| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Poll: Which was the main reason that led you to learn your acquired language(s)? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Which was the main reason that led you to learn your acquired language(s)?".
This poll was originally submitted by Jenn Mercer. View the poll results »
| | | | Julian Holmes 
Japan
Local time: 09:33
Member (2011)
Japanese to English
In order to escape 7 years of Latin and 4 years of Greek
In the middle of my 'A' levels, I asked my Latin and Greek teachers what my career prospects would be like if I studied Classics at Oxbridge. I was given only two choices, "Either become a Classics teacher like us, or be a computer programmer." Neither appealed to me, so I opted to do something different. 
It could have been hieroglyphics, Sanskrit or... See more In order to escape 7 years of Latin and 4 years of Greek
In the middle of my 'A' levels, I asked my Latin and Greek teachers what my career prospects would be like if I studied Classics at Oxbridge. I was given only two choices, "Either become a Classics teacher like us, or be a computer programmer." Neither appealed to me, so I opted to do something different.
It could have been hieroglyphics, Sanskrit or Hindi. But I chose Japanese because hardly anybody learnt it in my day and Japan was on the other side of the globe. Isn't the logic of a 17-year-old absolutely amazing!  ▲ Collapse
| | | | Diana Coada (X)
United Kingdom
Local time: 01:33
Portuguese to English
+ ...
| A combination of the above | Feb 17, 2013 |
There's 5 languages I've studied at different points in my life. So, the answer has to be ''other''.
| | | | Ty Kendall
United Kingdom
Local time: 01:33
Hebrew to English
| L♥VE of the language | Feb 17, 2013 |
Main reason was a sheer love of the language, which I fell in love with at 14. We got married several years later. I had a dalliance with (Modern) Greek while at Uni but I am fully reconciled with Hebrew now, looking forward to growing old together. ♥
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Allison Wright (X)
Portugal
Local time: 01:33
Afrikaans, Latin, French - They were required in school, but I liked them, and studied French to post-graduate level.
German - It was a strategic career move: I took on German as an extra subject at age 15, because I knew I wanted to be a translator. When I read the circular advising that one of the teachers would be teaching German to "O" Level, I felt as if I were holding destiny in my hands. With a bit of luck, I shall be meeting up with this same teacher after over 30 years, wh... See more Afrikaans, Latin, French - They were required in school, but I liked them, and studied French to post-graduate level.
German - It was a strategic career move: I took on German as an extra subject at age 15, because I knew I wanted to be a translator. When I read the circular advising that one of the teachers would be teaching German to "O" Level, I felt as if I were holding destiny in my hands. With a bit of luck, I shall be meeting up with this same teacher after over 30 years, when she and her husband holiday in the Algarve this Easter. De-En is my most frequently translated language pair.
Afrikaans, French and German - studied at university as a strategic career move. Afrikaans and English were the two compulsory languages (in South Africa) for the translation degree at the time. I do not translate Afr-En; there is a whole country full of people who do it better than I do.
Portuguese - I moved to Portugal in October 2008. I started translating Pt-En in 2011. Despite only having "beginner" qualifications, and still speaking rather badly as far as I am concerned, I am now pretty much up to speed translation-wise in this language pair. Last week I translated 7,500 words of some Articles of Association in 3 days, and (with a dead PDF in front of me) felt for the first time in my life that investment in Dragon Naturally Speaking would be a good idea.
@ Julian: I am never going to struggle with my rusty Latin again when those little phrases pop up from time to time, now that I know you know more than I do!  ▲ Collapse
| | | | | A combination... | Feb 17, 2013 |
1. It was required in school
2. I loved the language
3. I moved to a country that spoke it
The other 3 languages (English, Italian and Spanish) I have studied at different points in my life and some as a career move (as in-house translator).
[Edited at 2013-02-17 09:38 GMT]
[Edited at 2013-02-17 09:38 GMT]
| | | | | Different reasons | Feb 17, 2013 |
I studied English because I think it's important to know this language.
