| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Poll: Beyond your working languages, do you learn other languages for your own pleasure (e.g. Latin)? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Beyond your working languages, do you learn other languages for your own pleasure (e.g. Latin)?".
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Having lived in Belgium (on the francophone part) for 30 years, I really regret not having learnt Flemish/Dutch. I started an online course a few months back, but the fact is that I generally have very little time on my hands and when I do, the last thing I want to do is spend my time learning another language...
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No time. Or, several things that are higher priorities than learning a language that would be, for practical purposes, useless
| | | | Pablo Cruz 
Local time: 01:07
Member (2013)
German to Spanish
+ ...
| interesting results | Feb 8 |
I have tried it several times, with Latin, Ancient Greek or modern languages that could perhaps be in the future among my working languages (e. g. Swedish).
I must recognize that it is quite difficult to have the discipline to carry on.
I see much more than half of the people have answered Yes (a rather amazing result with more than 200 answers). I wonder if somebody could comment on which methods they use or how much time they can actually devote to this per day / week.
Rega... See more I have tried it several times, with Latin, Ancient Greek or modern languages that could perhaps be in the future among my working languages (e. g. Swedish).
I must recognize that it is quite difficult to have the discipline to carry on.
I see much more than half of the people have answered Yes (a rather amazing result with more than 200 answers). I wonder if somebody could comment on which methods they use or how much time they can actually devote to this per day / week.
Regards
[Editado a las 2024-02-08 10:19 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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Natasha Cloutier
Netherlands
Local time: 01:07
Member (2023)
Dutch to English
+ ...
I've been doing Norwegian on an app for about three years, and it was a joy to use it in Norway and be understood.
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As a writer first, and human dictionary second, I'm more worried about improving my English.
| | | | Paulo Melo
Brazil
Local time: 20:07
English to Portuguese
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I took five semesters of Latin in college. Useless you may think, but it gave me good insight into my language and its cousins. I also studied Japanese for five or six years, and went as far as passing the first tier of the Japanese Language Proficiency Certificate, but it is an extremely demanding language in every aspect, and I did not have a lot of time, or the chance, to pratice: not a fan of anime, manga etc. and the Japanese community in my town is minuscule. I have not been able to retain... See more I took five semesters of Latin in college. Useless you may think, but it gave me good insight into my language and its cousins. I also studied Japanese for five or six years, and went as far as passing the first tier of the Japanese Language Proficiency Certificate, but it is an extremely demanding language in every aspect, and I did not have a lot of time, or the chance, to pratice: not a fan of anime, manga etc. and the Japanese community in my town is minuscule. I have not been able to retain a lot of it over the years as it takes daily practice. I do not think learning a language is a purely utilitarian undertaking, but it sure demands time and effort.
[Edited at 2024-02-08 11:50 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Chié_JP
Japan
Local time: 08:07
Member (2013)
English to Japanese
+ ...
| Different purposes different way | Feb 8 |
Different purposes different way. No intention to "work with" but to widen / broaden / deepen the knowledge of source languages, my college teachers (they speak at least three) highly recommended to learn parent language ＋ more than one related language.
European languages are close to each other so picking up knowledge on and off can be both fun and worthy of doing.
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Liena Vijupe
Latvia
Local time: 02:07
Member (2014)
French to Latvian
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I have done it in the past, just out of curiosity or for traveling purposes, but the problem with languages is that you have to actively use them or they're gone. At this point it is already hard enough to maintain my main languages and I would need a serious motivation to start learning a new one (like living in a country where it is spoken).
| | | | Arne Krueger
Germany
Local time: 01:07
German to English
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I had tried Chinese once. But after I found out that the word "ma" can be pronounced in four different ways and has four different meanings, I thought this trip can only go wrong for me in the long run... ^^ But I like the concept of pictograms. Seems logical...
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Staying on the ball with English already feels like a lifelong commitment.
I tried picking up some basic Norwegian, it was a fun endeavor, but after a period of not using it, it really butchered what was left of my basic primary school German.
A few years back, I made an effort to learn to read Cyrillic, I'm not even close to fluent, but it felt nice when it started forming into actual words in my head, and these words start sounding familiar. Recent events curbed my initial e... See more Staying on the ball with English already feels like a lifelong commitment.
I tried picking up some basic Norwegian, it was a fun endeavor, but after a period of not using it, it really butchered what was left of my basic primary school German.
