Why should English speakers learn a foreign language?

[FrustratedUser]

Originally posted by: Scipionix

Originally posted by: burnedout
<----CLEPed 2 years of German

There are a number of reasons why English speakers should learn a foreign language. Diversification, research, education and appreciation of other cultures to name a few.

What do you call a man speaking 1 language?

American

halik: LOL, I heard that remark quite often during my years in Germany. So sad, but true. Seemingly Americans, and to a certain degree the British, are widely criticized and ridiculed for their inability to speak another language other than English.

But we don't NEED to. Why should I learna language besides English when I can go to just about any major European city and get around just fine, or when English is the language of international business, IT, aviation, science, economics, etc.?

Hmm. And the reason english speaking people 'get around just fine' with english in Europe is that english is the second language you learn in almost every country there.
It's fun to learn another language.

 

[Scipionix]

Originally posted by: FrustratedUser
Hmm. And the reason english speaking people 'get around just fine' with english in Europe is that english is the second language you learn in almost every country there.
It's fun to learn another language.

But it's more fun for me when other people learn my language and I can spend my time goofing off.

 

[SnapIT]

Originally posted by: Scipionix

Originally posted by: AmusedOne
Actually, I halfway agree with you. Spanish is a waste of time. Chinese, Japanese and German would suit a person far better if they were going into the business world.

Anyone in the business world speaks English. It's the lingua franca of the world

I do a lot of business with germans, many of them REFUSE to speak anythinge else than german...

 

[Booster]

Well, I guess the only foreign language (besides English) that's worth studying is French. It's very wide spread, not only in France, Africa and Canada, but also some other places. I got a strong intention to start studying it. I know I'm old for a starter, but heck it's better late than never and they say it's never late to study.

 

[SnapIT]

But we don't NEED to. Why should I learna language besides English when I can go to just about any major European city and get around just fine, or when English is the language of international business, IT, aviation, science, economics, etc.?

I have to ask you this Scipionix (see, i got your name right this time... ;-) how much international business have you done?

If you are going to do business in europe, german and french are two languages that are good to know...

my question, why NOT learn a foreign language? what is the upside to not being able to speak german for example?

 

[Draknor]

Originally posted by: jaydee
The reason that is it a "collosial" waste of time is attributed to the fact that they don't start you until your 13-14 years old...

(parts snipped)

Do you know that by the age of 3, you've lost the ability to pronounce 50% of what you are originally capable of? Yet we start learning new languages in junior high? There's something wrong here.

I think jaydee really nailed it - the education system in America is very fsck'ed up (for many reasons). I took a year or two of Spanish in high school, and then dropped it, because I didn't see any value in it for me - I was only taking it b/c many colleges required a foreign language for admission. I agree that American ignorance is responsible for the lack of language opportunities. I think there should be opportunities in pre-school/elementary school for learning different languages.

Of course, that would require parents to not be ignorant and close-minded and to really take an active interest in their children's education.

I hope when I become a parent one day, I'll have the wisdom and foresight to not give into "societal norms" when there are much better alternatives.

(This post is obviously not directed at those parents that actually care about their children's education).

*sits back and waits for flames*

 

[pyonir]

Originally posted by: Riprorin
I studied Spanish for 4 years in HS and 1 year in college. What a collosial waste of time.

The only useful language an English speaker should study is Latin.

Disclaimer: i didn't read any of the thread

Move to AZ and tell me learning Spanish is a waste of time.

 

[gopunk]

Originally posted by: 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.

the purpose of learning latin isn't to learn english vocabulary, it's to get a better understanding of where english words may come from. you think this is a bs reason? a good understanding of roots, prefixes, and suffixes can come in handy. i got a pretty good score on my SAT verbal because of that. it's not like i knew all those words... i guessed on more than half based on roots, prefixes, and suffixes.

and older french languages? yes, duh, english comes from germanic and romance languages, everyone knows that. and guess what the criterea for a romance language is?

 

[gopunk]

thing about foreign languages, is that you never know when it will come in handy. whether it be business or whatever... never know when you'll be at war or something. i bet german and other languages came in handy a lot during WWII, etc. in short, doesn't hurt, but can make a pretty big difference.

 

[pyonir]

Originally posted by: Draknor

Originally posted by: jaydee
The reason that is it a "collosial" waste of time is attributed to the fact that they don't start you until your 13-14 years old...

(parts snipped)

Do you know that by the age of 3, you've lost the ability to pronounce 50% of what you are originally capable of? Yet we start learning new languages in junior high? There's something wrong here.

I think jaydee really nailed it -

Of course, that would require parents to not be ignorant and close-minded and to really take an active interest in their children's education.

I hope when I become a parent one day, I'll have the wisdom and foresight to not give into "societal norms" when there are much better alternatives.

i agree. if i ever become a parent one day, i will try to have my child[ren] learn both Spanish and probably French before the age of 5. once they start to talk and form complete sentences, i think it is time for them to start with a foreign language.

 

[gopunk]

btw this is what i love about ATOT... can't post health questions because they're sexually related, but you can make the most blatantly ignorant comments and it's all cool.

 

[Jzero]

AZGamer:Except for tourists, there's no excuse to speak Spanish to anyone here, and doing so encourages ignorance. If you're going to live here, you will speak English in official affairs.

Actually, I would say that the above statement encourages the ignorant idea that English is the official language of the US. The US has NO official language, thus you have no basis for proclaiming "You will speak English in official affairs."
In America you can speak whatever language you want in official affairs. It may be helpful to know English since most of us use that, but there is nothing that says that anyone living anywhere in the US must use English.
***
Anyway, WHY should you learn another language? Because it helps you understand the nature of thought, it helps you understand more about your primary language, it helps you communicate with people on their own grounds...It's just a matter of learning more...of actually being capable of learning to speak multiple languages.
Why learn calculus? You can do anything in calculus algebraically if you had enough time, so why bother?
It's just good to learn. If you don't use your brain, you do lose it.

The best commentaries in this thread are the ones that point out the futility of starting when you're friggin 13 years old.