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IMO learning ANYTHING is never a waste of time.
I am 41 and just finishing a sociology degree and about to start and English and German one.
You can never have too much knowledge.
LMAO--I didn't realize that the difference between who uses sign language and who uses braille was something that confused people.
Speaking of signing, my daughter also learned basic signing in elementary school. Our town schools were also the Hearing Impaired Program schools for the county, so the HIP kids were bused in from other towns and mainstreamed into our kids' classrooms. All of the hearing kids learned to sign to some degree.
As we get better real time translation tools, esp ones that can be loaded to your phone, is there any point for the avg person to bother learning a foreign language anymore?
If not, under what conditions is it worth the time/effort?
Will it still be mandatory in school?
Learning something new is never a waste of time. Just because we have tools to help translate, it is not the same as being able to communicate with someone in their native language whether you travel overseas and are an ambassador for your country, or they come to visit where you live and you can make them feel more welcome by conversing with them.
You can also open yourself up to a lot of jobs...yes, they do still have translators that are people.
It also, as was stated earlier, will exercise your brain. And you typically learn a little bit about the culture when you learn the language.
Never a bad thing. Frankly, I want to be fluent in about 10 different languages.
Our bodies need to be exercised to improve and the brain is no different. Learning a second language does wonders for brainpower, not to mention opening your eyes to the wider world.
As we get better real time translation tools, esp ones that can be loaded to your phone, is there any point for the avg person to bother learning a foreign language anymore?
If not, under what conditions is it worth the time/effort?
Will it still be mandatory in school?
We should all be learning Mandarin Chinese, in my opinion. It'll come in handy when we inevitably end up working for them.
Seriously, though. I think Spanish is worth learning because there are so many people that speak it but don't speak English. (I guess with so many other Spanish-speakers they can get by without learning English.) I wouldn't bother learning one of the European languages - they all speak English.
Fancy translation tools are great, but nothing can replace having an actual conversation with someone.
As we get better real time translation tools, esp ones that can be loaded to your phone, is there any point for the avg person to bother learning a foreign language anymore?
If not, under what conditions is it worth the time/effort?
Will it still be mandatory in school?
in most other developed countries (other than English speaking ones), it's considered normal to speak more than one language for anyone who is at least moderately well educated.
I find it embarrassing that so many Americans can't even spell and write in English, let alone any other language.
Go on any internet forum, and people misspell and misuse words they should've learned in elementary school such as:
--loose vs. lose
--their / there / they're
--your / you're
--advice / advise
--The incorrect use of "that" when referring to other people, instead of the correct word "who".
--"could of", "would of", "should of" instead of the correct "could've", "would've", "should've".
--"suppose to" instead of "supposeD to"
--"can goods" instead of "canNED goods"
--"truely" instead of "truly"
--not dropping the "y" at the end of a word when pluralizing. EG "familys" instead of "families".
--use of the word "then" when you really mean "thAn"
--"payed" instead of "paId"
--"rediculous" instead of "rIdiculous"
--"discusting" instead of "disGusting"
I won't even get into the run-on paragraphs that make my eyes crossed from trying to read them.
Last edited by mysticaltyger; 08-13-2011 at 10:17 PM..
in most other developed countries (other than English speaking ones), it's considered normal to speak more than one language for anyone who is at least moderately well educated.
I find it embarrassing that so many Americans can't even spell and write in English, let alone any other language.
Go on any internet forum, and people misspell and misuse words they should've learned in elementary school such as:
--loose vs. lose
--their / there / they're
--your / you're
--advice / advise
--The incorrect use of "that" when referring to other people, instead of the correct word "who".
--"could of", "would of", "should of" instead of the correct "could've", "would've", "should've".
--"suppose to" instead of "supposeD to"
--"can goods" instead of "canNED goods"
--"truely" instead of "truly"
--not dropping the "y" at the end of a word when pluralizing. EG "familys" instead of "families".
