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What sparked your desire to learn another language?


deathbyprayer

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Of course its cool to learn another language but what really made you push though into learning a new one? Most of us might say that "Oh I studied Italian because I'm going to Italy soon" but other than that, what lead you into thinking that "Hey, I really want to learn how to write and speak this language"?

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Hasn't a thread like this been made like 5000 times before? Haha...

I'll just say what I've said in every other thread like this:

I started learning english because it's part of the curriculum. Really, that's it.

I started learning german because it's part of the curriculum. Yep, that too. (I did have a choice between Spanish, French and German, but you HAD to pick one.)

I started learning Japanese because I'm heavily interested in japanese culture and entertainment. My goal is to be able to watch drama/anime, read novels/manga/visual novels, in japanese. I have no intention of speaking the language myself, but those skills might be picked up on anyway.

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I have long been intrigued on being a linguist and it has always been my passion to get to know other cultures and customs. I do love communicating. And I am eager to learn more so I'm into language studying.

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Aside from the fact that it gives me edge to know how to speak in many different languages or a new language but what sparked my interest was when I fell in love. She speaks in another language which is Tagalog so I needed to learn that!

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Being able to connect with those around me. I grew up in Texas and I have plenty of friends that are of Spanish descent. I felt love their culture and I feel like they are the fastest growing population and I want to be able to communicate with my neighbors effectively. It is exciting to learn as well! :party:

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The one thing that drove me to learn a language was so I could speak to my grandfather. My grandfather doesn't know but a few words of English, so I have never really been able to have a conversation with him. Slowly but surely we are talking more and more everyday that passes.

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My desire for learning a new language started back in high school. I can say I had the desire because I studied hard and did well because I wanted to master the languages so badly. I also see where some students were not interested and paid little or no attention in those classes but I always thought of it that everyone should know more than just their native language.

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To me language is beautiful. I love hearing Latin, Spanish, French, and Italian. Their language has an aspect that seems romantic which is what makes it seem beautiful. Language also intrigues me because it introduces you to a variety of cultures but many people don't notice that. It's also good to learn different languages because you basically carry on the tradition of that culture. It's sad to know that there are languages that disappear from earth and it is something that can never be recovered which is why its very important and invaluable.

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My desire to learn English was super random, lol. One day I just started paying attention to the things people on the yahoo chat were typing and saying on the mic.  That' how everything started for me.  From that point on I just started learning and earning more English without even knowing it or trying it.  I just wanted to be able to communicate with others in English!  I thought it was so cool.

As for dutch... my boyfriend is my main inspiration to learn it. Since we want a life together in the Netherlands, I need to learn the language for that to be possible.  So... my desire to learn dutch is more like a need to do so. I feel kinda pressed to do so.

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Hasn't a thread like this been made like 5000 times before? Haha...

I'll just say what I've said in every other thread like this:

I started learning english because it's part of the curriculum. Really, that's it.

I started learning german because it's part of the curriculum. Yep, that too. (I did have a choice between Spanish, French and German, but you HAD to pick one.)

I started learning Japanese because I'm heavily interested in japanese culture and entertainment. My goal is to be able to watch drama/anime, read novels/manga/visual novels, in japanese. I have no intention of speaking the language myself, but those skills might be picked up on anyway.

Hahahaha!!!!  Yeah, this kind of thread is made often, lol.  Always with a different selection or words or just a plain different word order.  But it's interesting, because most of the old threads on the subject are buried deeply beneath pages and pages, so this way the new forum members get the chance to have a say on this mega popular subject, lol.

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One of the motivating factors in learning another language is the necessity. If you go to a foreign place and you don't know the language, that's where need creeps in. Survival is really hard without knowing the local dialect. And hence stemmed our need to learn new languages.

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Aside from the fact that it gives me edge to know how to speak in many different languages or a new language but what sparked my interest was when I fell in love. She speaks in another language which is Tagalog so I needed to learn that!

That is so romantic. And, she speaks another language. It is amazing how that can happen. That is a good motivation!

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My desire to learn English was super random, lol. One day I just started paying attention to the things people on the yahoo chat were typing and saying on the mic.  That' how everything started for me.  From that point on I just started learning and earning more English without even knowing it or trying it.  I just wanted to be able to communicate with others in English!  I thought it was so cool.

As for dutch... my boyfriend is my main inspiration to learn it. Since we want a life together in the Netherlands, I need to learn the language for that to be possible.  So... my desire to learn dutch is more like a need to do so. I feel kinda pressed to do so.

I see your English as being perfect. How long did it take you to get this far and what other methods did you use to study the language?

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In the US we and not forced to become fluent an a second language. I always thought it was intriguing how people from other countries could easily speak two or even three languages. I think it would be nice to be able to communicate with people from different places in their lanuage.

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  • 4 weeks later...

For me it's just plain curiosity, I wanted to understand what my favorite German band is saying in their songs, so I decided to learn their language. As for learning Spanish, I'm just curious as well, after all, the Philippines was colonized by Spain for 300 years, so some of our words are derived from Spanish. Our culture is also mostly influenced by the Spaniards.

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I haven't quite learned the language that I wanted to learn yet. But I can tell you why I wanted to.

When I'm looking to learn a new language, it's simply because of interest. Just like a lot of people, I'd want to learn a new language and speak it because I think it sounds cool. There's some languages out there that have a pretty nice accent. I think that you can develop an accent over time if you keep speaking the language. But the main reason to learn a new language is curiosity of course.

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well because of the accents really, i love german and french accents and i visit the countries regularly so i have to know a decent amount anyway.

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Of course its cool to learn another language but what really made you push though into learning a new one?

There's no single particular reason for me.  I love learning and it doesn't matter what it is (well, except math  :laugh: )  but some learning is more fun than other learning.  I consider tackling a new language to be one of the "fun" ones!

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  • 1 month later...

I'd say it's my curiosity to learn about the culture of different countries. I would love to travel the world someday and learning a foreign language would definitely be of help. I also want to be able to read a novel in a foreign language other than English.

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  My reasons for learning another language stem from the fact that I teach one.

  Being an ESL Teacher, I am also doing my best to be ever aware of how to improve my teaching skills. A great way to do this is learning the language of the country you are to teaching in.

  When I was in Korea, I learned Korean. In Thailand, Thai. Granted, I just learn survival communication, but that counts for something.

I still love to travel, so I won't be fluent in any single language until I decide where I'm going to settle in for the duration.

  Brazil sounds nice..

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This might seem crazy, but the bible was my inspiration. Why? Because I remember this time when I was reading a passage, do not remeber exactly which one, and there I read something like: Even when I can speak every language of earth, if I have no love, I am nothing. These are not the exact words of course. That was the moment when I said to myself: what if I could speak any language of the world? It all started there.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I was motivated to learn Korean because I used to work for a Korean company. I was an online editor there and part of my job includes editing essays submitted by Korean students who are learning English. One time, I wondered why some of the students were having a hard time constructing sentences in English. I figured out that the construct of the Korean language is very different from that of English. To understand their difficulties, I decided to study Korean.

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Not really an interest more of necessity. I went to France last year and I have to idea about the language, I don't even know a single French word so I was determined to learn the language and not make a fool of myself when I come back to France next year. I also made a lot of French friends on my visit and I would really want to talk to them in their native tongue.

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