Foreign Languages: What Would You Learn?
By thegoodkitty
@thegoodkitty (77)
United States
May 31, 2007 7:15pm CST
I, for one, would like to learn Italian. And some crazy, obscure language that only twelve people even /know/ about. Well.. maybe that's an impractical goal. Anyway.. I am thwarted by the limitations at my school. My high school only offers three foreign language courses: Spanish, French, and Latin. I considered taking Latin, but had heard the workload was INSANE with our Latin teacher, so I opted for French instead. I was highly disappointed, as I was really keen on taking Italian, or German (which I took for two years when my family lived in Zurich and wanted to continue).
I was curious as to how many foreign languages, and which, other schools offer. Which language would you learn if you could choose from all the languages in the world?
So.. yes. Titter away! =]
2 people like this
18 responses
@morgandrake (2136)
• United States
1 Jun 07
At the Community College of Denver, they have German, French and Spanish. They also offer Japanese and Arabic. Supposely, they also offer Lakota(Sioux). I wonder if it like them offering Hebrew--a class that has never had enough people sign up for it to actually happen. And I know that CU of Denver offers Greek and Latin.
The class I want to take, and need to take with my particular long-term focus, is Hebrew. For four semesters in a row, there has been too few people signed up for it, so it keeps getting cancelled. *sigh*
1 person likes this
@thegoodkitty (77)
• United States
1 Jun 07
Uncool =[ Hebrew would be a really interesting course to take, I think. Arabic, though.. I'd take that =] Hopefully there'll be enough sign-ups for Hebrew soon enough. Good luck with that.
1 person likes this
@morgandrake (2136)
• United States
1 Jun 07
The reason I got interested in Hebrew is because I started to study Kabbalah when I joined Golden Dawn. When I started college a couple of years ago, I decided that I wanted to specialize in the literture of Kabbalah--Hebrew would really be useful there.
1 person likes this
@josyula (112)
• India
1 Jun 07
I wanna learn germans language as i am intrested in going to germany for my future studies as i am doing my engennering in mechanical and all know that germany is best for mechanical engineers so i wanna learn germany language.I am learning french also for timepass.
@thegoodkitty (77)
• United States
1 Jun 07
=] That sounds really interesting. Mechanical engineering, I mean. German is a really fantastic language. If I get free time, I think I might pick it up again.
@teison2 (5921)
• Norway
1 Jun 07
It is a long time since I was in school. I studies english, some german, and french in addition to norwegian - my first language. If I was to learn a new language now I think I would most like to learn Greek. I love Greece and greek people. I love to go there on holiday, and it would be practical and polite to know the language.
@thegoodkitty (77)
• United States
1 Jun 07
Greek sounds really interesting =] It's awesome that you go to Greece on holiday. How often do you go?
1 person likes this
@jlara_gtr34 (3491)
• Philippines
1 Jun 07
hi there. :) hmm, i think i would love to learn korean because you see, there are a lot of korean shows being aired on TV and then they are just being dubbed into our language. i would like to learn korean so that i wouldnt have to depend on the dubbing and i can understand it myself. lolz. :)
@thegoodkitty (77)
• United States
1 Jun 07
=] I've been there. I remember reading the abridged, translated version of Phantom of the Opera and wishing I knew fluent French so that I could have read it in its original form. So much is lost in translation, so many nuances, you know?
@jlara_gtr34 (3491)
• Philippines
1 Jun 07
yes, i agree with you, i think there are some lines which are changed just so the dubbing could be fit in the "mouth" of the speaker. lolz. i really dont want to watch dubbed shows because like you said, sometimes, the true essence of the line is ripped off. lolz. :P
1 person likes this
@naturesgurl (65)
• United States
1 Jun 07
When I was in highschool the only languages we had options of was Spanish and french, i took french, why? i have no clue why, i was not impressed either... I personally wish I would of taken spanish instead, its more useful.. I think. I can't even remember more then maybe four phrases of french. I would like to learn german, and dutch though. We are taking a trip to Holland this coming year, and we are planning on spending some time in germany also... I cant wait. My plan is to ask my uncle, who knows german well, to teach me.... I wouldnt mind knowing italian also, i think that is a beautiful language, i would like to learn spanish to... i guess i want to learn alot of languages... oh well nothing wrong with being bi langual. :)
@thegoodkitty (77)
• United States
1 Jun 07
I'd like to be even bilinqual =P Working that way, at least. Spanish probably would have been the practical choice, but I hated that everyone was taking it. Not a big deal, I suppose, since I can always take an online course if I want to later.