I studied Spanish becuase is the language of the country were I was born and the language of the most of my family.
I studied Portuguese because I like the sound og this language.
But it's sure, I love learning languages, I think it is the best way to understand different cultures, a wonderful way to understand the world around us.
I studied Latin and Greek at High School, and it was useful to... See more I studied English because I think it's important to know this language.
I studied Spanish becuase is the language of the country were I was born and the language of the most of my family.
I studied Portuguese because I like the sound og this language.
But it's sure, I love learning languages, I think it is the best way to understand different cultures, a wonderful way to understand the world around us.
I studied Latin and Greek at High School, and it was useful to understand better some grammar and syintactic structures.
I'd like to learn more languages, but I'd nedd to win the lottery, and to have "48 hours day" (or maybe more...) ▲ Collapse
| | | | Julian Holmes
Japan
Local time: 09:33
Member (2011)
Japanese to English
| Woops, missed a few | Feb 17, 2013 |
Kansai-ben -- or Osaka dialect -- and its many subsets. And Toyama-ben on the Japan Sea coast facing China
If you speak Kansai-ben in Tokyo or the Osaka-Kyoto-Kobe area, even, it always gets a few smiles because it sounds comic. I suppose I could always take this career course if translation dries up.
And, there's always another option "Ryukyu-go" in and around Okinawa which officially is a completely different language. Isn't learning languages great fun!  ... See more Kansai-ben -- or Osaka dialect -- and its many subsets. And Toyama-ben on the Japan Sea coast facing China
If you speak Kansai-ben in Tokyo or the Osaka-Kyoto-Kobe area, even, it always gets a few smiles because it sounds comic. I suppose I could always take this career course if translation dries up.
And, there's always another option "Ryukyu-go" in and around Okinawa which officially is a completely different language. Isn't learning languages great fun!
p.s.
@Allison
I completely forgot my Latin and Greek in my first few years of college. They went the way of dead languages. They faded into the sunset. Sigh....
@Ty
You romantic! I'm already imagining you both gracefully growing old together.  ▲ Collapse
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| Happy and long marriage, Ty!!! | Feb 17, 2013 |
Ty Kendall wrote: Main reason was a sheer love of the language, which I fell in love with at 14. We got married several years later. I had a dalliance with (Modern) Greek while at Uni but I am fully reconciled with Hebrew now, looking forward to growing old together. ♥
| | | | Tatty
Local time: 02:33
Spanish to English
+ ...
| Other - glamorous lifestyle | Feb 17, 2013 |
I always wanted to learn Italian, but in my day it wasn't an option. I studied French at school and took up Spanish in 6th form. Then I spent a couple of years abroad improving my French and Spanish and finally went to Italy to study the language I originally wanted to study. Again, in my day, studying Italian at uni wasn't an option so I went on to study Spanish and French. I am currently studying German, which could potentially be a career move... Time will tell.
Like most people,... See more I always wanted to learn Italian, but in my day it wasn't an option. I studied French at school and took up Spanish in 6th form. Then I spent a couple of years abroad improving my French and Spanish and finally went to Italy to study the language I originally wanted to study. Again, in my day, studying Italian at uni wasn't an option so I went on to study Spanish and French. I am currently studying German, which could potentially be a career move... Time will tell.
Like most people, if you studied languages at uni it was probably because you weren't much good at anything else. But it was the Mediterranean lifestyle that attracted me to learning languages. The sun, the café culture, going out at night is fun too. But over time my idea of glamour has changed. Now I think that living in a house with its own garage, drive and front and back garden is definitely glamorous. And now I understand the need to get out of your Mediterranean flat and spend some time in the street. But you can't argue with the weather though, it is certainly very pleasant.
[Editado a las 2013-02-17 11:17 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | DianeGM
Local time: 03:33
Member (2006)
Dutch to English
+ ...
