Why should English speakers learn a foreign language?

[Amused]

Originally posted by: DevilsAdvocate
Actually, I halfway agree with you. Spanish is a waste of time. Chinese, Japanese and German would suit a person far better if they were going into the business world.

What?

Hispanics are the fastest growing demographic in the United States... What about NAFTA? Mercosur? Your underestimation of the importance of Latin America is grotesque...

And the vast majority of folks here are interested in IT careers. Tell me, how far in the global IT business will one get knowing Spanish, as opposed to the languages I listed?

 

[PsychoAndy]

Lets see...

Learning Spanish:
Pros - Growing number of hispanic communities (especially in Florida, California, and Texas) makes it important for people to know in order to improve interpersonnel skills. You're WAY more likely to see someone speaking Spanish than French or German as a first language.
Cons- Most people who actually speak spanish speak rapid fire, ala Telemundo or Univision, much too fast for gringos trying to speak it

Learning Latin:
Pros - Ability to derive meanings of words thru their Latin derivative, ability to derive meanings of other romance language words thru their Latin derivative, makes people think you're intellectual, ability to translate inscriptions on buildings, legal documents, and medical terminology
Cons - It's hard, requires lots of memorization, some words have 2+ meanings, and it's a dead, unspoken language (for the most part)

Seeing as if you're more likely to encounter someone speaking Spanish than Latin, i'd pick Spanish, unless you're looking to make people think you're smart. Besides, down here in Florida, you're not required to take foreign languages, it's suggested. But most people do, since colleges require it.

 

[nachiketa1]

Learn Sanskrit, the language used by the entire world thousands of years ago. It's the mother of all Indo-European languages, Latin, Greek, French, English, etc. It's considered a perfect language and even admired by Computer Scientists for use in programming because of its syntax. Although it's not spoken that much around the world, except in India, I would imagine the difficulty in learning it would be comparable to Latin.

Sanskrit in Ancient America?

 

[SnapIT]

Well... nah... it has already been answered...

However, if you really cannot figure out why you should learn a foreign language, then don't... it's not like you are smart enough to do business or travel or anything anyways...

 

[yakko]

Originally posted by: LanEvoVI
So to answer your question, English is not the first language in many foreign countries and learning a foreign language will make it much easier to get by in other places besides the US, the UK, and Australia.

You forgot Canadia.

 

[SmackdownHotel]

Originally posted by: woodie1
It took you 5 years to determine you were wasting your time?

LOL!

ROFL!

 

[Nefrodite]

Originally posted by: boi
Dang, 80% of my friends speak Spanish. Everytime they say a joke in Spanish, I don't understand them =(

well don't most south americans speak ghetto spanish anyways?


learn japanese. why? so you can watch more anime!!

The only useful language an English speaker should study is Latin.

more like one of the least useful...

 

[Siddhartha]

It is called getting an education.

 

[melly]

It is called getting an education.

 

[halik]

im european and i speak 5 languages last time i checked (most are slavic derivatives, then german and english).

i remember a joke that rather fitting:

What do you call a man speaking 2 languages?
Bilingual
What do you call a man speaking 1 language?













American

 

[Kipper]

Well...considering the fact that it opens more than a hundred possible career avenues up to you, it's very advantageous. If you want to deny yourself that opportunity, your prerogative. Incidentally, the prime age for learning languages is before the age of seven or around that time. The older you get the more difficult it is to master and learn languages, especially if you have not been exposed to them at an early age. As far as Latin is concerned, it's only valuable for its roots and vocabulary. Latin grammar has virtually no basis in any Indo-European language, and it is no longer spoken aside from the Catholic church.

 

[jaydee]

The reason that is it a "collosial" waste of time is attributed to the fact that they don't start you until your 13-14 years old, and in the next 3-5 years of your life you are expected to know it and be as fluent in it as someone that has lived in a country that has it as their first language. If it's so darn important, why not start in kindergarten with some verbal foreign language and increase it steadily adding some reading and writting until grade 8-9 where you'd have basic ideas then really get into the composition and intricacies of the language? Oh ya, K-2 your too busy cutting out construction paper and pasting them to popsicle sticks, there's no time to add something useful to the curriculum.

Do you know that by the age of 3, you've lost the ability to pronounce 50% of what you are originally capable of? Yet we start learning new languages in junior high? There's something wrong here.

 

[StattlichPassat]

Originally posted by: Riprorin
I studied Spanish for 4 years in HS and 1 year in college. What a collosial waste of time.

The only useful language an English speaker should study is Latin.

Agreed- I took 3 years of spanish in high school and can't remember jack. Not to be egotistical, but the English language is truly the universal language around the world. If anything (also agreed), we should learn Latin. If you live in the southwest U.S., I think spanish should be heavily encouraged, and french in the north. I'd like to learn German just for the heck of it.

 

[SOSTrooper]

My coworker speaks spanish, mandarin, and english fluently. I envy him.

