If I could learn any language, I think I would go back to French. That language retains, for me, its cosmopolitan allure, its sound of sophistication. And I would like to read the Mallarme, Rimbaud, Baudelaire and Reverdy again with clarity. There is newish translation of Rimbuad’s Illuminations by my hero John Ashberry. I have the dual language edition and have enjoyed playing with some of the challenging ideas therein. My French is too too rusty to do much more than look at various phrases and try to remember how the verb tenses work.
Read the essay here. Then write about 400 words in which you summarize your own work with world languages and then look to the future. What will you learn and why? After all, you are still young! Your brain is still plastic enough to learn a language quickly.
Show off as a writer. Please proofread carefully.
My career with world languages is very limited. Up until my sophomore year in high school, I dealt with no language other than English. Now I have successfully completed almost two years of Spanish, and I don’t feel any more confident than I did when I first walked through the door. This is not a fact that I am content with because learning to fluently speak a foreign language, particularly Spanish, is a goal in which I strive to accomplish. I choose Spanish as my language of choice because of how prevalent the culture is becoming in the United States. Spanish is often referred to as the “second language” of America, easily observed in everyday life. It is nearly impossible to find a set of directions, or receive telephone assistance that doesn’t offer “Espanol” as an alternative option to English. There are also over 37 million people in the United States that speak Spanish as their primary language. Daily I encounter these people and I find it difficult to communicate with them; this dilemma fuels my desire to expand my knowledge in foreign language. On a larger scale, taking the time to broaden your comprehension of different languages can have endless benefits. It would add to your intellectual stature and improve your understanding of the world as a whole. If accomplished you would be facilitating your career in numerous ways. You would be able to travel abroad, show respect for international colleagues, develop business in new locations, and be more competitive. These are all positive, well admired, traits that could be obtained by studying a foreign language. Also you could improve your native language by means of learning another, and it could open your eyes and help you further appreciate the many different cultures outside of your own. If becoming more “worldly” does none of this, at the very least it may provide you with a sexy new accent to help real in the ladies, or give you the opportunity to talk in a language in which no one understands you. These are a few of the many ways I believe learning Spanish or any foreign language could better your involvement in future society.
ReplyDeleteMy only encounter with a foreign language is with Spanish. My attempt to learn the language has been a struggle since the beginning. My biggest problem is trying to memorize the vocabulary. Most people do not think about how many words we use in everyday conversation until they try to memorize a translation for every word. I have gotten much better at understanding the Spanish language but I am still no master. The aspect that I excel the most in is the conjugation of verbs, because it is repetitive. In college, I would like to pursue a language other than Spanish because I have grown tired of it. My only concern for making a language switch in college is that I am too far behind to take up a new language all the sudden. I would have to learn the conjugations and vocabulary all over again. I think there are languages more useful than Spanish out there. The author of the paper I just read would not agree to this, but in my opinion, China is the up and coming country in the World today and many powerful people live there. To be successful you need to know powerful people and you cannot meet these powerful people if you do not speak their language. If I could learn one language though for my own pleasure it would be French. French is a beautiful language and France is a beautiful place and is not near as enjoyable if you do not know the language. I also have friends in France that speak to me in English but I would like to be able to speak to them in their native language for a chain. I hope that I get the opportunity to pursue my goals and learn the languages that I would like to learn.
ReplyDeleteMy experience to date with foreign languages is two disjointed years of Latin. By disjointed I mean that they are non-consecutive, taking Latin Freshman and Junior year with a one-year hiatus Sophomore year. I like to think that I have made progress in Latin although I hold out no hope to ever truly speak it, Latin being an extremely hard language to speak (evidenced by my teacher not being able to speak Latin). The two languages that I would like to learn how to speak are Latin and French.
