Regrets

[jfab]

Is there a language that you regret learning? If there is, would you share it to us? And also why did you regret learning it?

[Elly]

I think that the only reason I would regret learning a language is if it displaced learning another language that would have been useful.

In that sense, I sort of regret learning English quite so much because it allowed me to live abroad without taking full advantage of the language immersion. I was naturally shy and painfully self-conscious, so I hated to have to talk to other people even in English, let alone a less familiar language. On the other hand, fluency in English is practically the only thing that gives me any edge where I am now, so I can't regret it.

When this one school that I was enrolled in finally got foreign languages as an extracurricular, I was dead set on learning French. My sister wanted to learn Spanish, but thought that it would be better for us to practice with one another, so she switched to French too. She's blamed me since then whenever she's come across a Spanish-speaking client and would be unable to communicate. I have to say, that I've forgotten most of what I learned in French class too...except perhaps for how to learn a language, which was far more methodical than my Indonesian lessons.

I regret being taught Bahasa Indonesia, too, although that wasn't a choice... It's just that, I'm sure that I would have been open to learning it eventually, but I ran into the mean girls in high school and they'd switch to Indonesian to gossip about me so it just wasn't a language I was interested in learning.

If my teachers had taught me Javanese and Carakan, though, I would have pushed for fluency so hard and maybe would have re-gained enough confidence to work on my Bahasa.

[Trellum]

I only regret having wasted my time in old Norse and Norwegian.  In the end learning Norwegian did nothing for me really.  Sadly I didn't get to use the little Norwegian I learnt back then, because I ended up going back home, because after that I had no use for it and couldn't practice it anymore.

Now I'm stuck learning another language I will surely use a lot, I know back then I had no idea I'd need to learn dutch in the future, but I wish I had invested that time on improving my English pronunciation and listening skills, as well as my orthography!

[Lasonax]

Well, I partly regret all the energy I spent into learning German.

I honestly have no use for it at all, but I suppose I couldn't choose anything else... So I pretty much had no choice either way. If I didn't study German, I would have studied french or spanish, because it was compulsory. (which is incredibly silly to be honest)

If I could dream, it would of course have been awesome if I spent that time learning something more useful. But then again, I don't ever regret anything. What I did before shaped me into who I am today, and even changing something as simple as which language I took, could completely have changed who I am today. I always think about how little it would have taken for me to not get interested in anime. All that would have been needed would have been like, a little breeze in the flow of time, and i wouldn't have watched that episode that started it all... So, changing what language I took back then, could have changed everything!

[anna3101]

I do regret the time spent on my Old English and Goth classes. I'm not a fan of languages that are no longer used, and I hated linguistic tasks related to these two with a vengeance. Explaining why the word X used to look like Y using all kinds of incredibly complicated "laws" and "rules" was pure nightmare for me. It did not feel like learning but more like torture.

Latin was better because I could see more sense in it but still, it never felt right - to learn a language you can't speak with anybody. That's just not my piece of cake.

[Chris_A]

I think, no language that you start learning should make you feel sorry for attempting to learn it. Even if you only got to the point to ask for a beer at a local pub, it is still something that maybe other people don`t know how to say in a certain language. I, personally, have no regrets trying to learn a language but failing. I still got off with a few useful sentences that I could use when visiting a certain country.

[宇崎ちゃん]

Turkish, I realised how useless it was to me.
Because:
1. Turks won't let you learn their language, because they're too impatient.
2. Pretty much all Turkish people in the Netherlands speak Dutch to me any way, no matter how far I force them to speak Turkish.

[KimmyMarkks]

I wish I can say I had a language I regretted learning.  For me my biggest regret is not learning a second language.  Although I studied a language for 8 years in high school I didn't use it much and forgot almost everything I learned.  I think it takes time and determination to learn a foreign language, especially at my age.

[Miya]

I've never regretted learning a language and I never will. I love learning languages. It's my hobby. I am happy to learn any language because I'm interested in linguistics and stuff. 

I only regret not learning a language fully... as in not becoming 100% fluent in it. 

[lushlala]

I too have never regretted learning French and Italian, simply because I love both languages. I didn't learn them with hopes of getting anything out of it further than the ability to speak them and to also learn something about the people, the culture and a little history around each. I guess you could say that I learnt them and still have a huge interest in them purely for my own personal pleasure and enrichment. Over the years, I've also made Italian and French friends, so in the end it's not been for nothing. They all speak good English, but the little of their languages that I know, has come in handy in certain situations. So no regrets whatsoever

[hungary93]

I do regret certain choices from high school.

I had four years of free education on my hands, so I could have learned German in a breeze. But I was so rude and hated the german language, now I could have another language exam instead of the ability of very few and mildly sexual sentences in German.