Practical uses for other languages?

[Invalid 54]

Currently, I'm doing a self-study of the Russian language and so far, I've been learning the basics of it. After meeting a couple of english-speaking Russian friends some time ago, that sparked an interest in wanting to get to know the language a little better. Which lead me to taking the study a little more seriously when I spent more time on educational websites and even going so far as to buying a book on its basics for convenient use for whenever I'm out and about.

 

However, I've recently come to a halt when I stopped and asked myself, "What's the point?". By that, I mean beyond just wanting to converse with a couple of people for a little more mutual understanding, what else can I do with that knowledge? Even if I did come to learn the language more fluently overtime, what other purpose would it serve? For example, my native language is spanish and just about the only moments I ever make use of it is between me and my older relatives. Once I move out of my state someday, I see little to no use in it anymore. Maybe if I get a call from my parents now and then, but that would be the extent of its use then. 

 

So, for all those people who are fluent in multiple other languages, I'm curious as to what other means do you extend your communication to? Does your knowledge of them serve other purposes in your life? Do you believe and/or do you know other people who would take interest in talking to others outside of their native area? What does 'Language X' offer that 'Language Y' doesn't? Etc.

 

I ask because I don't think I should start learning another language "just because". Otherwise, at the moment, I feel like I'm wasting my time with it if my only reason for using it is to talk to a handful of people online, who may eventually move on with their lives and be gone one day.

[Invincible 2,090]

Im fluent in Russian, English and Hebrew. I'll tell straight that there are multiple uses for knowing a language. Certain texts holding information for example.

 

Did you know academia in Israel forces you extend your knowledge of the English language to near mother tongue level? Just so you could access knowledge popularized through that language.

 

Another example are Israeli infiltrators and soldiers. They are taught the Arabic language in case they are captured or move between enemy lines.

 

Another example is that, generally, if you're in a business which requires you to deal with people, you're shrinking your market by denying service to others you're not versed in the tongues of.

 

The list goes on and on. Language itself is a beautiful, articulate tool. In fact, i would like to study Mandarin, Arabic, German and French one day.

[ARagY 1,152]

I'm an English-speaking Russian. Why to learn it? Read great literature from all sorts of genres, fantasy, romance, alternate world, epics, and hell, some pony fics are available only in Russian - and a lot of them are pretty good. Listen to amazing music from any era, whether you like pop, blues, rock, or metal. There is a Russian band for it. 

 

And as for your native language, the future of Spanish looks pretty bright, as its set to have 1/3 of the US speaking it by 2050 (roughly). That's pretty good. What uses do you have for Spanish? Maybe you should read some literature or find some latin-american music to listen to. Or maybe you can expand your horizons with some deep intellectual study in the Spanish language medium. 

 

A few years ago, I would never have expected to have so many people take interest in my language, but over the past bit, I've seen more Americans want to learn Russian than Russians English. I've seen kids from Afghanistan and India take it up as a school subject and ask me questions in broken language. What purposes does Russian serve? It's my native, I prefer it in all situations I can use it. I use it for mostly everything except games like Team Fortress 2 because of bad/incomplete translation. I design most of my art or pony fiction around the Russian language. I've only done one English story so far and it's not complete, because I have difficulties describing what I want. 

 

So what does it offer over English? Unlocking other cultures, getting to discover some things that do not get localised into other world languages, getting to see people's true opinions on things and connect on a deeper level. It's nothing that it really offers that another doesn't, per se. It's the culture that's different. That's what it offers you over another. 

 

I know its cliché as hell to say but the ultimate purpose of learning a new language is up to you. If you like the things I've given examples of, you have good reason to learn. I know motivation is a challenge, so that's why it is best to start with people and move on to stuff that is awesome or sounds awesome like music. Then you can go to film and literature and by that point you have a deeper appreciation. Then it's just a matter of overcoming your laziness most times. 

 

Sadly to say, I do not understand either of my ethnic languages because of emigration and lack of use, but I'd like to learn them both. I've taken the task of learning at least a few words, and I'll decide on what I wanna do from there. Both are rather small in the world but I still desire learning. Why? Because it lets me listen to things, watch things, and connect with people who I can feel at home with, and that is an awesome thing.

 

I've learned Spanish much for the media and communication. 

 

On tl;dr 

On the internet I usually use Russian for personal and English for sites like this and gaming. With Spanish I music, the ridiculous amounts of Simpsons episodes redubbed, popular US movies not in English online because they get shut down easy..etc

IRL pretty much only Russian unless I have some sort of business/professional need. 

Edited June 22, 2016 by ARagY

[Shanks 10,811]

You gain access to certain material that may not be translated into your native language or may be translated poorly, helps with communication with people that speak said language. In my case I am the son of Italian immigrants and though I am not as fluent as my fathers generation do know some of the language, though it is on my to do list to become more fluent. Since I was born and raised in southern California which has a lot of Spanish speakers, some of whom I see regularly in the grocery store I work at I also plan on doing the same with Spanish.

[Solid 1,326]

Fluent in Mandarin and English here.

 

- Learning multiple languages allows you to understand one concept in different manners. The way an American interprets a concept could be quite different from the way a Chinese interprets, which is why translation is pretty hard if you don't want to lose certain contexts that are only available through certain languages.

 

- Language is more than just a means to communicate, you can also dive into a group's culture, history, and way of life through it. For example, with Chinese you have characters that are originally pictographs that literally represent the concept it's trying to describe. The character 水 (water) is originally written in a manner to literally resemble a flowing river. How the Chinese language system tends to use imagery resonates well with traditional Chinese values.

