard to believe even someone like you(having English as the mother tongue)
can have a hard time understanding someone else speaking English as his/her mother tongue.
Hm~ interesting… I watched a Scottish movie, train spotting.. and that was…
weird.
@Symbeline Here’s a cool phrase I learned in Norwegian:
Jeg er Antikrist
(Yay err ahn-tee-kree-st)
@Pied_Pfeffer
Thank God it’s not as widely spread now.
For I don’t have to study it to communicate with an English speaker.
@dumitus I don’t know, because I’m not good at Norwegian. However, I’d have to assume there are advantages to being able to speak the language. I see a lot of advantages to speaking French and English, so a third language can’t hurt. If I was in Scandinavia, especially Norway of course, knowing the language would obviously have its advantages. I’d like to learn it fully just because I think it sounds so neat though haha. It’s an interesting language.
Old Norse would kick ass to know, too, but that will be a story for another day.
@Michael_Huntington lol
Terrible with languages, although I studied French, Spanish, and Latin in college.
Probably Spanish, partly because of where I live/grew up, and partly because it’d be a very useful language to know these days.
@Symbeline Yeah Norwegian sounds unique. But I’d go for Svenska. haha
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