Why are you learning our language?

[cathrynm]

Maybe I should say I don't even have to study - I just absorb it naturally so why not? How can you blame me for learning languages then?

I think you're onto something here. That perhaps the issue is the effort, that if were just, like, instinctive or something, it wouldn't matter so much. This is my sense of it.

[Bao]

I think you're onto something here. That perhaps the issue is the effort, that if were just, like, instinctive or something, it wouldn't matter so much. This is my sense of it.

Of course it's the effort this is about. The hours you put in, the frustration and feelings of incompetency you have to cope with, the strain low linguistic skills can put on your relationships and the extra effort you (and/or the other person) have to put in to make it work for the time being.

Sure, doing fun things in the language helps, but I for one get annoyed when people say English must be easy for me - the ease with which I now use English is the result of years of making the conscious decision of forgoing the easier German option in favour of the more difficult English one several times every day: until they became equally easy.

I'm greedy. I want to experience the same thing in the other languages I list here, and maybe some more. But that's hard to get across to people who don't know what I'm talking about. ('I want to be at home in your culture, your language, whether you want me here or not ...?')

[Blue]

I've had a couple of Indonesians thank me for having interest in their language/culture. They kind of put Westerners up on a pedestal while having a bit of an inferiority complex about themselves. So it seems like they feel some pride when a foreigner, particularly a Westerner, takes an interest. Its great for me as a learner since they're usually happy to explain or answer anything I'm curious about or need help with. They're also impressed by even modest Indonesian language ability from a foreigner. Of course they often ask why I'm learning, but I never get the feeling that they're asking in the sense of "but why?? it's useless!". They're just curious. Maybe I've just been fortunate with the people I've encountered so far, but my experiences with natives have all been great.

[Ari]

In Hong Kong it's really a matter of where you are and who you're talking to. In the big finance centers, people might take my Cantonese as an insult to their English, or assume that I'm a businessman who just learned a few phrases as a joke, or in some cases they're born abroad and don't actually speak Cantonese very well.

I the New Territories, however, and in the occations you manage to find a Cantonese speaker in Guangdong, people are usually super happy and ask, but often it's "how" rather than "why". In the "why" cases, I've got the excellent reason "Because my girlfriend is from Hong Kong", though. It's a winner.

It's a lot harder in some other languages. For Portuguese the answer is "Because I went to Cape Verde on vacation once", which is not very convincing. But "I already knew Spanish and I thought I might as well" works a lot better. Nobody questions why one would want to learn Spanish. Mandarin is also rarely questioned; people assume I use it for business. I'm dreading the time when I get back to Czech (it's on my list and I've had a few false starts) and try it out. My honest answer will be "Because it has words without vowels", which I suspect will not be a very satisfying answer to a lot of people ...

[Cavesa]

... I'm dreading the time when I get back to Czech (it's on my list and I've had a few false starts) and try it out. My honest answer will be "Because it has words without vowels", which I suspect will not be a very satisfying answer to a lot of people ...

A few suggestions:
"I love the Monty Python and I heard your parlament was something like that."
"I heard the czechs have probably the darkest sense of humour in the world, I had to find out for myself!"
"It is the native language of Jaromír Jágr."
"I was throwing darts at a map of Europe and most ended right in the middle, somewhere between Prague and Plzeň."
"I wanted to impress a friend who speaks fluent Klingon." (many czechs are convinced that Czech is the hardest language in the world)

[Bao]

Cavesa, I love all of your reasons. =D
(If I just had the capacity to seriously pick up another language ...)

[Iversen]

For Portuguese the answer is "Because I went to Cape Verde on vacation once", which is not very convincing.

It may not be convincing, but it can be the simple truth. I had to learn at least the rudiments of Portuguese because I had booked a trip to Cape Verde in November 2006, and I didn't want to appear as a poor language impaired fool outside the boring flat tourist island Sal where nobody expects you to know the local language. And then I went to Mindelo and found out that the local language actually is a totally incomprehensible Portuguese-African Creole..

[tertrih]

I am learning German because my dad was born in Germany, but he never taught me, so I am learning it myself.

It is very interesting, and by learning it, I feel I am learning more about my own language

[Serpent]

- Why are you learning x ?

- I don't need a reason - I'm an INTP.

Started a separate thread on MBTI

[tarvos]

"Why did you learn Mandarin?"

"I live here, what else am I going to speak, English?"

"Fair point."