@candiec2005 (828)
• United States
1 Jun 07
I know a little bit of French and Italian since that's my heritage, but if I could learn any language I would love to learn Latin. Latin was the originator of so many languages and it seems so interesting to me since it's an ancient language.
1 person likes this
@thegoodkitty (77)
• United States
1 Jun 07
Latin is something I would have liked to have taken this year, but I didn't think I could manage the workload, since I was still getting back into the swing of keeping straight A's (I did poorly the year before, I really slacked off). Even learning French has allowed me to translate and pick up bits and pieces of the other Romantic languages, so I can't imagine how much easier it would be if I'd taken Latin courses. Really.. finding the roots of words and such interests me. A few of my friends are taking Latin, and listening to them talk about it makes me wish I had.
@eyewitness (1575)
• Netherlands
1 Jun 07
Well i already learning Italian but i want to learn Spanish,Japanese,Chinese,Indonesian,Malaysian and i want to improve my french.
@linlinlee (2)
• China
1 Jun 07
You have your dream. It is very priceless. Nowadays, more and more people lost their way, they don`t konw what are their future. luckily, you have. so, go ahead! Grab your dream!
@MelodyRhapsodical (1248)
• United States
1 Jun 07
I would like to learn Portuguese. I know Spanish and so when I see Portuguese written I can understand it some, but when it's spoken it sounds so different! I have a cousin in Brazil who's always sending me books and tapes so I listen to that, it's such a pretty language. I keep telling myself I'm going to sign up for a course one of these days!
1 person likes this
@thegoodkitty (77)
• United States
1 Jun 07
Portuguese is another language that I really want to learn. For a while I was intent on learning it =P It's beautiful.
@celestemichelle (429)
• United States
1 Jun 07
I've taken a lot of french in highschool and college, and I don't consider myself fluent, but I'm getting about as close as a non-native speaker is likely to get without having lived in France. I speak/read a little spanish and would like to learn more. I'm trying to learn German, between using a "German for dumbies" book and getting help from my husband, but it's slow going. I would like to learn Italian. And also written Arabic, it's beautiful, and the written Arabic language is the same no matter the spoken dialet which I find interesting.
Basically I just want to learn as much as possible. I love languages and the nuances.
Also I from watching french movies with english subtitles, yes, a lot of the meaning is lost in the subtitles. But I don't detect as much change when movies are dubbed into another language, mostly just altering expressions to make sense.
1 person likes this
@thegoodkitty (77)
• United States
1 Jun 07
That's neat. (Yes.. I just used "neat" as slang. I'm gangsta.)
I'm really enjoying French in high school, I plan on finishing as many courses as I can. It really is a lovely language. German is a tricky language. Even taking a 5th and 6th grade course was rough. But it's so worth it, I think. German really is one of my favorite languages. =] I love when people share my appreciation for.. well, anything. I just like finding shared interests.
Now that you mention it, I really find myself interested in Arabic. Written, it's simply one of the most beautiful scripts I think I've seen. I didn't realize that it was the same regardless of dialect. That's really cool.
=]
@thebonehead (68)
• United States
2 Jun 07
We have Japanese here, which is what I'm taking. It'd be interesting to learn German though.
@thegoodkitty (77)
• United States
3 Jun 07
I'd love to have been offered any non-Romantic languages at my high school. =]
@BlackDelphin (25)
• Germany
27 Aug 07
good for you;i would love to switch!!here i have germane in school but i know it well and now i want to learn Japaneses.
@thegoodkitty (77)
• United States
1 Jun 07
I've always really wanted to learn an Asian language. At least one language from every continent.. that'd be a fun goal.
New goal! =P I hope I can achieve that in my lifetime. I get bored with things easily.
@madserene (26)
• Singapore
24 Jan 08
I want to learn Greek!
I'm learning Japanese and hope to learn more Asian languages too.
@rohit_16 (78)
• India
1 Jun 07
Todays world is growing fast u also be as fast as possible. if u prefer a foreign language then u should be able to speak foreign language. i would like to learn japanese, german n french. these languages r very important in todays world...........
@BlackDelphin (25)
• Germany
27 Aug 07
Right now i'm learning japanese and i will learn chines,spanish and french in the future...hope to get there succesfuly