Combination: multi-lingual upbring, personal interest, love of travel and language
| | | | Thayenga
Germany
Local time: 02:33
Member (2009)
English to German
+ ...
| Several factors | Feb 17, 2013 |
Although English was mandatory as of 5th grade, I wasn't doing "exactly well". In fact, back then I wasn't even interested in learning the language, that was Oxford English. In fact, I even agreed with my teacher when she told me that she was convinced that I would never learn, let alone "master" the English language.
Then, in 10th grade, I had to take an eight months' break from school due to an accident. During that t... See more Although English was mandatory as of 5th grade, I wasn't doing "exactly well". In fact, back then I wasn't even interested in learning the language, that was Oxford English. In fact, I even agreed with my teacher when she told me that she was convinced that I would never learn, let alone "master" the English language.
Then, in 10th grade, I had to take an eight months' break from school due to an accident. During that time I listend to AFN's (American Forces Network) Country Music programs, but my knowledge of English was so...well, not all that great that I was unable to comprehend the texts. With all that free time at my hands I began to learn English "my way": I wrote down the English words of the songs the way I heard them and then looked them up in a dictionary. Needless to say that English is written not at all like it sounds. At least not to German ears.
By the time I returned to school, about 2.5 months before the end of the school year, my English had improved from a...well, not too great a mark to a straight "A". That's when I decided to study English to earn a degree in translations. And the studying process continues to this day. And now I can rightfully say that I love English. ▲ Collapse
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| Snap, Ty, here's to many years of happiness | Feb 17, 2013 |
I wavered between 'other' and moving to the country where it is spoken, finally voting for moving to the country.
That was the predominant factor in learning my second native language.
OK, OK, the purists say I learnt it too late, but it would be off topic to discuss here.
I learnt other languages for several reasons.
I started French at seven because the small, private school I attended for a few months taught it well and I took a liking to it, so I ... See more I wavered between 'other' and moving to the country where it is spoken, finally voting for moving to the country.
That was the predominant factor in learning my second native language.
OK, OK, the purists say I learnt it too late, but it would be off topic to discuss here.
I learnt other languages for several reasons.
I started French at seven because the small, private school I attended for a few months taught it well and I took a liking to it, so I did well all the way through my later schools. It was required anyway.
Latin - because I did not get on with the teacher - was a battle all the way, though I have been glad of it later... It was required, as I wanted to read Medicine, and to prove I could learn anything if I had to. 
I started German because our headmistress pooh-poohed my dreams of Medicine, but if I got high enough A-level grades, there was a myth I could read medicine with Arts A-levels when I got out of her clutches. I carried on at various levels because I liked it, and also because it seemed a good career move once I was too old to start reading medicine. 
Then I met and married this Dane... He did not manage to get a job in the UK, but landed one in Copenhagen, so there I was...
I don't know about gracefully - we're a couple of eccentrics, but we're growing old happily together.
I picked up a little Swedish because we have a branch of the family in Sweden, and more because my employer at one time believed that if you can translate from one Scandinavian language, you can take on all three. 
Unfortunately I have forgotten an awful lot, but can still read most of my languages if I try hard. Even Latin usually comes back when I need it! ▲ Collapse
| | | | Helen Hagon
Local time: 01:33
Member (2011)
Russian to English
+ ...
| Couldn't do German | Feb 17, 2013 |
I wanted to learn German when I went to secondary school, but my school didn't offer it - only French and Spanish. There were optional evening classes in Russian, though, so I did that instead. I was soon hooked and have never looked back. I did eventually learn some German later on, but not to the same level.
| | | | Ty Kendall
United Kingdom
Local time: 01:33
Hebrew to English
| Slight disagreement... | Feb 17, 2013 |
Tatty wrote:
Like most people, if you studied languages at uni it was probably because you weren't much good at anything else.
Oooh, bit of a controversial statement there, I'm not sure that's the case for many people, certainly not the case for all. I was actually quite good at Science at school, but it just never really interested me like languages did.
And being a "follow your heart, not your head" type person, it was always going to be languages for me.
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