ReplyDeleteI would like to speak French partially because, like the author said, it is the most global behind English and partially to be able to celebrate within my own glorious pretentiousness. French is a very widely spoken language, being at least partially spoken in many Asian, Middle-eastern, and many other European nations. With all of the focus on our Spanish-speaking neighbor to the south, I find that we are ignoring our largely French-speaking neighbor to the north (and if I’m meant to take Newt Gingrich at his word, I shouldn’t want to learn the language of living in a ghetto). Canada is a vast territory with many tourist and business interests from the United States. In addition, Canada is home to some of the nicest people in the world, placing third in a travelvivi.com poll of most hospitable countries, which makes it the perfect place to visit. I would also like to be able to read several classic French books- The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, The Three Musketeers,, and Les Miseralbes are just a few (if nothing else just the ability to understand Eddie Izzard’s interjections of French into his comedy routine). Honestly who wouldn’t want to speak French, one of the romance language and quite possibly one of the most beautiful in the world. I mean, what doesn’t sound good in French?
I would like to learn Latin because it is the basis of most other modern languages. It could be a major stepping-stone into the learning of many other languages. It may be dead but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t useful. Also, what gets more original in literature than Latin? There were hundreds of years where the majority of books were all written in Latin. This means that thousands of books have their origin in Latin and have been translated to fit English. There are many very important writings that come from Latin- the works of Cicero, Principia, Marco Polo’s Travels, and who wouldn’t want to be able to read all of the boring letters released by the Vatican? In the end, I find these languages the most useful and the most suited to advance my goals and above all, aren’t we all just searching for knowledge?
The only experience I possess in languages other than English is anything I can remember from grade school Spanish and my recent encounter with high school Latin. Latin in itself is really a language to only learn for kicks or if you want to become the next pope. The only language I have ever been interested in, besides English of course, is a dead language. People who defend Latin and claim that learning the dead banter is important always offer the same defending statements, “Learning Latin helps you better grasp English!” or “English can be better understood through learning its Latin roots.” Being born in an English speaking country and drilled in the essential “reading, writing, and arithmetic” education style, all presented in beautiful English, I believe these statements are only true if reversed. For me, English is what helps me keep a grasp on Latin, even if only a slight one. I understand that Latin came first but frankly just being first does not make you better. I dare you to claim that any modern band, just due to their modernity, is better than The Beatles. No one ever says that, at least without a knife to their throat. But I view language in a different light. We have had years and years to develop our language. As constant and simple as it appears at first glance, English is considered one of the hardest languages to grasp throughout the world, even harder than the indecipherable scribbles of calligraphy. But to people born and versed in English, it is simply the memorization of rules and double-meanings. With this idea, I don’t see how any language can even be considered a bolster to English, when English, in my view, is a bolster to a great many other languages due it in itself being a culmination of them all.
ReplyDeleteAs long as I can remember, people have been encouraging me to learn the Spanish language. I remember sitting as a second grader in Mrs. Anderson’s Spanish class, awestruck by the magnificent opportunity to learn another language. Sure, I could in no way comprehend the work necessary to do so or the difficulty of the task at hand, but it did not really matter. The prospect had a particular appeal to me, and still does. Throughout elementary school, despite the absolutely wonderful education I received, I cannot recount much of what I learned in Spanish. I took Spanish electives in middle school, but as you can imagine, the classes were taken less than seriously. Finally, in eighth grade, a serious foreign language class was offered at the high school level: Spanish I. I jumped all over the chance and did well in the class. Because of scheduling conflicts, I again took Spanish I my freshman year, and I have proceeded through the sequence of Spanish classes, my current class being Spanish III.
ReplyDeleteDespite all of the Spanish classes I have taken, I think I would still have a difficult time going to Spain and speaking fluently. In order to achieve bilingualism, I will have to continue to take courses in Spanish, and I plan to do so through college. The advantages of learning a foreign language appear nearly limitless. For one, in many professions, increased pay is rewarded to those who possess fluency in a second language. For an employer, bilingual applicants come across as more appealing than their monolingual competitors. Once in the workplace, a foreign language allows an employee to communicate with a far wider range of clients.