--use of the word "then" when you really mean "thAn"
--"payed" instead of "paId"
--"rediculous" instead of "rIdiculous"
--"discusting" instead of "disGusting"
I won't even get into the run-on paragraphs that make my eyes crossed from trying to read them.
It's simply mind-boggling how much of this I see. On the other hand, I am also grateful because the economy sucks and I have a daughter who will graduate college in two years, and her contemporaries who are too lazy to spell or write correctly will be her competition for jobs. Plus, she speaks Spanish and Mandarin.
My former husband once put "papper plats" on a shopping list. I wondered where he was on the days when the simple rule (always exceptions, of course) about consonants after vowels followed by an "e" making the vowel long or short was taught. Geez, the man went to first grade TWICE--you'd think he would have picked something up.
It's simply mind-boggling how much of this I see. On the other hand, I am also grateful because the economy sucks and I have a daughter who will graduate college in two years, and her contemporaries who are too lazy to spell or write correctly will be her competition for jobs. Plus, she speaks Spanish and Mandarin.
My former husband once put "papper plats" on a shopping list. I wondered where he was on the days when the simple rule (always exceptions, of course) about consonants after vowels followed by an "e" making the vowel long or short was taught. Geez, the man went to first grade TWICE--you'd think he would have picked something up.
Multilingualism is definitely a plus when it comes to getting jobs. My languages have always helped me have the upper hand when it came to standing out in the application pool.
in most other developed countries (other than English speaking ones), it's considered normal to speak more than one language for anyone who is at least moderately well educated.
I find it embarrassing that so many Americans can't even spell and write in English, let alone any other language.
Go on any internet forum, and people misspell and misuse words they should've learned in elementary school such as:
--loose vs. lose
--their / there / they're
--your / you're
--advice / advise
--The incorrect use of "that" when referring to other people, instead of the correct word "who".
--"could of", "would of", "should of" instead of the correct "could've", "would've", "should've".
--"suppose to" instead of "supposeD to"
--"can goods" instead of "canNED goods"
--"truely" instead of "truly"
--not dropping the "y" at the end of a word when pluralizing. EG "familys" instead of "families".
--use of the word "then" when you really mean "thAn"
--"payed" instead of "paId"
--"rediculous" instead of "rIdiculous"
--"discusting" instead of "disGusting"
I won't even get into the run-on paragraphs that make my eyes crossed from trying to read them.
On an Internet forum, who cares? I've gone back to read my posts and realized I accidentally typed "could of" instead of "could have" or "could've" even though I know the difference. A lot of the people who make these mistakes know the difference but just don't care. People go on forums to relax and chat, not to have someone police their grammar and spelling.
Of course, in a school paper or on a resume that's another story. But it's just like wearing clothes. You shouldn't wear jeans to a job interview, but there's no reason you have to break out the tux for a barbecue. Likewise, you should mind your grammar and spelling for a resume, but on a forum there's no reason to use your best and most formal English.
Not to mention, I speak a lot of languages and do online searches in many of these languages. I come across grammatical errors in all languages on the Internet, not just English.
Learning a lot of languages won't necessarily make your spelling perfect, but it does change the way you think and opens you up to a much bigger world.
No. You should definitely learn the useful languages like Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, and Brazilian Portuguese.
The Chinese create everything nowadays.
Spanish is spoken everywhere in the USA. A lot of immigrants.
Brasil is becoming a superpower with their resources. I have visited the country twice and it's very beautiful. (and the girls are HOT!!!!)
Language Approx. number of speakers
1. Chinese (Mandarin) 1,213,000,000
2. Spanish 329,000,000
3. English 328,000,000
4. Arabic 221,000,000
5. Hindi182,000,000
6. Bengali 181,000,000
7. Portuguese 178,000,000
8. Russian 144,000,000
9. Japanese 122,000,000
10. German 90,000,000
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Is learning a foreign language now a waste of time?
