Kitty-82 Posted February 7, 2016 Report Share Posted February 7, 2016 What made some of you want to learn a new language? Were you moving, curious, or just needed something to do? I wanted to learn another language because I wanted a new skill, and prove to myself that I could do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R34Linguist Posted February 7, 2016 Report Share Posted February 7, 2016 I had to learn Tamil so that I could communicate with my relatives. My parents are from India, but I was born and brought up in America, so I had no real exposure to the language. I eventually picked it up through watching movies and taking some classes. It also helped that a lot of our friends spoke the language and I was able to be in a nurturing environment. Kitty-82 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catincamden Posted February 17, 2016 Report Share Posted February 17, 2016 Same! I want to learn Cantonese and/or Teochew so I can speak with my relatives. My parents never spoke either dialect to me, and I never really got round to learning - because learning it from books and in classes just felt weird. I learned French in school because we had the option to It was an optional thing in our secondary school education and I figured, well, lots of people speak French, so why not! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard.H Posted March 14, 2016 Report Share Posted March 14, 2016 I started with English already in pre-school. So I don't really count that has that being my choice As for the other languages... The next one was Japanese, in 2008. I was preparing for my school-leaving exam. Not 100% sure what those are called, but basically the final exams before you graduate from high school. Back then I was super dedicated student so I was preparing really hard since the beginning of the school year. Well, understandably, by the end of the school year I was really really sick of studying and preparing for it the exam. It was so bad I was willing to study something else just as long as it wasn't school-related (after I did all my laundry and sorted out my socks 3 times of course :)). So I was like "hey, how about I learn another language? You know, just for fun, see what's it like." Little did I know how obsessed I would become in the coming years. Adding Chinese and Korean to my Japanese studies. And FYI, I chose Japanese simply because I was watching a lot of Anime at the time and I figured "hey, that's kinda cool language, and like nobody speaks it around here (meaning Czech); that's the perfect language for me!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victionicious Posted March 16, 2016 Report Share Posted March 16, 2016 I've had an interest in Japanese culture and the language since the age of around 13, and with the increasing number of Japanese (and most languages!) learning apps, I thought I'd give JA Sensei a try on the Play Store. I installed it on my tablet and I've been making steady progress through all of the basics for a few months now. I'm really enjoying it! I think when you're in education you don't want to 'learn' when you get home, but once I started working at a helpdesk I find myself having a lot more motivation to learn music and languages. The idea of training a skill at your own pace is amazing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reverserewind Posted March 16, 2016 Report Share Posted March 16, 2016 The Italian culture, I guess. I've been a huge fan of Italy for a long period of time. I've travelled there 4 times and each one was amazing and not similar to the previous. Coffee, pizza, fashion, films, music, literature, architecture, art... this country has a long list or areas where they had a huge success. I liked the local people, too. However, most of them do not speak English fluently. Sure, you can have a simple conversation with them in English. However, in order to connect with them on a deeper level you have to know their language. Which is fun, btw. I love how it sounds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trellum Posted March 17, 2016 Report Share Posted March 17, 2016 I started to learn Dutch because I am moving to the Netherlands with my fiance. We want to start a family, and I want to find a job there as soon as possible. Currently we are waiting for the approval of my MVV (so hard!). Once the waiting is over we can be together But I really need to learn dutch well in order to integrate well to the country. That and i want to be able to understand my children fully (once we have them) when they speak dutch to their dad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lingua Franca Posted March 17, 2016 Report Share Posted March 17, 2016 I remember wanting to learn German after meeting some very friendly neighbors and wanting to communicate with them. i also saw some German shows that were dubbed and i felt that I was missing out on the real meaning of them. There were certain things in the shows that just didn't make sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roger1003 Posted March 18, 2016 Report Share Posted March 18, 2016 I wanted to learn a new language because it's a skill. In a world where changes are abrupt, it's always a must that we keep our skills up to date. In my country, if you know how to speak Spanish, you can get a job that is 4 or 5 times the minimum wage. You will have a salary of a manager right away because the language premium the company pays you is much higher than your basic salary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djordje87 Posted March 18, 2016 Report Share Posted March 18, 2016 I believe it is fundamental for bright future to learn everything we can and especially new languages. They open new doors and it is much easier to function in any environment. People are dependent on those who understand language they don't but they should. It is useful in so many levels and I always encourage myself to learn. I haven't been able to learn too many too well but I will and I am going to do it one way or another. Acquiring information about everything around me is what I do so if I want to do that speaking other languages then these I already speak is a must. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaiiren Posted March 21, 2016 Report Share Posted March 21, 2016 This sounds really embarrassing, but I have to come out with it eventually, I suppose. I've watched Anime for quite some time now, subbed. And then one day I thought to myself, "Dang, I'm watching so much of this stuff subbed, literally 100s of hours... why don't I just learn the frigging language already?" So, that's what I decided to do Because, otherwise it'd be a bit embarrassing, really, to be watching 100s of hours of something in a foreign language, yet not be able to speak that language itself. That's just my personal opinion though ~_^Y Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
111kg Posted March 21, 2016 Report Share Posted March 21, 2016 Well, I am looking forward to studying medicine and I have no income, nor can I apply for student loans. There is a part time job possibility for the German speaking students that would allow me to work during the weekends, which is kind of cool if you ask me. Therefore, I don't want to learn German, I have to learn German. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teira Eri Posted March 21, 2016 Report Share Posted March 21, 2016 On 2/7/2016 at 6:22 AM, Kitty-82 said: What made some of you want to learn a new language? Were you moving, curious, or just needed something to do? I wanted to learn another language because I wanted a new skill, and prove to myself that I could do it. For me, learning Japanese was contingent with a deep, heartfelt desire to 'go home.' I can only describe this drive to go to Japan as one that welled up slowly, like homesickness. Learning the language was something I needed to do if I planned on truly visiting the country and eventually live in it. So, I did. Oddly, I developed a rapid connection to the language. Going to language school in Shinjuku, Tokyo also helped cement my love of Japanese and the culture. Presently, I'm attempting to learn French because I want to visit one day. I also simply love the way it sounds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CyanHeart Posted March 22, 2016 Report Share Posted March 22, 2016 My reasons are a bit silly. I was working on a story for a really long time that takes place in 18th century Germany and I felt I wanted to get in my characters head a lot more. And the even more sillier reason is that I'm very vain and would love to tell people that I speak 3 foreign languages. The only non-silly answer is that I just love languages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DivaDee Posted March 23, 2016 Report Share Posted March 23, 2016 The main reason I learn specific languages, is mostly I would like to travel so I can visit/live in that specific country that speaks those languages, plus not only that I would like to experience their culture... So yeah... Traveling and Culture, my two main reasons... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris_A Posted March 24, 2016 Report Share Posted March 24, 2016 For me it was the love for new languages and curiosity as well. I really enjoy communicating with people, and breaking the language barrier by learning new languages was the way to go for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Topically Different Posted March 24, 2016 Report Share Posted March 24, 2016 The media. As we all know, the English language is king of moviemaking and pop culture, and I was incredibly curious to cut out the middleman of translation and dubbing and get to the heart of that culture by myself. Similarily, when it came to Japanese culture, and (yeah I know, really superficial, but...) Anime, I've come to distrust subtitling and dubbing, and the subtlety and nuance that gets lost in that whole process, and therefore I had no other choice but to learn the language, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sillylucy Posted March 25, 2016 Report Share Posted March 25, 2016 I wanted to learn Italian because I had a very cute Italian boyfriend. I wanted to impress his mother with some of the Italian phrases that I knew. Then I found out that he was cheating on me (or at least interested in another woman who was Japanese) so that relationship ended and then I went on to learn Spanish for my job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VinayaSpeaks Posted March 25, 2016 Report Share Posted March 25, 2016 Learning English was not my choice. English language was a compulsory subject in school, college and the university. Currently, English language is my working language. When I was in college, I took interest in French language and joined a language skills. Even though because of time constrains, I dropped the French language class, I continued learning the language on my own. My love for French is because of France's progressive history, French cuisine and French culture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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