Spanish, in particular, has immense advantages for those willing to take the time and put in effort to learn it. Immigrants, mostly coming from Spanish-speaking backgrounds, are flooding the US boarders and swarming into our country (whether it be legally or illegally, but that is neither here nor there.) Most of us have suffered through those awkwardly uncomfortable situations, trying to communicate with someone who speaks little to no English. In such circumstances, all of us hunger for the ability to bridge the gap and resolve the conflict, but unfortunately, few of us posses the ability. The Spanish language is quietly being pushed into countless other aspects of our lives. TV’s, computers, and innumerable businesses offer options for Spanish-speakers. Spanish is slowly creeping into the national scene and becoming prominent in our culture. We can get by not knowing it, but the advantages of learning it are significant.
Nearly as important as the language learned are the tools and skills acquired in the process. Learning Spanish requires intellect, enthusiasm, effort, patience, time, and self-discipline. It opens brain avenues, which allow for advancement in various other areas. It enhances study skills, which are essential to learning. It provides us with insight, which allows us to get a fresh perspective. I will certainly strive to continue to elevate my Spanish knowledge and skills.
When I went to St. Frances of Assisi middle school in Bluffton, taking Spanish was mandatory. The class was designed to stretch a year’s worth of a high school level Spanish I class over the three years of middle school. We learned the vocabulary and grammar at a slow and comfortable pace, basically covering one chapter every quarter. There was never any need to study for the tests because we had learned the material so well.
ReplyDeleteWhen I came to Benedictine, I was enrolled in Spanish II. The class was an interesting change from middle school. On one hand it was difficult because I had to get used to learning at a faster pace. But on the other hand, I had a better grasp on the Spanish I material then most of the other students in the class. I continued taking Spanish throughout high school and I am now in Spanish IV.
Taking a foreign language definitely has its advantages. Obviously it has more advantages in certain career fields over others. If you plan on majoring in business or law you should definitely be taking foreign language classes in College. However, I plan on going into engineering. And while knowing foreign languages will definitely be beneficial, they are not of particular importance in that field.
One of the primary reasons Europeans know more languages then us Americans is because they immediately boarder so many other countries that speak different languages. Nearly everybody in America speaks English. There is little chance in America that you may run into somebody you need to speak to who does not know English. In Europe however, the chances that you will need to speak with somebody who does not know the language of that particular country is much higher. They have a much greater need to be fluent in multiple languages. The Spanish-speaking population in America is growing, however. Knowing at least some Spanish is a good skill to have nowadays.
This is Chase's essay. He asked me to post it for him.
ReplyDeleteCurrently I am learning Spanish and have been attempting to do so for over five years. Even though I began studying the language in seventh grade, I am still by far from fluent in the language so for the near future I will continue to focus on Spanish. In college I will take a freshmen class in Spanish to continue learning and understanding the language. The author does make good points about French being a more global language and I feel that if I were interested in making a career in an international field I would no doubt attempt to learn French. However, I want to be a teacher, a regional occupation, and living in America I feel that Spanish is more important to learn.
The author himself acknowledges that what which language you learn is dependent on what region you will be using the language. America is a nation that is increasingly becoming a more multicultural nation and the fastest growing language in America is Spanish. This fact alone seems to demand that we learn Spanish if we want to continue to live in this society. While some people claim they should learn English, I see nothing wrong in learning Spanish so I can communicate easier with a significant portion of the nation. Not only will learning Spanish allow me to communicate better with the large Hispanic population I will also be able to read the great Hispanic authors such as Pablo Neruda, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Carlos Fuentes, and many others. As Greene explains, books lose their magic in the translation. I am interested in these authors’ works such as “The Man with Enormous wings”, “Aura”, and “If You Forget Me”. These works literary value is undeniable but reading them in English is not the same as the original Spanish. Without a doubt, learning Spanish was the right decision for me to learn as my second language. Spanish will be more useful in my everyday life then any another language, affords me greater literary opportunities, and will make life easier as Americas Spanish population continues to skyrocket.
