Why should English speakers learn a foreign language?

[Scipionix]

Originally posted by: Cyberian

especially not for most of the BS reasons that people tell their kids

Could you refresh me about what those BS reasons are?
Thanks!

Like "Everyone in California speaks Spanish so you should learn Spanish." Or "learning Latin will help you understand English better."

 

[incallisto]

The positive reasons for speaking, writing, or even just studying foreign languages are limiteless. Most of the greatest minds in history and today spoke or are speaking multiple languages.

IRC Translation:

<VncleTim> cuz bilingual (spelling?) will get you hot dates with xtremely h0tt babes who have a shapely buttocks
<aZn-niss4n> whirred

 

[Chiboy]

Damn it I hate learing spanish so damn much!! I still havent passed Spanish 1 & Iam a senior yes I got lots of Spanish to take during next summer. Ahhhhhhh Damn the School Board! Damn them to hell!

 

[DevilsAdvocate]

Amusedone -

And the vast majority of folks here are interested in IT careers. Tell me, how far in the global IT business will one get knowing Spanish, as opposed to the languages I listed?

Your statement was horribly overgeneralized... I just disagree with it. Not everybody here is going IT and to call it a total waste of time for anybody is simply foolish.

Many people will never need to learn a foreign language... then again many people live in a small world... their only connection to the outside world is a little forum-turned-chatroom called ATOT.

The world does not begin and end with IT. Try to remember that... The world is out there. English is the lingua franca of the world, however there are some realities of the business world - such as salesmanship and customer service - where knowledge of your customer's language is crucial. It gives the customer the illusion that you care

Your narrow viewpoint ignores this... I respectfully vehemently disagree.

 

[StinkyPinky]

I learned Latin at high school and it was a complete waste of time. Now I can barely remember a single word and I spent three years learning it.

It's not like I can walk up to good ol' Julius and ask him how's it hanging in flawless Latin.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

I think people should learn Canadian..

 

[StinkyPinky]

To me Canadians and Americans sound exactly the same. I can't tell the difference between the accents. Sorry :-D

 

[Scipionix]

Originally posted by: StinkyPinky
To me Canadians and Americans sound exactly the same. I can't tell the difference between the accents. Sorry :-D

You gotta smoke 'em oot.

 

[EXman]

Why should English speakers learn a foreign language

So they can get the order right at the drive through. sorry that is bad.

 

[Cyberian]

"learning Latin will help you understand English better."

And this is not true?

I thought that just over half of English words came directly/indirectly from Latin.
Studying Latin has sure helped me with my English.

 

[Scipionix]

Originally posted by: Cyberian And this is not true?
I thought that just over half of English words came directly/indirectly from Latin.
Studying Latin has sure helped me with my English.

No, it's not really true. Our vocabulary comes from Old English and older French languages mostly. I think that if the only goal were to improve one's English, one would make better use of one;s time by studying English.

 

[Cyberian]

Originally posted by: Scipionix

Originally posted by: Cyberian And this is not true?
I thought that just over half of English words came directly/indirectly from Latin.
Studying Latin has sure helped me with my English.

No, it's not really true. Our vocabulary comes from Old English and older French languages mostly. I think that if the only goal were to improve one's English, one would make better use of one;s time by studying English.

I still think that many/most words in English come (indirectly) from Latin, through other languages, which is what I thought I indicated.
Of course one can learn more about English by studying that particular language.
Having a basis in an earlier language can hardly hurt.

Think of agricola, patria, frater, soror, rex, amor, etc.

 

[Scipionix]

Originally posted by: CyberianI still think that many/most words in English come (indirectly) from Latin, through other languages, which is what I thought I indicated.
Of course one can learn more about English by studying that particular language.
Having a basis in an earlier language can hardly hurt.

Think of agricola, patria, frater, soror, rex, amor, etc.

Yep, which have nothing at all to do with farmer, country, brother, king, or love not sure about sister

 

[Orsorum]

Originally posted by: Scipionix

Originally posted by: CyberianI still think that many/most words in English come (indirectly) from Latin, through other languages, which is what I thought I indicated.
Of course one can learn more about English by studying that particular language.
Having a basis in an earlier language can hardly hurt.

Think of agricola, patria, frater, soror, rex, amor, etc.

Yep, which have nothing at all to do with farmer, country, brother, king, or love not sure about sister

? Logic?

 

[Scipionix]

Originally posted by: Zakath15

Originally posted by: Scipionix

Originally posted by: CyberianI still think that many/most words in English come (indirectly) from Latin, through other languages, which is what I thought I indicated.
Of course one can learn more about English by studying that particular language.
Having a basis in an earlier language can hardly hurt.

Think of agricola, patria, frater, soror, rex, amor, etc.

Yep, which have nothing at all to do with farmer, country, brother, king, or love not sure about sister

? Logic?

Try a Latin-English dictionary, son.

 

[burnedout]

Originally posted by: Scipionix

Originally posted by: Cyberian And this is not true?
I thought that just over half of English words came directly/indirectly from Latin.
Studying Latin has sure helped me with my English.

No, it's not really true. Our vocabulary comes from Old English and older French languages mostly. I think that if the only goal were to improve one's English, one would make better use of one;s time by studying English.