But knowing 2 languages fluently is good as well. Me and my sister always talk sh*t about other ppl in the public in cantonese

 

[joohang]

Originally posted by: Riprorin
I studied Spanish for 4 years in HS and 1 year in college. What a collosial waste of time.

The only useful language an English speaker should study is Latin.

Because watching futbol in Spanish 0wn3z.

 

[Scipionix]

Originally posted by: AmusedOne
Actually, I halfway agree with you. Spanish is a waste of time. Chinese, Japanese and German would suit a person far better if they were going into the business world.

Anyone in the business world speaks English. It's the lingua franca of the world

 

[Scipionix]

Originally posted by: nachiketa1
Learn Sanskrit, the language used by the entire world thousands of years ago. It's the mother of all Indo-European languages, Latin, Greek, French, English, etc.

That's not true. Proto Indo-European is the mother of all Indo-European languages. Sanskrit is simply an earlier offshot of the original.

 

[burnedout]

<----CLEPed 2 years of German

There are a number of reasons why English speakers should learn a foreign language. Diversification, research, education and appreciation of other cultures to name a few.

What do you call a man speaking 1 language?

American

halik: LOL, I heard that remark quite often during my years in Germany. So sad, but true. Seemingly Americans, and to a certain degree the British, are widely criticized and ridiculed for their inability to speak another language other than English.

 

[joohang]

Originally posted by: nachiketa1
Learn Sanskrit, the language used by the entire world thousands of years ago. It's the mother of all Indo-European languages, Latin, Greek, French, English, etc. It's considered a perfect language and even admired by Computer Scientists for use in programming because of its syntax. Although it's not spoken that much around the world, except in India, I would imagine the difficulty in learning it would be comparable to Latin.

<a class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.viewzone.com/ancientsanskrit.htm" target=blank>Sanskrit in Ancient America?</A>

To write yet another computer language? Or to read ancient Indian religious scriptures?

 

[Scipionix]

Originally posted by: burnedout
<----CLEPed 2 years of German

There are a number of reasons why English speakers should learn a foreign language. Diversification, research, education and appreciation of other cultures to name a few.

What do you call a man speaking 1 language?

American

halik: LOL, I heard that remark quite often during my years in Germany. So sad, but true. Seemingly Americans, and to a certain degree the British, are widely criticized and ridiculed for their inability to speak another language other than English.

But we don't NEED to. Why should I learna language besides English when I can go to just about any major European city and get around just fine, or when English is the language of international business, IT, aviation, science, economics, etc.?

 

[AZGamer]

Originally posted by: LukFilm

Originally posted by: Riprorin I studied Spanish for 4 years in HS and 1 year in college. What a collosial waste of time. The only useful language an English speaker should study is Latin.

Ignorance at its best

You're political correctness at it's worst.

I am required to study Spanish in HS, and will never see a use for it. I live in AZ, many people speak Spanish only, but as a US citizen living in the US I will speak English only. Except for tourists, there's no excuse to speak Spanish to anyone here, and doing so encourages ignorance. If you're going to live here, you will speak English in official affairs.

As for traveling/IT jobs, name one spanish speaking country that isn't financially screwed?

 

[silverpig]

I took some latin in university. I was pretty good at it too, until I got bored with it and stopped going to class. Ah well.

Learn french and hit on all the ladies... that's about all I can think of

 

[burnedout]

Originally posted by: Scipionix

But we don't NEED to. Why should I learna language besides English when I can go to just about any major European city and get around just fine, or when English is the language of international business, IT, aviation, science, economics, etc.?

From our own perception of the world as Americans, your point has validity. English is indeed the primary language of international commerce and has no real viable alternative in the near term. Most of the developed world learns English as a second language.

However, should one desire to become more familiar with a particular culture from a perspective other than that of a tourist, a foreign language opens up so many more doors and opportunities. I could write volumes about how my knowledge of German greatly enhanced my experience in Europe. From little business deals with locals on the side to broadening my horizons academically to gettin' it with the l........, well, you know what I mean. Another example is that in some of the former Warsaw Pact countries, German is more widely understood than English. After all, the "curtain" fell less than 15 years ago.

 

[Scipionix]

Originally posted by: burnedout
From our own perception of the world as Americans, your point has validity. English is indeed the primary language of international commerce and has no real viable alternative in the near term. Most of the developed world learns English as a second language.

However, should one desire to become more familiar with a particular culture from a perspective other than that of a tourist, a foreign language opens up so many more doors and opportunities. I could write volumes about how my knowledge of German greatly enhanced my experience in Europe. From little business deals with locals on the side to broadening my horizons academically to gettin' it with the l........, well, you know what I mean. Another example is that in some of the former Warsaw Pact countries, German is more widely understood than English. After all, the "curtain" fell less than 15 years ago.

Oh I am not arguing that learning another language can help you understand and live in another culture, allow you to communicate with people outside of big cities, make you a more educated person, etc. I am just saying that, strictly speaking, it is not necessary, especially not for most of the BS reasons that people tell their kids.

 

[Cyberian]

especially not for most of the BS reasons that people tell their kids

Could you refresh me about what those BS reasons are?
Thanks!