I believe learning foreign languages is very important and could be one of the leading stepping stone to solving many of the world’s problems. Luckily I was raised by my parents who happen to both fluently speak Spanish and had actually lived in Spain for a little over two years. Sadly though, my past experience with learning a foreign language has not been very successful due to the combination of a lack of adequate instruction and utter laziness on my part. I hope to change this in the near future because I believe learning foreign languages increases communication which in turn helps to avoid many different kinds of difficulties.
ReplyDeleteI first started my study of Spanish in St. James Catholic School in first grade and continued to take a Spanish course through the eighth grade. This is a solid eight years of Spanish, a time in which I should have, at least come close, mastered the language. Though unfortunately Spanish class in those early years would consist of the Spanish teacher, Senora Rivera, talking about all of her life problems to a group of eight and nine year olds. Needless to say I graduated from my middle school with the knowledge of only two words: “hola” and “taco.” The only time I can remember ever really getting a feel for the language and culture of a foreign country is when I visited Spain in the summer of 2010. It was one of the strangest feelings I have ever felt. I was a stranger in a strange land. Everyone around me; the shop keepers, the police men, the children playing in the street, and the many people walking by me all spoke nothing but Spanish and I could not communicate fully no matter how hard I tried. It lead to nothing but confusion and frustration. I remember one occasion where I was walking with my sister down the streets of Segovia, when a family approached us and started pointing and spitting out intensely fast Spanish. I calmly had to tell them, “no hablo espanol” which mean I don’t speak Spanish, and attempted to walk away. They kept speaking and pointing and I once again told them I don’t speak Spanish and after what seemed like hours I finally got away. It later dawned on me that they only wanted to see the map in my hand. They were trying to communicate something so simple yet I had no idea what they were saying.
I am seriously going to work harder to learn a foreign language because it will not only help me, but my country as well. In a world that is increasingly resenting the United States, it is important for us to learn some type of foreign language. For one it would makes things incredibly easier for the military overseas. Being able to communicate with the native people and enemy will make things easier for both sides and hopefully would reduce unnecessary bloodshed due to misunderstanding. Also as citizens it helps us further understand foreign cultures and them to better understand us. It brings us together and hopefully some day we will suddenly find we are no longer viewed as outsiders to one another and relations with foreign countries will be much better.
I was lucky as a toddler to live, and grow up in, Germany and Belgium. I began my German classes in first grade and I am told that I absorbed everything being taught with ease, as there is no substitute for the young forming brain of a child. We moved to Belgium after spending only a year in Germany, however, and I began my new study in the diplomatic language of French, quickly losing my year’s worth of German. I immediately took a liking to it and thrived in my new setting, although I was known for occasionally switching to German without knowing it. I studied this language for five years straight and became quite fluent, surpassing my parents, sisters, and other westerners in my class. As Greene pointed out, French is the most useful second language to have under your belt in a global perspective. I spent my life traveling all over exotic countries spanning multiple continents there is no doubt in my mind that I will continue traveling for as long as I can. My French, which has unfortunately been degrading because of lack of practice, will no doubt aid me these travels. In no way do I intend to forget all of my French, I wish to continue my studies as soon as I can, and surpass the level that I was at when I left Europe. Mastering this language will open infinite possibilities in my life, and seriously, what better way is there to woo a woman than in one of the romantic languages?
ReplyDeleteI have only had small encounters with language. Nothing too serious. When I was young, in elementary and middle school, it was mandatory to learn Hebrew. This language was not of the same features as it is today, it is more so the biblical version. Learning this language revealed the importance of knowing a secondary language apart from the language I spoke daily. At a young age learning a separate language I was ahead of most children my age yet I was not learning the language in depth, and certainly nothing more so than the simple “how do I find the bathroom’’ or how to order food from a menu. The language is somewhat hard to learn in that it reads from right to left and uses different letters to English which I am accustomed to. Even just reading and writing the language was a bit more difficult than other secondary languages like Spanish, French, Latin, or many others. Learning this language certainly was helpful in my language skills today, but I wish I would have learned much more and one day I will.
