People learning/learnt remote languages...why?

[uss]

I study the Japanese language, the Japanese culture and Japanese writing, since they fascinate me beyond reason. [img]smile.gif[/img] But unfortunately since I live in Estonia, the only way I can study that is through some books that my father bought me for my birthday and the Internet, which includes all the Anime I can get off the net. Surprisingly enough, current studies are going quite smoothly. If I get to the university I want, I can take Japanese lessons there, so I'll keep on studying. [img]smile.gif[/img]
It's gonna take a long time 'til I really will be able to speak the language fluently. I love it though. Truthfully, I think that the Estonian language is actually closer to Japanese than it is to English.


Then I have Estonian.

Then I have English. I leart English for obvious reasons and I got most of it from TV. It's being studied from grades 2 or 3 to 12.

Then I have Russian. Russian is also a compulsory language in Estonia. People study it from grades 5 to 12.

Then I will be able to study either German or French in the tenth grade. I still haven't decided which one to choose - French fascinates me more but I hear German is a lot easier. I think I'll take French though, since the more you like a language, the more keen you are on studying it.


EDIT: Just so you'd know, once everything's done in Estonia, I plan on going to Japan to study.

[ 07-08-2004, 04:33 AM: Message edited by: uss ]

[Vaskez]

Well uss I'd choose between French and German very carefully. They are both major languages but useful in different parts of the world. In Europe, I'd say German is more important but worldwide French is more in use. As mentioned before, in Canada, and also I believe Afrikaans spoken in many African countries is very similar to French (though I could be talking crap, in which case someone please correct me). So worldwide, French is more useful. But now if I had another choice, I'd probably learn spanish next due to its use in Spain, Mexico and most of South America. Something tells me that I should practice my German and regain my French knowledge first though... bah I'm too lazy. The answer is to go on holiday a lot and not be able to speak to the locals - that should motivate you.

[johnny]

Well, if they're not able to reply in English, they're old moldy fossiles, so what's there to talk about anyway ? [img]graemlins/hehe.gif[/img]

[Larry_OHF]

In my opinion, anything is better than learning Spanish (sorry Larry), I know that would be beneficial to learn because of obvious reasons, but I just don't really care for it.

Ouch!
Hey...for me, Spanish is making me money. In this area, any white guy that can speak another language is god-like, and valuable. I speak Spanish and people nearly throw themselves at me for attention and assistance.

I wish to learn more languages, because I don't want to remain isolated from the world. This is why I love Ironworks so much; we have nearly every country represented here, from what our membership rolls say. Learning another language helps bring people closer.

[Black Baron]

You would never believe why i started to learn hebrew...

Now that is a rarely spoken language.

[J'aran]

Originally posted by Vaskez: and also I believe Afrikaans spoken in many African countries is very similar to French (though I could be talking crap, in which case someone please correct me).

Afrikaans is the name of a Dutch dialect spoken in South Africa. But I think you're right in that French is the main language in a lot of African countries.

[Vaskez]

Oh it's a Dutch not French dialect? Ok. I knew it was a dialect of an ex colonialist European country. At least I got something right though: French is useful in Africa.

[Cloudbringer]

When I started my study of Russian, we were in the middle of the cold war with the USSR. Russian was one of the 'exotic' and in demand languages at the time, so I figured I'd end up interpreting at the UN or translating in some fashion for the government.

Once I got to the university I pretty much decided I wasn't cut out for the UN work (boy is that TOUGH! VERY demanding and high stress work) and wasn't as interested in joining military service as I had been earlier. There was a fairly good sized Russian emigre population in the area (Solzhenitsyn was not far away and Ginsburg was in the area for a while)and I loved the language and was interested in the literature and culture so I continued my studies, thinking I might find work in business or school. So I ended up studying over in Russia (USSR) on two seperate occasions.

As it turns out, there is a fairly large emigre population in many parts of the US and I currently live near a 'high density' area. There are shops owned by emigre's that sell Russian goods and the local hospitals are always calling us for someone to interpret for patients in their care, likewise lawyer's offices and law enforcement agencies are always looking for assistance in the language. Albany (the state capitol) has a sister-city in Russia and quite a few ballet and other performance groups come through the area.

So all in all, it isn't so 'remote' a language for me.


I took German while at the University, mainly because it was also offered in the department where my Russian major was given. But it was one of those languages I became interested in after meeting friends of German background and I liked the culture and, LOL, the way the language sounds! Can't say as I've had as much call to use German as the Russian, but I may take up studying again, just for the fun of it. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[ 07-08-2004, 10:37 AM: Message edited by: Cloudbringer ]

[uss]

Originally posted by Vaskez: Well uss I'd choose between French and German very carefully. They are both major languages but useful in different parts of the world. In Europe, I'd say German is more important but worldwide French is more in use. As mentioned before, in Canada, and also I believe Afrikaans spoken in many African countries is very similar to French (though I could be talking crap, in which case someone please correct me). So worldwide, French is more useful. But now if I had another choice, I'd probably learn spanish next due to its use in Spain, Mexico and most of South America. Something tells me that I should practice my German and regain my French knowledge first though... bah I'm too lazy. The answer is to go on holiday a lot and not be able to speak to the locals - that should motivate you.

From what you're saying, I think I should stick with French, because I'm interested in going to Asia(Japan in particular) rather than Western-Europe. Also, French is quite different from Estonian, German and Japanese, but slightly similar to Chinese and English(in my opinion, at least). So it's quite exotic from an Estonian's point of view, but that means I'll also have a harder time learning it. Taking both French and Spanish would also be cool, but learning a new language takes lots of effort, so I'm not sure if I could keep up with 2 new languages(Bearing in mind that I'm already studying (English, Estonian,) Japanese and Russian).

[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.