| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Poll: Have you ever regretted learning one language instead of another? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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| Like kdeimling I would learn more languages | Sep 18, 2009 |
I have never regretted learning French, English or German but I would like to learn more because I have a passion for languages! I would learn Chinese, Greek, Spanish or Russian but it isn't a real regret actually because I'm still young and maybe sometimes in the future.. However for the moment I try to use well the ones I already know!
| | | | Rebecca Garber 
Local time: 06:08
Member (2005)
German to English
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| w/ kdeimling and Chiara | Sep 18, 2009 |
I wish I had kept up on some that I learned (French, Gaelic).
I spent a summer learning Gaelic and loved it, but there's not so much call for it.
I wish I had time to learn Arabic.
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Spanish goes a long way in a region I am living.
Besides, I love the sound!
| | | | Amy Duncan (X)
Brazil
Local time: 07:08
Portuguese to English
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| Would like to learn more... | Sep 18, 2009 |
I studied Latin and French in high school, French and Russian in college. Later I learned Spanish in Mexico, Portuguese in Brazil, and studied Japanese for four years in NY with a native teacher.
I'd like to get back to the Japanese some day, and I sometimes wish I had the time to learn Italian, Chinese, Korean and Arabic. Oh well, dream on!
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bookwormkt
Local time: 11:08
French to English
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| I regret not learning a 2nd Modern Foreign Language when I was younger. | Sep 18, 2009 |
I was good at French, so was put in the group to learn Latin, rather than German. I don't regret learning Latin, as it has helped me understand aspects of French, Italian and Spanish, as well as English, my mother tongue. However, I gained 2 O Levels in Latin, as I failed to pass A level. Seems like a waste, but never mind!! Fortunately I did well enough in English and French to go to University.
At University I studied Arabic, which I failed to understand in any meaningful way.
... See more I was good at French, so was put in the group to learn Latin, rather than German. I don't regret learning Latin, as it has helped me understand aspects of French, Italian and Spanish, as well as English, my mother tongue. However, I gained 2 O Levels in Latin, as I failed to pass A level. Seems like a waste, but never mind!! Fortunately I did well enough in English and French to go to University.
At University I studied Arabic, which I failed to understand in any meaningful way.
I think learning German would have been helpful at school, and Italian at university. I understand quite a bit of Italian through French and Latin and 3 wonderful holidays near Rome with an Italian school friend, but attempts to learn it formally have always fizzled out.
Still, I enjoy being almost bilingual in French and my work is pulling me more and more towards education rather than language work. I do really enjoy it, but every once in a while I wonder........ ▲ Collapse
| | | | Jenn Mercer
United States
Local time: 06:08
Member (2009)
French to English
| I've made wrong turns | Sep 18, 2009 |
I took half a semester of college German which was largely wasted. Like a previous poster, part of my problem was the instructor. However it did not help anything that the class was at 7:30 in the morning. I have never been a morning person and this was my first semester in college. Things did not go well. I dropped the course and retreated back into French which I had taken for two years in high school. As you can see by my translation pair, that went *much* better.
Of course, I h... See more I took half a semester of college German which was largely wasted. Like a previous poster, part of my problem was the instructor. However it did not help anything that the class was at 7:30 in the morning. I have never been a morning person and this was my first semester in college. Things did not go well. I dropped the course and retreated back into French which I had taken for two years in high school. As you can see by my translation pair, that went *much* better.
Of course, I had also taken 8 years of Spanish in elementary school and 4 years in high school. I always did well, but I never really made the leap into fluency. Interestingly enough, my daughter now goes to a Spanish immersion school and my Spanish is coming back better than ever with the vocabulary lent from French. The really amusing part is that I did better in French than I had any right to because I borrowed vocabulary from Spanish during my beginning courses .
I agree with the general idea that many people have expressed that there is always time to learn another language. I am currently studying Gaelic on my own and I have toyed with the idea of studying Hindu. I know there is a limit to what one can do during a lifetime, but meanwhile, we might as well have fun. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Mariam Osmann
Egypt
Local time: 12:08
Member (2007)
English to Arabic
+ ...
That's my concerns.
I started learning French with Arabic @ the age of 4 and the English 6 years later. Now it's 16 years later.