ReplyDeleteAnother language I have studied is Latin. I never really appreciated this language much. Firstly, I only learned the language due to having to take it in school. I wanted to learn Spanish because it seemed most the people I met from other countries in America were fro Spanish roots and Spanish just seemed logical to learn if I am going to be successful in a business, but due to my schedule at school, I was unable to take Spanish. Another reason I did not love learning Latin was the fact that it’s a dead language. I feel that the languages students learn in school don’t always turn into a fluent language, or even something you remember after two years out of high school, is because it is mandatory. When I spent several weekends in Europe, I was able to pick up a little bit of the languages in the countries I visited. I went to France for the longest of any of the other countries and was able to learn some French by being isolated for two weeks in a very small French town. The children in this town all new English and some other languages fairly well and motivated me to learn more. This secondary language knowledge of the French kids could also be due to the fact that France is surrounded my many different speaking countries, but that is no excuse for young Americans like myself. I would like to one day learn at least two more languages fairly well in my lifetime.
What language would be the most useful in learning? Will this language help me with my own language? How time consuming is learning this language? Johann Wolfgang von Goethe once said, “Those who know nothing of foreign languages know nothing of their own.” Arabic would be the most helpful language when pursuing an aerospace engineering career. My uncle, a soon to be vice president of Gulfstream, had recently informed me that Gulfstream was in the need with people who spoke fluent Arabic. This puzzled me at first, but as he later went on to explain the need for Arabic speakers was great because most of their income was coming from the Arabs. Gulfstream needs speakers to help them get buyer to commit, and there is no better way to accomplish that commitment than have Arabic speakers seal the deal. A teacher of mine once told me, “You must not only learn the language, you must learn the culture.” This culture you must know ties the knot, or helps to assure that the job is going to be followed through with very well. Other than the use of Arabic speakers for aerospace engineering, the language is also very important with encrypting codes for the government. Many people these days get paid the big bucks to have such knowledge as the Arabic language. These people specialize in the use of the Arabic language and use their expertise to help the government uncover terroristic thoughts and plans or new routes of trade and navigation. Though encrypting codes for a living is not my idea of a fun filled life, aerospace engineering is. This has been an idea career for me for many years and the Arabic language will help me accrue my goal. After reading about the employment rates to businesses such as Gulfstream, I now know that if two men are interviewing for the same job and one man is higher qualified, if the other man can speak fluent Arabic and is qualified enough to handle the job he will receive it not he overly qualified not Arab speaking person. This piece of information surprised me greatly and shows the importance of a foreign language in your portfolio. The knowledge of a language can result in getting a job or not getting a job or starving in another country or thriving. As Dave Barry states, “Americans who travel abroad for the first time are often shocked to discover that, despite all the progress that has been made in the last 30 years, many foreign people still speak in foreign languages.”
ReplyDeleteThroughout my life I have been exposed to three very different languages; Polish, French, and English. With heavy exposure to several languages at a young age, learning how to speak a new language comes naturally to me, the grammar not so much. During the early years of my life there was what seemed to be, to the untrained ear, a cacophony of a a dozen or so people shouting gibberish at each other, turned out to be the delicate ballet of three very distinct languages simultaneously drifting through the air. It still amazes me to this very day how the oldest generation of my family could change languages, mid-sentence none the less, as easily as one changes the light bulb in the laundry room after your great aunt yells at you in a language that you had about a third of a chance of understanding. As I aged, I became separated from the direct ties to the old world, and I became closer to the traditions left behind by those who have passed on. The unfortunate reality of a second and especially a third tongue, is that it suffers the same of a car that has been parked in the woods for a number of years. As it falls into disrepair, you tell yourself that one day you will restore it into its former glory, when in fact no such plans will ever materialize. Then on that fateful day, that car. That car you've neglected to maintain. That car that has been a part of your life for as long as you can recall. That car that has sat in your yard, and has become of more use to bees as a hive, rather than an effective mode of transportation. I can say that there are two bee hives sitting in my yard as we sit here. Do I plan on restoring either of them? Probably not. I'd like to relearn Polish that my great grand mother spoke when she stepped off the boat and into this country, and be able to say more than the Hail Mary. I'd also like to learn French once more, and maybe take note on the proper genders to use in a particular sentence. Until then I am perfectly content sitting here at my desk, taking the occasional, furtive glance at the broken down, but promising cars sitting in my back lawn.