Edited June 22, 2016 by Solid

[Invalid 54]

So far, I've read some decent reasons for furthering my study of the Russian language. Cultural interests, content exclusivity, and whatnot. I guess what I was also trying to ask and find out is if I could also find more long term uses for it as well. To make vocal and written use of it as often as reasonably possible, within and outside the internet for example. Though ultimately, it seems like that's going to be left up to my personal future.

 

 

 

And as for your native language, the future of Spanish looks pretty bright, as its set to have 1/3 of the US speaking it by 2050 (roughly). That's pretty good. What uses do you have for Spanish? Maybe you should read some literature or find some latin-american music to listen to. Or maybe you can expand your horizons with some deep intellectual study in the Spanish language medium. 

 

Besides what I've already stated for the use of my Spanish, my expansion of it is almost completely nonexistent. To be quite honest, and hilariously ironic at the same time, I have little to no interest in pursuing anything else related to it. Hardly much of what's associated with the language appeals to me, really. Funny how this is coming from a native speaker who's trying to learn another language of less relevance, huh?

[FullmoonDagger 200]

My main language is French, but I'm also kinda fluent in english. This is goddamn helpful, mostly on the internet, because most of the french part isn't that interesting. Plus I can be here on the forums and I can understand the lyrics of my favourite songs

(and the french version of MLP sucks too)

[cmarston1 5,952]

I think that the ability to communicate with a lot more different types of people would be a really useful skill to have to use in your life.

[Anneal 2,194]

Fluent in Mandarin and English here.

- Learning multiple languages allows you to understand one concept in different manners. The way an American interprets a concept could be quite different from the way a Chinese interprets, which is why translation is pretty hard if you don't want to lose certain contexts that are only available through certain languages.

- Language is more than just a means to communicate, you can also dive into a group's culture, history, and way of life through it. For example, with Chinese you have characters that are originally pictographs that literally represent the concept it's trying to describe. The character 水 (water) is originally written in a manner to literally resemble a flowing river. How the Chinese language system tends to use imagery resonates well with traditional Chinese values.

Considering I'm Taiwanese myself, Chinese can get a whole lot more complex than that. The Chinese character "water" is also a frequently used radical, which means it's the primary "part" of many other words; used as a radical you write it in three dots (氵), like 汽 (vapor or gas), or 游 (swim). In rare cases it keeps its form as a radical, like 汞 (mercury).

 

As it turns out, Chinese has many ways to mix basic words that are generally physical into something else entirely. Thousands of their words are actually just mashed together by other words. It's also noteworthy that Chinese is one of the world's oldest language and while its writing rules have largely changed (still, Traditional Chinese has maintained its writing form for more than 2000 years with little to no change at all), the speaking rules have not. It doesn't have as much spread as English or Spanish or even Russian but it still has significant influence in languages like Japanese or Korean (these languages are readily and relatively easily to translate to Chinese and back).

[Dreambiscuit 8,139]

Language is a beautiful thing. Each one is like a different art form uniquely representing its geography and culture. By learning foreign languages we make the world smaller and more unified. 

 

On the other hand, if you speak a language others don't understand, you can say naughty things right in front of them and they won't have a clue about it. Of course, that's one of the loftier reasons for spending years of intense study learning another tongue. 

[gamecubeguy214 2,511]

When I started seventh grade, I took Spanish because I wanted to understand the Geometry Dash players who speak the language. I don't watch them too much anymore, but knowing Spanish would still be fun. One use is being able to watch a cartoon with the original language and without subtitles. I once tried to watch an English sub for the Bakugan anime, and I found a Japanese version but no subtitles. If I knew Japanese, that wouldn't be a problem.

[碇 シンジン 27,427]

Considering I'm Taiwanese myself, Chinese can get a whole lot more complex than that. The Chinese character "water" is also a frequently used radical, which means it's the primary "part" of many other words; used as a radical you write it in three dots (氵), like 汽 (vapor or gas), or 游 (swim). In rare cases it keeps its form as a radical, like 汞 (mercury).

 

As it turns out, Chinese has many ways to mix basic words that are generally physical into something else entirely. Thousands of their words are actually just mashed together by other words. It's also noteworthy that Chinese is one of the world's oldest language and while its writing rules have largely changed (still, Traditional Chinese has maintained its writing form for more than 2000 years with little to no change at all), the speaking rules have not. It doesn't have as much spread as English or Spanish or even Russian but it still has significant influence in languages like Japanese or Korean (these languages are readily and relatively easily to translate to Chinese and back).

Chinese and Japanese have always interested me it is like  a whole new world where you can delve into  it is so beautiful and amazing language  fascinating me so much  one day i wish to learn them and see the world thorugh them and  be happy 

 

Languages are a beautiful resource  when you learn new languages it makes your field of view much more diverse on the subjects around world  and around everything  all languages are so unique and different that you really cant translate anything fully  to understand the full thought and meaning behind the words 

 

for me i can say things in english and when i say same things in Finnish they dont have the same meaning even if they share the meaning but the way the word is constructed come from two different perspectives and it makes the meanings of the words totally different when you are looking into them deeply  it is so beautiful to see that  

 

it is so amazing that  

[Luminance 2,181]

If you want to travel to different countries or maybe add an beneficial aspect to your career. It also closes the gap between language barriers between different people with better communication.

 

I once took German in High School and it opened an new array of culture and understanding to me so it's not all impractical to learn something that you've never did before.