Would you learn an useless language?

General discussion about learning languages
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PeterMollenburg
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Re: Would you learn an useless language?

Postby PeterMollenburg » Wed Jan 27, 2016 10:23 pm

Tomás wrote:
PeterMollenburg wrote: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.


Yep, and I attended for a little while, but i feel the effort required (its also over an hour away) isn't worth the gain- I prefer studying at home in closer proximity to my family. Were I not a family man, my activities and priorities might differ.
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Hank
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Re: Would you learn an useless language?

Postby Hank » Wed Jan 27, 2016 10:30 pm

I have no need to learn another language. I'm just doing it for fun and personal satisfaction. I chose Spanish because I'm a public servant and it might be useful at some point, even though it would likely be a one time event.

Once I get a good grasp of Spanish I plan on learning Welsh. I'm more likely to get struck by lightning or win the lottery than ever needing Welsh.
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Re: Would you learn an useless language?

Postby Longinus » Wed Jan 27, 2016 10:55 pm

The only useless language would be one where there was no one to talk to, and nothing written in the language. But then, how would I learn it? Dilemma solved.
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PeterMollenburg
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Re: Would you learn an useless language?

Postby PeterMollenburg » Wed Jan 27, 2016 11:10 pm

I get a sense that people are almost offended by the term "useless language". I understand that, but i think a little empathy wouldn't hurt in trying to understand the OP's use of the term. Let's not get caught up in defensive responses. I think we can assume the OP meant no offense in using the term.
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Re: Would you learn an useless language?

Postby MCK74 » Wed Jan 27, 2016 11:12 pm

As I live in an area that is almost entirely monolingually English and I only need English for work and school, any other language would be "useless" to me in my daily life, as per OP's definition of "useless."

I certainly don't think Spanish or my Spanish studies are useless. It certainly could come in handy someday.

Of course, we are on a forum for language lovers, so I'm sure most people here have at least entertained the idea of studying a language they wouldn't need for work, travel or school.

There are plenty of other benefits of language learning other than using them in everyday life - there are cognitive benefits and the chance to learn about another country and culture.

PeterMollenburg wrote:I get a sense that people are almost offended by the term "useless language". I understand that, but i think a little empathy wouldn't hurt in trying to understand the OP's use of the term. Let's not get caught up in defensive responses. I think we can assume the OP meant no offense in using the term.


Agreed - he merely means learning a language that you wouldn't use right away for work, school, travel or other practical purposes.
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Re: Would you learn an useless language?

Postby Ogrim » Thu Jan 28, 2016 10:49 am

Certainly no offense was meant with the OP's question, but I guess it is to be expected that on a forum of dedicated language learners, it can be percieved as such.

I have no problem saying that I have learnt "useless" languages, and I've used the phrase myself on a couple of occasions over on HTLAL in the past. From the outsider's point of view, learning Romansh, a language spoken by 50000 people in some valleys in Switzerland, seems pretty useless - I don't "need" it for anything, and in fact outside this forum I hardly ever mention it, most of my colleagues know nothing of this interest of mine. Even if I were a regular visitor to the Romansh-speaking areas of Switzerland (which I am not), I wouldn't need it to communicate, I can get along in German, or if need be even English. The thing is that I love Romansh, how it sounds and the fact that it survives in spite of being under immense pressure from German (because German is more "useful"). Besides, you discover that greatness in number has no bearing on what you can express in a language. It is perfectly possible to discuss cosmology in Romansh.

The problem is that many seem to confirm Oscar Wilde's saying that they "know the price of everything and the value of nothing". Fortunately, there are still enough people around who find value and pleasure in "useless" activities. What's useful about collecting beer mats or vintage vinyl, or dancing salsa for that matter? Me, I find pleasure in learning languages for the sake of it, and because a language is a gateway to understanding and appreciating another culture. I am learning Russian not because it may be "useful" in my job, but because I love the language, I want to be able to understand Russian culture and mentality, and in due course I want to be able to read the great Russian masters in original.
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Re: Would you learn an useless language?

Postby Iversen » Thu Jan 28, 2016 1:58 pm

I don't think the OP used the word "useless" in the sense that some languages are intrinsically useless, but they may not be useful for YOU - except as entertaining passtimes. Which in itself may be an excellent excuse for studying them. In actual fact, many of languages I have ever learned or thought about learning are already useless in my daily life. And a few more would become useless if I dropped some of my TV channels. I'm on a system where you can choose 36 channels from a list with around 100 channels, and I could just choose English or Danish channels instead of Polish, Croatian, Serbian and Albanian channels. Actually I could also drop my French, Italian, Spanish, Swedish, Norwegian and German channels, but life would be rather sterile after that.
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Re: Would you learn an useless language?

Postby William Camden » Thu Jan 28, 2016 2:21 pm

I taught myself some Latin, without any practical need for it. I somewhat regretted not taking any Classical languages at school, only modern ones.
I also do not have any practical need for Scottish Gaelic, but I am a Scot and I think the language ought to be preserved.
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Re: Would you learn an useless language?

Postby garyb » Thu Jan 28, 2016 3:22 pm

It's fairly obvious that the OP meant "useless for you in your life", I don't see any reason for controversy unless people just read the subject line and not the message. The utility of a language is always relative to the learner and their situation and interests.

Contact with natives is essential for me. I gave up on French because it wasn't useful enough for me, or more specifically, not useful enough to merit having a more advanced level. I decided my level was more than sufficient for my uses (very occasional speaking, and enjoying film and literature) but a higher one would be useless since I so rarely used it with people. I started learning it in the first place because it seemed useful at the time, but as time went on things changed.

For a period I did attempt to make it useful, by trying to meet French speakers and going to meetups and practising with other learners, but I didn't have much luck with that and it felt a bit fake, putting the cart before the horse. I'd rather learn a language that I have a use for in the first place than try to create a use for one just so I have a reason to learn it.
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Re: Would you learn an useless language?

Postby andrepleite » Thu Jan 28, 2016 3:25 pm

All languages I have learnt are more or less useless.

You don't necessarily need to know English in daily life here, thought knowing English is often a plus, if not mandatory, to get a "good" job. But if you are e. g. a worker who spends his annual holidays in Mallorca, you don't need to know English (Ok, basic skills are required to get a graduation).

Swedish and Turkish are totally useless for me yet, but I enjoy reading in foreign languages (and broaden my horizons). Thought I'd like to have a native speaker to talk or write with from time to time, but it seems pretty hard to find a tandem partner for Swedish-German.
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