learning other languages

1. 56

   lliekamiaposted 16 years ago

   do you believe that learning many languages will make
   us more competitive to others?
   
   
   common guys, tell me your points of view.
   
   
   lieka

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   1. 65

      vietnameseposted 16 years agoin reply to this

      If you're extremely good and not afraid to learn everyday, then it is always good. It helps open many doors for you. You will also able to make a living with languages also.

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   2. 53

      mingovilleposted 16 years agoin reply to this

      Yes, I do believe that learning many languages or lets say 2 more languages, makes one person competitive. This is because you have the edge to interact with people with cultural differences and you have the ability to understand and also you can serve as a bridge to others who can't  understand their foreign language.
      
      Such skills may take time to master, but the difficulty is worth it...

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   3. 59

      Tater2totposted 16 years agoin reply to this

      I don't it will make us competitive. I think learning a new language is awesome!!! I am trying to learn Spanish right now because I was born in New Mexico and it is it's official language because almost everyone speaks Spanish. My mother grew up there, unlike me, and she was like one out of five Caucasian people in her school. I have a lot of Hispanic/ Mexican friends and I hate when they speak Spanish in front of me and I have no idea what they are saying. Plus it is just a beautiful language.
      
      After I am fluent in Spanish I hope to learn a couple more languages. Maybe French, German. I have no interest in learning Chinese because there is no chance I will ever be able to learn all those symbols. I like letters and the alphabet. Chinese speakers/ writers are amazing. How do you memorize a billion symbols that all look alike! I think it would be really cool to speak in different languages. Plus bilingual  people in the United States generally make 4% more money a year than a person who can only speak one language.
      
      Maybe one day every language will just form into one language. Like Spanglish. (English and Spanish) That is kind of what I speak now. LOL.

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   4. 71

      TrinaLynneposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      Learning other languages will help us understand other cultures and what not. It will open the lines of communication. Only problem is, everyone thinks their language is more superior and they don't need to learn another.

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   5. 53

      Genniferposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      Yeah, knowledge of a foreign language makes you more competitive and more needed. In our country they prefer those emloyees who know at least one foreign language. I personally learn English and French. Learning of these languages brings me a lot of pleasure. It broadens my outlook and cleares my picture of the world. And what more foreign languages for me are like a hobby -  a thing that makes me feel joy.

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      1. 60

         tksenseiposted 15 years agoin reply to this

         What country is that?

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         1. 81

            jiberishposted 15 years agoin reply to this

            I think that refers to Spanish.

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            1. 53

               Genniferposted 15 years agoin reply to this

               No you are wrong. My country is far from Spain. I'm talking about Belarus, but I'm sure that name of my country will say you nothing (the majority of people ask where this country is situated). So I'll say - it's between Russia and Poland.
               
               It's evident that if I didn't know English I wouldn't take part in HubCommunity, because English differs greatly from Russian and Belarusian languages.
               
               I'm still a student and English helps me to earn some extra money.
               
               So learning a foreign language has a lot of advantages and benefits!

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               1. 60

                  tksenseiposted 15 years agoin reply to this

                  How about between Lithuania and Ukraine? Or Latvia and Russia?

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                  1. 30

                     Gin Dellowayposted 15 years agoin reply to this

                     Oh, yeah! Belarus. I've not only heard about this country, but I've been there. Nice country.
                     
                     Learning languages make you feel more comfortable travelling and in general it brings me pleasurre. I think learning foreign languages enrich me as a personality.

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2. 0

   JohnBeeposted 16 years ago

   I live in a bilingual country, and speak two languages myself.  I believe that additional language skills help you to understand the power of language, and sharpen your communication skills generally.

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3. 68

   quensdayposted 16 years ago

   Definitely. Since we understand the world with words, and since there are some words we find in 1 language that we can't find in another, you expand your understanding of the world with your hodgepodge of words. It is more of an internal benefit to me, but there are definitely external benefits like resume enhancements and more job choices

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4. 0

   vivicaposted 16 years ago

   I think in some cases it does especially because of this globalization era that we are in and how many companies are expanding worldwide. I had come accross a couple of job ads that require certain languages. However, although I have a deep interest in other languages, I am sad to say that mine does not stick because I don't use them everyday. I learned Chinese, Italian, English and Indonesian is my first language. Sadly, I speak about 85% Indonesian, slightly lower for English, about 5 percent Chinese (enough to say: expensive, give me food, toilet etc..) and I speak about 0.05% Italian because I forgot everything I've learned! But I guess that if I speak these languages fluently, my career opportunities will be much wider hence more competitive

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5. 58

   IQ testposted 16 years ago

   Yes, I think you'll benefit.
   
