Would you learn an useless language?

[jacob_kap]

Hi guys,

Like many others on here, I've got this passion to languages, as well. However, the languages I'm interested in are often really useless for me. For instance, I'm interested in Farsi, although as an Israeli, I don't see a way going to Iran in the near future; I'm interested in Swiss German, while it is rarely spoken anywhere and anyone speaks Swiss German speaks German, as well.

Do you study any language which is useless for your daily life? Do you study a language just out of passion for its melody, grammar or culture? If you do, I'd really like to know what keeps you motivated and what kind of future do you see for your studies?

Jacob.

[Delodephius]

All languages I have ever learned or thought about learning would be useless in my daily life... as a bookseller in a small Slovak town in Serbia.

But to name a few of the languages I tried that are really on the far end of uselessness in general: Sanskrit, Pali, Ancient Egyptian, Hittite, Homeric Greek, Latin, Classical Chinese. If you're studying history or maybe theology some of these might be useful. Right now I'm learning Japanese, and there is no usefulness for it where I live. My whole plan is actually to move to a city in a few years and hopefully get a job in a company that does some business with Japan. I say if the language you're passionate about is useless in your present situation, then change your situation.

[PeterMollenburg]

My current language I study is French. I've come across one native speaker (not including seeking interaction at French 'events') by chance in 3 years here in my every day life that I've held a decent conversation with. It's pretty useless in my everyday life in terms of speaking to other francophones, but I absolutely love the language! Simply for it's melody.

Edit: Perhaps ironically there are quite a number of French speakers (tourists) an hour or so away from here... and I lived in that area for 6 months many years ago! Since then the number of French tourists has steadily increased. The real estate there is rediculously expensive so I wouldn't want to live there, and nearly 40 y.o. me hanging out there for a chance to chat with young French backpackers would seem a bit weird, especially with my family waiting for me at home.

[tarvos]

What is a useless language? I'm not sure what you're trying to get at.

[iguanamon]

Welcome to the forum, Jacob. Not many people around here on the forum think that any language is "useless". I study and have learned Ladino to probably a B2 equivalent (Djudeo-espanyol). I can even read easily now in Rashi script. I'm not Jewish, nor do I have any Sehpardic background. I learn it for the culture of a people who have survived being expelled from Spain and Portugal 500 years ago and the Holocaust. Somehow they managed to retain their culture and their language for more than five centuries, though it is very much a dying language today. There are no monolingual Ladino-speakers and very few under the age of 50. There are less than 100,000 speakers, according to most estimates, most of whom live in Israel and Turkey today. Have a look at my log.

Browse around the forum, there are several people here who learn minority languages, "dead" languages and less commonly studied languages. The majority of us here have no pressing economic need to learn any language, even those who learn big ones like French. In a practical sense, most of us study or have learned a language that is "useless" for our daily lives. For me, all of my languages are useful in my daily life because I enjoy them. One thing I don't do is learn a language just because I can. There has to be something in it I feel passionate about.

Learning a minority language, less commonly studied language can teach a learner new skills because the materials are not there to the extent they are for the big languages. A learner has to be creative and must be willing to tolerate certain things that a lack of choice makes necessary. Fortunately, if one can master this skill it will serve the learner well in learning more commonly studied languages. If you want to learn a language, any language, do it because you want to- that's a good enough reason. You owe no one an explanation. The great thing about being an adult is, it's your life to live.

[Marah]

By your definition of usefulness most of the languages that I learn are barely useful but I don't see it that way. What I like about learning a language is that it opens up a new world for me, a new culture.
I know I can read their newspapers, read their books, watch TV and Youtube videos, talk to them, travel there, etc
I know it will also get me interested in their history, their politics, their economy so I end up knowing a lot more in general.

But if we're talking about the hypothetical case in which a language would definitely be useless for most people (i don't know maybe some obscure conlang or some dead language) then the answer is probably no. I wouldn't learn that language because I don't think it's worth the effort but I might dabble in it if its grammar is interesting or just out of curiosity to understand better how other languages have evolved/ or work.

[daegga]

There is not a single language I've tried to learn in order to function in bidirectional communication, even though it happens even in rare languages if you want to. There is more to languages than that. As such I'm in charge about the usefulness of the language in question, I decide when I get exposed to it. If it's not useful, it's my own fault.

[guiguixx1]

Last year I chose Ancien Greek as optional course (I could choose 1 cours, whatever the course, to add to my courses for my studies at the university) although nobody speaks it. I just wanted to try it because This language is one of the roots of French. I also want to study Latin someday. I don't choose a language on the basis of whether I could use it in my daily life. I choose a language because I like the sounds/grammar or because I want a challenge

[reineke]

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[Tomás]

My current language I study is French. I've come across one native speaker (not including seeking interaction at French 'events') by chance in 3 years here in my every day life that I've held a decent conversation with. It's pretty useless in my everyday life in terms of speaking to other francophones, but I absolutely love the language! Simply for it's melody.

Edit: Perhaps ironically there are quite a number of French speakers (tourists) an hour or so away from here... and I lived in that area for 6 months many years ago! Since then the number of French tourists has steadily increased. The real estate there is rediculously expensive so I wouldn't want to live there, and nearly 40 y.o. me hanging out there for a chance to chat with young French backpackers would seem a bit weird, especially with my family waiting for me at home.

No Alliance Francaise where you live? Even my nowheresville city has one.