ReplyDeleteMy history with learning foreign languages started early in my life. I took Spanish for eight years in grade school, and we never got past conjugating verbs. All I got out of those wasted seconds of my life were “hola” and “adios”, which could have been picked up by watching “Dora the Explorer” as a child. Instead of continuing on with Spanish in high school, I decided to learn Latin. Latin is a dead language for a reason, because it is to complicated to speak fluently. The number of endings for every different noun, verb, adverb, and adjective are endless, making it much harder to speak. Latin is the basis of all modern languages, and I thought it would help me memorize the definitions of difficult SAT words; so I took it. I made the mistake of taking my sophomore year off from Latin. Everything that I had learned in Latin 1 had disappeared, and when I came back to Latin 2 this year I was in quite a predicament. I have rallied to have an idea about what we are talking about, but the thought of speaking Latin is out of the question. It has helped with vocabulary a tiny bit, but I wish I had pursued in learning a language that I could one day use to communicate with people.
ReplyDeleteIf I had to choose a different language to be fluent in besides English, it would have to be Spanish. Our country is flooded with Spanish speaking Americans, and the advantages of being able to communicate with those people would be endless. You could travel abroad, make your business international, and be seen as an incredibly intelligent person. I am very interested in travelling to many Spanish speaking South American countries and Caribbean islands. Knowing Spanish could help you in countless ways when you are there, such as getting a cheap deal on an expensive hotel room, or finding a hidden waterfall in the middle of the jungle. Pursuing to learn Spanish could help me experience some of the advantages I have mentioned in this paper along with helping me learn about foreign countries’ ways of life.
No language in the world has more derivatives than Latin. French Italy Spanish are the major three, each shearing similar verb conjugation and noun declensions as Latin does after all Latin if the mother of them all. So if forced to learn a language why not learn one that can aid you in interpreting multiple languages? For this reason I have decided to spend three years of my high school career studying Latin under Ms. Roberts. Along with English French, Italian and Spanish words all share common root words with Latin. For example equis mean horse in Latin, French, and Spanish and in English a noun to describe a person who rides horses is an equestrian. Also the word alta means tall in means the same in French and Spanish as it does in Latin. In English altitude is the word used to exemplify the height of an abject. The list goes on and on there are thousands of English French Spanish and Italian words that take their meaning from Latin. In America we seem to compare our self’s to the ancient Romans, they were the world’s largest super power, we where the largest super power, they had a democratic government, we have a democratic government, they were the center of trade in the ancient world, we where the center of trade in the modern world. How then can we better understand our own culture? By better understanding the culture which we sprung from. What better way to understand the culture we came from than to understand their native language? Through my experiences in Latin I have learned how to translate passages from Ovid to Virgil and in doing so enhancing my ability to understand them. With practice you learn not to translate it into English but see it as it flows in Latin. When I progress in my school career to college I intend to continue to study Latin. The amount of Latin I have learned in three years of taking it has helped me tremendously on vocab quizzes to the sat to history class. The courses I take in college will help me in medical school for almost every muscle tissue or bone is straight from Latin. If you know Spanish only know Spanish. If you know French you only know French. If you know Latin you have a grasp on almost every European, north and South American language.
ReplyDeleteThe only actual learning of a foreign language began in the seventh grade when my middle school hired a teacher from Peru. She taught us the basics of the language such as word definitions, common phrases, and counting numbers. As I started into the eighth grade we began to touch on more complex material like the confusing and complicated verb conjugations along with the culture of other countries. When I entered high school I felt the need to remain with a class that I was not completely clueless in so my grade point average wouldn't suffer. Electing Spanish as my required foreign language was a phenomenal choice that has truly benefitted me in several ways.