Yes, much of the current English vocabulary evolved from Old English and French. Old English evolved from old German. When the tribes discovered the new island way back when, they aptly named it "Angol Land" which became England. German is really cool as it holds many keys to Old English. Most living languages evolve over time anyway.

Speaking of language evolution - another less known but accepted theory involves the accents of New Englanders here in the USA. Their respective accent hasn't really evolved much since the landing at Plymouth Rock although the primary accent found in the UK has. Read about this in an article published by a couple of British professors some years ago. Interesting read.

 

[Cyberian]

Yep, which have nothing at all to do with farmer, country, brother, king, or love not sure about sister

Try agriculture, patriot, fraternity, sorority, reign, amorous.
Thank you.
Please play again.

 

[Orsorum]

Originally posted by: Scipionix

Try a Latin-English dictionary, son.

I had one around here... I studied Latin for a brief time, years ago...Damn my bad memory.

 

[Scipionix]

Originally posted by: Cyberian

Yep, which have nothing at all to do with farmer, country, brother, king, or love not sure about sister

Try agriculture, patriot, fraternity, sorority, reign, amorous.
Thank you.
Please play again.

But that's not what those words mean. Anyway, how about you try sit, eat, sleep, climb, ride, run, walk, dog, heart, fire, water, land, and son.

 

[Orsorum]

Originally posted by: Cyberian

Yep, which have nothing at all to do with farmer, country, brother, king, or love not sure about sister

Try agriculture, patriot, fraternity, sorority, reign, amorous.
Thank you.
Please play again.

That's kinda what I was getting at. The English language is a hybrid language, from what I can tell... it has its roots as a germanic language, but it's taken on a lot of hybrid words from the romance languages as well.

If you're implying that the roots in latin have nothing to do with their derivations in English, I suggest you take a basic grammar and vocabulary course.

 

[Ranger X]

Why should English speakers learn a foreign language?

Obviously you haven't traveled out of this country much, have you? I felt like I was at such a disadvantage while traveling because I didn't know the language. I speak two and I came across many people who spoke 4-6 languages. Foreign countries require that they take English as a requirement while attending primary/secondary schools. I feel it is important to know more than 1 language to be able to communicate with the business world.

 

[Orsorum]

Originally posted by: Ranger X

Why should English speakers learn a foreign language?

Obviously you haven't traveled out of this country much, have you? I felt like I was at such a disadvantage while traveling because I didn't know the language. I speak two and I came across many people who spoke 4-6 languages. Foreign countries require that they take English as a requirement while attending primary/secondary schools. I feel it is important to know more than 1 language to be able to communicate with the business world.

I have a foreign exchange Spanish teacher boarding at my mom's house at the moment... he's a native-born Spaniard... he can speak five languages fluently, I believe, plus a smattering of most any other language I can think of.

He, honestly, has a better command of the English language and its intricasies than I do.

 

[Scipionix]

Originally posted by: Zakath15
That's kinda what I was getting at. The English language is a hybrid language, from what I can tell... it has its roots as a germanic language, but it's taken on a lot of hybrid words from the romance languages as well.

If you're implying that the roots in latin have nothing to do with their derivations in English, I suggest you take a basic grammar and vocabulary course.

Thank you for not insulting my education as I implied nothing of the sort. I think "getting a better understanding of English" is a pretty weak reason to learn Latin. How about liking Latin literature? That seems far better to me. Our language is somewhat unique in that it often has synonyms with completley different roots, e.g. one with a Germanic root and one with a Romance root. Now if someone could just tell me where our word "dog" came from, I'd be a happy man.

 

[Orsorum]

dog - O.E. docga, a late, rare word used of a powerful breed of canine. It forced out O.E. hund (the general Gmc. word) by 16c. and subsequently was picked up in many continental languages, but the origin remains one of the great mysteries of English etymology. Slang meaning "ugly woman" is from 1930s; that of "sexually aggressive man" is from 1950s. The verb meaning "to track like a dog" is from 1519. Doggerel is from 1277; dog tag is from 1918. Dog-gone (1851) is Amer.Eng., "fantastic perversion of god-damned" [Weekley]. Dogs "feet" is 1913, from rhyming slang dog's meat. To dog-ear a book is from 1659; dog-eared in extended sense of "worn, unkempt" is from 1894. Dogfight "aerial combat" is World War I air forces slang, from earlier meaning "riotous brawl" (1880s). Many expressions -- a dog's life (1607), go to the dogs (1864), etc. -- reflect earlier hard use of the animals as hunting accessories, not pampered pets. Dogfish is first recorded 1475; dogwood is 1617, earlier dog-tree (1548). Dog days (1538), from L. dies caniculares, from Gk. (the star was also known as kyon seirios) are around the time of the heliacal rising of Sirius, the Dog-star, noted as the hottest and most unwholesome time of the year; usually July 3 to Aug. 11, but variously calculated, depending on latitude and on whether the greater Dog-star (Sirius) or the lesser one (Procyon) is reckoned. The heliacal rising of Sirius has shifted down the calendar with the procession of the equinoxes; in ancient Egypt c.3000 B.C.E. it coincided with the summer solstice, which was also the new year and the beginning of the inundation of the Nile. The "dog" association apparently began here (the star's heiroglyph was a dog), but the reasons for it are obscure.

Source

 

[Scipionix]

"but the origin remains one of the great mysteries of English etymology"

Like I said . . .