Would you learn an useless language?

[solocricket]

French and Spanish, I think, are considered useful in North America, where I live, so there's that. However, I learn languages because I have an interest in them, and that's it. I personally find reading to be one of the most enjoyable parts of learning a language, so as long as I can find books in a language, it's useful to me!

[Serpent]

Certainly no offence meant by OP, but I think some of us are getting upset because this labels our languages as useless, an idea that we prefer to reject
I always laugh when people compare languages spoken by millions of people and say that for example Portuguese is useless compared to Spanish You're not going to speak to millions or thousands of people anyway. It *is* easier if those people still use this language as their main one, though.
Within your life, languages can easily change status. When I began learning Finnish it wasn't particularly useful to me. But I've travelled almost all over Finland, I love the country, I really hope I can move there. I've not done this yet, but if I didn't already speak Finnish I'd probably have never considered this, nor would my travels have been so awesome.
And I think we often mix up useful and essential. Yes, only one or two languages are essential for most of us, but we can find some use for many more languages if we want, and if doing things in foreign languages is a source of joy for us, more than frustration.

[Brian]

You could pretty much make a case for all languages except English and a handful of other big-hitters being "useless". But a language which is useless to one man can open doors for another. I have no need for German here in the UK but since I spend several weeks each year in Germany with my wife's family, it certainly is very useful to be able to speak it on these occasions.

Besides, many people learn languages purely because they enjoy it. Few people would class learning to drive a car as a worthless skill, because it is something hundreds of millions of people do every day. But what about learning to play the violin or how to do wood sculpture, are they any less "useless" than studying Swedish?

[cathrynm]

Finnish? Japanese? Useless? I don't know -- honestly, I never worried about usefulness. I'm an adult, I can do whatever I like -- there is no one to stop me. I don't need permission.

[tangleweeds]

When I resumed language study, it was to learn Irish, and one of the most rewarding things about it was that there was no practical or external motive for it whatsoever, beyond mild curiosity about the lyrics to traditional songs I'll never be able to sing, having inherited my father's notoriously godawful singing voice along with his Irish heritage. It's something I did for no other reason than enjoying it, similar to learning to play a musical instrument.

[Evan Michael]

I think I get what the OP is trying to say, although I see why people dont like their languages called "useless."

Personally, I dont think I would learn a language that is "useless" to me. Because why would I do that? I am all for broadening horizons, but for now, I want to stick with languages I will use with people in my life. Thats just me

[jeff_lindqvist]

Apart from say, Classical Greek which I studied in school, I have/have had some use for the others. Some are useful in a direct sense - I'm likely to use the language(s) regularly (even IRL), I read in some languages, some are holiday languages and so on.

So, the presumed "no - I wouldn't learn a useless language" is rather "yes, but I'd make sure I found a way to use it".

[smallwhite]

Hi guys,
... the languages I'm interested in are often really useless for me.
... Do you study any language which is useless for your daily life?

All this talk about how learning languages broadens your horizons, opens your eyes and mind, and then all these people upset by one adjective.

No, I don't learn languages that are completely useless to me. I pick my languages based on work, travel or daily life needs and prospects. Number of native speakers and chance of me encountering the language are always major factors in the decision process.

[reineke]

Ubi me prejaka reč...

[Ari]

For every language I have studied, I never had a need for it before I started my journey. As my knowledge of the language grew, I began to seek out opportunities to use it. Those opportunities were always there, but had to be discovered. Without Mandarin, I wouldn't have been able to travel to China to learn Wing Chun. Without Cantonese, I'd never have met my girlfriend. Without French, I'd never have been able to listen to the great historical lessons of Franck Ferrand. Without German, I'd never have found the amazing TV show "Der Tatortreiniger". Each language has put me into contact with a vast web of potantial experiences, inaccessable to the uninitiated. And because I had to work for them, because they were never meant for me, but only for the initiated, the wonder of discovery is all the sweeter, and the find all the more precious.

Uses for a language are rarely sponaneously encountered; they have to be discovered. But once discovered, you might find that the language has become not only useful, but indispensable.