People learning/learnt remote languages...why?

[johnny]

Originally posted by Vaskez: LOL I don't know where you got the idea that French is similar to Chinese (and unfortunately these things are not a matter of opinion LOL). But it is a little bit similar to English, yes, although it's more similar to other languages in its linguistic group such as spanish and italian. English is in the same linguistic group as German and Dutch etc. so you'd find German easier to learn knowing English.

I think he means that they both sound a little froggish.

[Gabrielles blades]

Im trying to learn japanese because i watch a lot of anime and i want to go on vacation some day to japan.

So far i know only around 15 or so words, so itll be a loooong time for me to master the language. Im going to enroll in courses for it at the main UCF campus after i graduate from the rosen college campus. Hopefully i will have the gumption to pull it off. If i know myself i know i get put off of things that seem overwhelming. Ah well.

I learned spanish in my high school to meet the required foreign language thing for college, thinking back now i wish i had gone out of my way and learned japanese instead. It might not have been such a good thing for my grades because it is a harder language, but then i would have been much better off learning it because the younger you learn it the better you are/can be with it later.

I never did get really good at spanish because my listening skills arent top notch. I have a real hard time actively translating a foreign language. I suppose eventually it would become something i wouldnt need to translate to understand. Of course i also have a sometimes have a hard time with english which is my native language - mostly because some people seem to speak more rapidly than my brain can interpret. I suppose im just kinda slow with verbal communication. I was better at the written communication in spanish than i was with the spoken, but im horrid at word order and grammer because it is opposite from the english word order and grammer. If i had taken more than 2 classes of it i suppose i would have become better at it - or atleast i hope i have the potential to become better at it.

[uss]

Originally posted by Vaskez: LOL I don't know where you got the idea that French is similar to Chinese (and unfortunately these things are not a matter of opinion LOL).

By that, I meant the pronounciation. Believe me.. If you heard Japanese and Chinese at the same time and then tried that with French and Chinese, you'd also think Chinese-French sound similar.

Originally posted by Vaskez: But it is a little bit similar to English, yes, although it's more similar to other languages in its linguistic group such as spanish and italian.

Yes it is, but I was talking about the languages we were talking about. / [img]tongue.gif[/img]

Originally posted by Vaskez: English is in the same linguistic group as German and Dutch etc. so you'd find German easier to learn knowing English.

Yeah, true that. But French is also quite similar to English. All in all, yeah, German would be easier and French would be more interesting(in my opinion).

[uss]

Johnny, I'm sorry to say that you're kinda right.

Originally posted by Gabrielles blades: So far i know only around 15 or so words, so itll be a loooong time for me to master the language. Im going to enroll in courses for it at the main UCF campus after i graduate from the rosen college campus. Hopefully i will have the gumption to pull it off. If i know myself i know i get put off of things that seem overwhelming. Ah well.

I assume that baka and kuso are among those 15 or so words, yes? What words do you know exactly, anyway? [img]smile.gif[/img]

Hmm, I just thought of something: Which of us should have more diffictuly studying Japanese - You(again, I assume), whose first language is English, or me, whose first language is Estonian, but studies Japanese completely through English? Guess one would have to speak English and Estonian fluently, and know basic stuff about Japanese, to answer that, so nevermind.

[Dirty Meg]

I know how to order beer in seven different languages and I know how to say 'faster potato-head' in German and 'to infinity and beyond' in Latin.
People who actually bother to learn a language for a college course are wasting their time. Just say you speak Esperanto or Linear A. Who's gonna check?

[Vaskez]

LOL that's the biggest load of BS I've seen in a post in the last week, DM Sounds like somebody struggles with languages and is bitter about it I doubt anyone else in the world will back up your view that learning languages is a waste of time.

[Cloudbringer]

Originally posted by Dirty Meg: I know how to order beer in seven different languages and I know how to say 'faster potato-head' in German and 'to infinity and beyond' in Latin. People who actually bother to learn a language for a college course are wasting their time. Just say you speak Esperanto or Linear A. Who's gonna check?

Actually, many employers do these days. I know someone who lied on their resume and got a good job and thought they were home free...next thing you know someone did some checking and they were unemployed and unable to find work.

A Professor at the university lied about authoring some obscure texts on a subject in her field. Her colleagues figured out she wasn't able to discuss those areas and someone did the legwork to determine the articles she had on her resume didn't exist. Of course, I suppose I should add, in all fairness, that same prof had been the dean of the largest college (21 departments) as well as teaching within the university for a few years before anyone caught on. But now she's got alot of bad press in her field (lying about publications is one sure way to never work in academia again)and is going to have to change careers to make a living.

Our office checks credentials before the final hiring papers go out. I'm one of the people who has to track down whether or not a potential hire has the degrees that they claim they do and we usually ask for transcripts with the resumes of finalists for a position.

[ 07-09-2004, 08:45 AM: Message edited by: Cloudbringer ]

[Dirty Meg]

Originally posted by Vaskez: Sounds like somebody struggles with languages and is bitter about it

It does indeed sound like that. Judging from your posts, that somebody is you, and that language is English.
I didn't say learning a language is a waste of time, I said learning a language for a college course is a waste of time because you can get away with pretending.

[Aerich]

Originally posted by Dirty Meg: quote: Originally posted by Vaskez: Sounds like somebody struggles with languages and is bitter about it

It does indeed sound like that. Judging from your posts, that somebody is you, and that language is English.
I didn't say learning a language is a waste of time, I said learning a language for a college course is a waste of time because you can get away with pretending. [/QUOTE]Shouldn't that smack on Vaskez at least have a smiley with it? What's wrong with his English?

Learning languages in college/university courses is not a waste of time, if you do the research to find one that will challenge your fluency level. Yes, you can probably get away with pretending, but what's the point of that?

You can actually do that in many university courses, but if you're paying for it...

[Vaskez]

Yeah as soon as I posted I knew that'd be your defense, Meg. It was the only possible one you could come up with. [img]tongue.gif[/img] I couldn't be bothered to change my post, besides what fun would that be? That's all she was referring to Aerich - she thinks I misunderstood her post, but she doesn't know me very well yet - I chose to post as though I had misunderstood it just for a laugh.

[ 07-09-2004, 02:00 PM: Message edited by: Vaskez ]