I want to learn Spanish or Chinese. Wish I can have the time to learn both.
Spanish as latin language will be easier and ressources and courses are more available where I am.
Chinese is challenging by all means, and that's what I like and with the fast growing economy It's the language to be.
What should be the key motiva... See more That's my concerns.
I started learning French with Arabic @ the age of 4 and the English 6 years later. Now it's 16 years later.
I want to learn Spanish or Chinese. Wish I can have the time to learn both.
Spanish as latin language will be easier and ressources and courses are more available where I am.
Chinese is challenging by all means, and that's what I like and with the fast growing economy It's the language to be.
What should be the key motivation to learn a new language?
Passion of language sound? the market? number of years required to master the language (according to the profile of the learner)? available ressources? ...?
When I think about it, Mireille Mathieu song comes up to my mind "J'ai parfois peur de faire un faux pas."
Regards to all who shared their experience,
Mariam ▲ Collapse
| | | | B D Finch
France
Local time: 12:08
French to English
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| One major one | Sep 18, 2009 |
I learned French at school and, being only moderately good at it, I was put in the German class. The best students learned Latin. Unfortunately, this was just at the time when I was learning about the Nazi period and, being Jewish, I was very negative about learning German and deliberately got myself thrown out of the class as one couldn't opt not to do it. I now really regret not having either learned German when I had that opportunity, both for direct communication with German people and fo... See more I learned French at school and, being only moderately good at it, I was put in the German class. The best students learned Latin. Unfortunately, this was just at the time when I was learning about the Nazi period and, being Jewish, I was very negative about learning German and deliberately got myself thrown out of the class as one couldn't opt not to do it. I now really regret not having either learned German when I had that opportunity, both for direct communication with German people and for a more direct access to knowledge about German culture (in the broad sense), history and literature. Nonetheless, the language I intend to learn next is Catalan, for the practical reason that I live near the Spanish border, possibly followed by Occitan.
I learned Hebrew as a teenager; but that was not an academic choice, as I learned it in order to live in Israel, which is something I deeply regret having done. I choose not to use that language and have largely forgotten it, though I was quite fluent. The last time I tried to speak it was, interestingly, with some Palestinians from the occupied territories who insisted on speaking Hebrew rather than French, which they didn't know as well. In the end, we fell back on speaking English because my Hebrew was so rusty. I would have liked to have learned Arabic, but it is probably too late now to learn both Arabic and Catalan and I don't have sufficiently regular access to an Arabic speaking community. I love the script and would like to understand how the aesthetics of the script relate to the meaning. ▲ Collapse
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Ecuánime
United States
Local time: 06:08
Member (2009)
Spanish to English
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| Never too late to learn... | Sep 19, 2009 |
I wish I could have learned Chinese a little earlier, but I am learning it now. But I think one shouldn't regret what they haven't learned yet, because you can learn it now, the only thing one stopping you is yourself.
| | | | Parrot
Spain
Local time: 12:08
Spanish to English
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| No regrets about "learning" | Sep 19, 2009 |
... but every once in awhile, some rants about immersion.
Languages came naturally to me so I learned and spoke whatever was around. I suppose this meant I enjoyed immersion in the different countries where my foreign languages were spoken.
Then I began to have interference problems. First, I lost a perfectly-acquired "B" native accent because I had spent too much time working in a "C" language country. I also wrote extensively in the "C" language to the extent of havin... See more ... but every once in awhile, some rants about immersion.
Languages came naturally to me so I learned and spoke whatever was around. I suppose this meant I enjoyed immersion in the different countries where my foreign languages were spoken.
Then I began to have interference problems. First, I lost a perfectly-acquired "B" native accent because I had spent too much time working in a "C" language country. I also wrote extensively in the "C" language to the extent of having it interfere in spoken "A", and have refused retour interpretation ever since.
Now I'm reinforcing another "C" with a lot of time and effort, since work and life circumstances prevent me from actually going off to live, even temporarily (for a reasonable immersion time) in that language. (What used to be the other "C" language is now a "B"). Logically, what used to be the "B" throughout the 1990s is by now overdue for reinforcement, but since my partner has put down his foot on yet another language junket, I feel frustrated.
But I keep trying... ▲ Collapse
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