   In my experience people appreciate it a lot even if you know only one sentence of their language.
   
   You also understand why people with a certain mother tounge may have particular difficulties. The classic is the Chinese/Japanese problem with r/l as these sounds are not distinguished in their languages. Another may be that Arabs have problems with vowel rich languages as they have only three in their own language, so each of their vowels covers a wider "area" which may include several vowels in another language.
   
   Same for grammatical errors speakers of certain languages make. Finnish does not distinguish between pronouns he or she so often finns may use the wrong gender in other languages.
   
   Another advantage is that you develop a larger variety of phonems (language sounds) you are able to produce. When you continue with more languages you may reuse sounds in the new language.

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6. 54

   Buggyposted 16 years ago

   I think I'm slightly disadvantaged in the languages department because my first language is English.
   
   I travelled through Europe quite often so I learned how to be polite in Dutch. Then I attended evening classes for 2 years to learn German.
   
   My wife is Chinese so I'm currently trying to get my head around Cantonese so that I can chat with friends when we're over there.
   
   BUT...
   
   No matter how HARD I try, whenever I chat in another language everyone ALWAYS talks back to me in English. The Dutch are by far the worst for this...they even correct my English grammar!
   
   So come on guys, try to be a little LESS competitive when a native English speaker tries YOUR language...it's the only practice we get.

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   1. 83

      wychicposted 16 years agoin reply to this

      I know the feeling! It seems like everyone knows at least a little English and so would rather use it with us (granted, I guess I can understand why they try to use my native language with me since so many other people in the US think it is THE language). I speak to quite a few native Spanish speakers online and it is all too easy for me to just speak to them in English, especially if it's someone I'm very interested in talking to because their English is better than my Spanish and the conversation moves along better, I have to constantly catch myself and switch back to Spanish every now and then in a conversation or I never get the practice

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7. 71

   chantelg4posted 16 years ago

   Hey Buggy, if this is the case then make sure to tell them upfront that you are trying to practice your skills. I admit, I am bad for that, always replying in the native tongue they speak, but that's because I think it will make them more comfortable, but if you tell me not too, then I won't. My biggest peeve is when I know for a fact the person speaks French and I converse in French and they reply in English, holy loving, insult me a little more why don't you, but that's just me.

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8. 71

   thranaxposted 16 years ago

   I'm from the US and I am not for learning other languages. If you live in a country with a national language (english) then anyone there should be required to speak english. I mean tourist don't need to but most should. Learning anther language for business in other countries is one thing, needing to learn it in your own country? Really it ticks me off sometime. So if your going to live somewhere, you should really speak there language. Say I move to Japan, then I would learn Japanese before I go, and if I can't learn Japanese, then i'm not going to live in Japan lol. As for internet communications for world wide programs (and for games) we just need to upgrade our translators. You should be able to talk to someone speaking Russian and read it in english, and then your english should be read in Russian to him. This is just my personal opinion on learning other languages.

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   1. 76

      Princessaposted 16 years agoin reply to this

      Sometimes, we do not have the choice as in the case of multilingual families.

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   2. 60

      tksenseiposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      It seems to me that there are benefits to learning other languages despite the fact that for many it may not be a practical necessity.
      
      
      
      (yes, I know this is an old thread but I was bored)

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      1. 57

         dingdongposted 15 years agoin reply to this

         I just wonder how deep you went to find this out

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9. 75

   hot dorkageposted 16 years ago

   I totally believe every country should have a national language and everyone who lives there should learn it, just like the one dissenting opiner so far in this thread said.  Having seen kids in our school system go through K-12 in "ESL" and barely speaking English upon graduation from high school,  it seems something is broken there.  ESL should be a 1-2 year transitional program at max, with the goal of mainstreaming kids as soon as possible, and many kids achieve that, but but not because of ESL, rather, because of their desire to be a part of the larger society, parental encouragement, etc.  The separatists get to hang out in ESL through grade 12, and their experience is impoverished by that. 
   
   Having said that, I also believe that everyone should learn at least one additional language, even if they never leave their all-English speaking homogeneous town.  Speaking a second language gives you another window on the world, connects you with different people, exercises your brain in ways you can't get any other way, and broadens your horizons.    Especially in the twenty first century.  This world is becoming global, and the monolinguals will be the last ones to grok.