ReplyDeleteAm I glad I decided on Spanish or would I like to take Greene's advice and switch to the French language? Undoubtedly, I believe the Spanish course has and will continue to make a greater impact on my own personal life because of my location. Language is all about location. In my surrounding environment, I find myself engulfed by Spanish speaking individuals that I interact with almost every day. My region of the country has many workers and families from Mexico, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and other nearby nations who foresee a better living in the United States and flee to cities around mine. The capability of understanding another language also builds comfort and a relationship between you and the foreign person. Imagine you are in China where everyone is speaking Mandarin and a native strolls up to you and English words sound out of their mouth. You will feel the same relief and connection as the person in your area undergoes. For this reason I ask, why should I speak any languages other than the ones I have encounters with (besides for the prestige) if I will not use it? Yes, the ability to talk in French would be awesome and helpful if traveling to Canada or France but it is useless for where I live and where I plan to go in life.
Currently I am in Spanish three and can somewhat converse and comprehend the language. Although I am far from fluency I still enjoy learning how to communicate in this different manner. Spanish alongside French, Portuguese, Italian, and Romanian are the world's most widely spoken romance languages, Spanish being the largest, which really entices me to understand how to speak it so I can flirt with or impress those other Spanish speaking girls. Learning of these other cultures has allowed me to gain much respect for the people and their ways of life.
I've been learning a language in school since I was a sixth grader. Out of school however you can say that Spanish and I go way back. I'm a soccer player, and I have been since I was born. Some of the kids I grew up playing with were hispanic, and their parents spoke to them in their native language. So I would always ask my friends, after their conversation, what it was about and what was said. In doing this I learned phrases that I would use with my hispanic friends to relate with them and use on my other friends to make them jealous of me and wanting to know what I was saying.
ReplyDeleteThere are many other languages in the world than Spanish, but honestly I think in the world we live in today, there are three languages that trump the rest. These three are English, Spanish, and Chinese. Spanish might as well be America's second language due to the vast number of spanish-speaking people we have in the United States. Chinese has one real purpose and that is business. The business world today revolves around the U.S. and China. We invent the goods and China manufactures them. I'm not saying I advocate over seas manufacturing, but that is just the way it is.
Knowing another language than your native one is a big plus in the real world. It makes you that much more diversified and will end up helping you in one way or another. It definitely helps me when I'm at the soccer fields at the West Chatham YMCA on Wednesday and Friday nights from 7:30 - 10:30 playing with hispanic adults peppered with a few white boys including myself who come out there after work to play pick - up games. Every white guy out there knows what the other hispanics are saying because there's only so much you can say in a soccer game. For instance if you want the ball instead of screaming "here, here" at the top of your lungs I refer to my above average knowledge of Sanish and cry out "aqui , aqui" as a result, I get the ball.
Language is all about who you are, where you're from, and who and what you want to become. In my position I chose Spanish due to the game I play (soccer), the fact that I live in the deep south, and the friends I have. It definitely is a plus to know another language or even two. Being Bi-lengual puts you that much more ahead of the next guy. I strongly recommend if you can't at least communicate with someone in another Language that you check yourself into Miss Hernandez's night class at Savannah State, or you can always buy into Rosetta Stone and "start learning a new language in as early 10 minutes"!
My history in language probably closely resembles that of any other English speaking native, futile. So far it consists of pointless years of Spanish and Latin drills and memorization in lower school followed by slightly more sophisticated Latin classes in high school. The reason I chose Latin is because although it is a dead language, it is currently used in the field of science, from classifying animals and plants in biology to naming procedures, medications and body parts in medicine. My studies of this language have so far been fruitless because of the time consumption that comes with the discipline. In spite of my claims that learning the language is useless so far, I would like to go on to learn at least one fluently at some point in my life. So I guess in that respect I don't follow the English native stereotype. I find it interesting when someone I know has a fluent conversation with someone in another language, which is what motivates me to become at least bilingual.