A few years back, I made an effort to learn to read Cyrillic, I'm not even close to fluent, but it felt nice when it started forming into actual words in my head, and these words start sounding familiar. Recent events curbed my initial enthusiasm a little. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | For practical reasons as well | Feb 9 |
I learned French and German at school, and although both are rusty, I watch German and Austrian television happily with subtitles. French is more difficult, but I can read it.
I have just come back from visiting family in Italy, where I wished I had worked harder at Italian (and resolved to do so from now on). It seems much more difficult than learning Danish when I first came here!
Although in principle it is for practical purposes, I enjoy Italian, and my other langua... See more I learned French and German at school, and although both are rusty, I watch German and Austrian television happily with subtitles. French is more difficult, but I can read it.
I have just come back from visiting family in Italy, where I wished I had worked harder at Italian (and resolved to do so from now on). It seems much more difficult than learning Danish when I first came here!
Although in principle it is for practical purposes, I enjoy Italian, and my other languages too. When travelling, I can get far more out of a conversation if I don´t depend entirely on other people's English. People often light up and try to help if you have a go in their language, even if it is still a struggle for them. ▲ Collapse
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I did some attempts to learn Turkish (because I am fascinated by the agglutinative structure of the language), but as soon as a large project arrived with pressing deadline, all attempts to learn the language were abandoned. The cycle repeated quite a number of times, and the end result was that I didn’t get beyond a very basic set of phrases. I stopped.
A full-time translator cannot learn a completely new language – this is my conclusion. Now, you can learn to some degree say ... See more I did some attempts to learn Turkish (because I am fascinated by the agglutinative structure of the language), but as soon as a large project arrived with pressing deadline, all attempts to learn the language were abandoned. The cycle repeated quite a number of times, and the end result was that I didn’t get beyond a very basic set of phrases. I stopped.
A full-time translator cannot learn a completely new language – this is my conclusion. Now, you can learn to some degree say Portuguese, French or Italian if you are Spanish, but this is not really what I would call “learning”, as it is not challenging enough for your brain (you can really just start reading in Portuguese, “guess” grammatical concepts, look up the few words you are unsure about, etc.).
In other words, I would love to learn a new language (just for fun), but I am afraid I will never have enough time to actually do it. Will you? ▲ Collapse
| | | | | If I want to read something | Feb 12 |
By and in the process of reading that something. Not just for pleasure and surely not with a view to taking on new languages to translate from: it's probably too late. I guess I'd take some language classes if I wanted to live (rather than travel: travel is covered by English) abroad, but that's not something I fancy doing. A language in your head will always want to be refreshed, or it will fall out of use and die, as did German in my head. Today, I can only read high school-level texts in Germ... See more By and in the process of reading that something. Not just for pleasure and surely not with a view to taking on new languages to translate from: it's probably too late. I guess I'd take some language classes if I wanted to live (rather than travel: travel is covered by English) abroad, but that's not something I fancy doing. A language in your head will always want to be refreshed, or it will fall out of use and die, as did German in my head. Today, I can only read high school-level texts in German and will need MT assistance with anything else. I have plans to read certain old books which are only available in Latin, the only two problems being that, so far, my knowledge of Latin is inadequate and my work schedule is really packed so I come home tired (to which one can add a possible number three, viz. that I'm a lazy bum) ▲ Collapse
| | | | Pablo Cruz
Local time: 01:07
Member (2013)
German to Spanish
+ ...
| Completely agree with Merab | Feb 12 |
Merab Dekano wrote:
... as soon as a large project arrived with pressing deadline, all attempts to learn the language were abandoned. The cycle repeated quite a number of times, and the end result was that I didn’t get beyond a very basic set of phrases. I stopped.
A full-time translator cannot learn a completely new language – this is my conclusion. Now, you can learn to some degree say Portuguese, French or Italian if you are Spanish, but this is not really what I would call “learning”...
yes, all this sounds very familiar to me, actually I am "learning" Dutch, because I already know German and both are quite close. Basically I watch a few minutes of TV in Dutch (with subtitles) every day. It is very gratifying because I already understand a lot, but being realistic I don't see myself translating from this language in, at least, many years. Of course romance languages are also very tempting once you master one of them.
I tried several times other more difficult options (like Swedish and even once a little bit of Turkish too, but that is quite another thing in terms of difficulty), I always feel quickly overwhelmed.
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