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10. 54

    mountain goatposted 16 years ago

    How can it not? Think about what constitutes a friendship. People find themselves in a social setting and discover they have commonalities. They may become friends. The same would apply to countries that might wish to engage in trade I would think. Having a common language, other than english might help to expedite the process.
    
    There are other arguments here of course.  This is a simple analysis.

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11. 60

    tksenseiposted 15 years ago

    Just browsing in the Education section.

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12. 60

    tksenseiposted 15 years ago

    I don't think everyone thinks that.

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13. 80

    LondonGirlposted 15 years ago

    My other half and our son are bi-lingual in Hebrew and English, and OH also speaks pretty good French. He still has some relatives he can't talk to much, though - one great-aunt speaks some Hebrew, but not much, her languages are Yiddish, Polish, German and Russian.
    
    I did GCSE German and Latin, but Latin isn't useful for casual chat, much (-:

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14. 74

    frogdroppingposted 15 years ago

    Like LGirl - my partner speaks several languages. Portuguese (native), Spanish, Italian and English.
    
    And again - I did German in school though raised what I'd learned to A Level standard. I could get by.
    
    And currently learning Portuguese. I'm ok - I can make myself understood. However I always speak Portuguese when out and about. I never presume that others can speak English. For one this is Portugal and two, it's rude. I do struggle on occasion and at that point I will ask if whomever I'm talking to can understand English. But that's only when I'm really stuck.
    
    Usually on these occasions the conversation is a weird mix of the two languages.

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15. 67

    jenblacksheepposted 15 years ago

    I'm so jealous of people who can speak other languages. I learned French as I was growing up, was taught it at school for a good 10 years and just couldnt get to grips with it. I can pretty much understand it when I read it ... or at least I could when I was learning, but I just couldnt handle the tenses, genders and grammar in general. I can also read Hebrew (but don't understand what I'm saying).
    
    Now I need to learn Spanish (by August) since I'm going to Venezuala for a month, and I just don't know how to go about it!!
    
    Any ideas?

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16. 81

    jiberishposted 15 years ago

    Learning other languages always benefits a person. My father speaks 5, I can only speak 3.  The problem is the, 'when in Rome...' theory, if you go to another country, or if someone comes to this country, you should have to learn and speak the language of the land. I hate having to press 1 or any other number.

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17. 66

    euro-penposted 15 years ago

    If you are seeking a job in one of the institutions of the European Union you have to speak at least two other official languages of the Union (in addition to your mother tongue).
    
    In Switzerland (which is basically three-lingual: German, French, Italian plus Rhaeto-Roman) you have to speak at least two Swiss languages plus English.
    
    Speaking a second language (mostly English) is basically a prerequisite for almost any high-paying job in Europe.
    
    Nevertheless, I think that English speaking (I mean by mother tongue) people do have a certain head start. Most science is published in English, most business is done in English etc. I guess it is definitely easier to do those things if you can use your own mother tongue.

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18. 53

    Genniferposted 15 years ago

    Belarus borders with Russia, Poland, Ukraine, Latvia and Lithuania. So you are right.

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19. 0

    RColdposted 15 years ago

    I'm trying to learn Italian using one of those language program CDs. Granted, learning Spanish would be more practical as Spanish is a common second language in America, but I have a love for the sound of Italian. I also hope to go to Italy someday.
    There is a high value in knowing another language, or several other languages. If you wanted to make money off it, you could be a translator. In other ways, being multi-lingual would prepare you for any communication situation, especially if you travel often. Challenging yourself is always a good thing. Keeps your mind sharp.

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20. 60

    katachamposted 15 years ago

    I think it depends on where you are from. Not meaning to sound arrogant, but since English is such a widely spoken language, i wouldn't say that learning another language if you are fluent in English is that essential. However, if one is not English, i believe it would put someone at an advantage if they could speak it. Despite all of this, i am competant at Spanish and Polish and have found it very useful so far.

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21. 53

    Genniferposted 15 years ago

    I agree with you, Katacham. For those whose native language is English it's not necessary to learn foreign languages, but at the same time, this knowledge can reallt help in life (take for example travelling around the world).

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22. 59

    expatscholarposted 15 years ago

    Not only will learning a foreign language make it easier on your travels, but it will make you a more open-minded and tolerant individual. Learning a different language subtly enhances your understanding of how other cultures think.

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