ReplyDeleteHonestly if I had my pick on which language to be fluent in, it would also be French. It is a very popular second language too many people I know and it also sounds extremely eloquent and sophisticated.
Also, I've always personally wondered what language a multi-linguist thinks in, and would be interested to get into that persons head.
Another thing I enjoy is traveling. It would be useful and interesting to travel to foreign countries and converse with the natives in their natural tongue. This would make language learning practical for any person who travels frequently.
Being a Junior in high school, I’ve had to deal with forgein languages for about 6 years now with my education. 99% of this is Spanish, but here and there, different classes can introduce you to small samples of other languages such as French, German, or Latin. I feel like I am comfterable enough with Spanish to communicate with fluent speakers, and get my point across. Next year I’ll take my third high school year of Spanish, and most likely follow up on the study some point in college. With America’s growing diversity, knowing just English is not a safe bet. Millions of people in the United States speak Spanish, regardless of the reasons for this uprising, its happening and fast. You can encounter people who speak multiple languages every day if you listen around, but since we’re used to this cultural mash-up in our society it is going unnoticed.The benefits to having a broadened range of the languages you speak though is limitless. Language is used everyday, by everyone, except for the mute of course, in all things that we do. As mentioned in the article, learning a language can also progress your knowledge of a culture; right there is two bonuses for a history class and a language class. In terms of buisness, being skilled in multiple languages can extend your buisness to new regions, help facilitate negotiaons, get you the job you want, and appear more intellectually advanced. One big mistake that many people make when taking jobs that require you to travel abroad and expand your relations to forgein countries, is that they know little about the place they are visting. Showing respect, and knowledge for someone else’s country, is a guarenteed boost in persuading them to support whatever product or idea you are trying to sell. The author does make a valid point that French, on a global scale, is becoming a much more widely used language. Although, the United States is having a large rise in Spanish, following second to the native tongue English. So for me, it would be most beneficial at this point to stick with Spanish since its most common in my region, but in saying that, if I were to travel abroad or take up a job in a forgein country, I would not hesitate to pick up French or any other language out there.
ReplyDeleteThroughout elementary school I took spanish never acquiring more than basic skills. Learning a new language, requires a lot of memorization, and I never really felt that becoming fluent in another language was a pressing matter. I wish I had taken it more seriously and would have continued to learn the language, but instead I sought a language with more apparent benefits, Latin. Learning latin appealed to me when I heard that eighty percent of all english words are Latin and Greek derivatives. With talk of the formidable SAT lexicon floating around, Latin was the perfect way to become acclimated with the material. Just by recognizing the stem of a word, you can readily stumble upon its meaning. As a pawn in reviving the dead language, I have actually noticed myself acquiring a greater understanding of my own. Another incentive to latin was that I’ve been entertaining the idea of going into the field of medicine. A considerable amount of medical jargon can be deciphered using Latin prefixes and suffixes as references. Once again the memorization aspect of Latin is daunting, and is why I am not all that comfortable the language.
ReplyDeleteIf I were to learn another language, I would definitely choose Mandarin Chinese. I have always been fascinated with the culture of the Orient. I mean who doesn’t like dragons, ninjas, or sesame chicken? My most cherished aspiration is to travel the world; to see Italy, Greece, France, Egypt, India, China, and Japan specifically. Learning Mandarin would enhance my experience in China inestimably. I could ask the locals where the best cuisine was served or how the hell do I get back to my hotel.
Learning French would also be a great alternative. Many of the most revolutionary thinkers hailed from l'Hexagone. I would enjoy reading about their controversial ideas in their own language. As Greene stated, you can get a lot more out of texts that way. Also I have heard that the French are not the most welcoming bunch, and if wish to get the most out of my sight seeing in France, learning the language would be the way to go.