Do people, certain cultures associated with, or certain events prevent you from learning a language?

[sillygoose1]

Maybe some people don't want to learn Arabic because they don't care for Islam, maybe some French speaker was rude to you and put you off of that, maybe you don't quite agree with Russian cultural norms or whatever.

I'm in that position with Italian right now but rather it's the people who I consider family that put me off of it so often despite how well I can speak it. It probably shouldn't bother me, but it does enough.

Do you guys just learn a language and stick with the good and what interests you or can certain things put you off of it entirely?

[zenmonkey]

Polish was banned from my grandmother's house (even though she migrated from Poland) for her personal socio-political reasons. Ironically, she lived a large part of her life in an areas called the Polanco neighbourhood of Mexico City (in reality named after a Jesuit and not Poland..).

And I considered it a 'no-go' language for many years. I've warmed up, recently bought an old ASSIMIL tape set. Maybe one day....

And be careful in this thread - remember to stay away from politics and religious discussions...

Personally I don't associate an entire language to a few people - there is little that would put me off, but the reverse it quite important - literature and culture drive my interest in many languages. If I find an author I want to read - then I'm interested in their source of thought...

[tarvos]

Mostly languages with big Arabic undercurrents don't really interest me. Most people in those cultures would rather see me dead than alive.

[reineke]

No.

[aokoye]

Russian is a no go for me. I tend to only spend my time on languages which are spoken in countries that I will potentially go to and there's way too much racism in Russia for me to be safe there. It's a shame because I love most of the major Russian composers and I also love ballet (despite its multiple subcultural flaws that span much of the world).

[tomgosse]

And be careful in this thread - remember to stay away from politics and religious discussions...

I second that.

[Radioclare]

Polish was banned from my grandmother's house (even though she migrated from Poland) for her personal socio-political reasons. Ironically, she lived a large part of her life in an areas called the Polanco neighbourhood of Mexico City (in reality named after a Jesuit and not Poland..).

And I considered it a 'no-go' language for many years. I've warmed up, recently bought an old ASSIMIL tape set. Maybe one day....

I used to go out with a guy who was half Polish. We were together 5 years but his parents never liked me and when I went round for dinner at their house, his Mom often used to make unpleasant comments about me in Polish to other family members, because she knew I couldn't understand what she was saying. Completely irrational, but because of that one experience I don't think I would ever be able to make myself learn Polish, despite being really interested in Slavic languages

[Bluepaint]

I struggle to see how this thread will not stray into negative or even hate-filled territory. As it stands it doesn't breach rules but, fair warning, the thread will be monitored closely. I don't say this to be mean or over-bearing but to encourage people to think before they post.

[Xmmm]

I would never learn the language of a country where 95% of the population speaks impeccable English and nobody will let me say five words in their language unless I'm at the C2+ level ... my understanding is that this roughly means I won't be learning German, Norwegian, Swedish, Danish or Dutch. I also backed out of Irish for similar reasons (reports from people who visited the Gaeltacht and were frustrated by the Irish speakers refusing to answer them in Irish).

I mean ... I sympathize. If I were a Dutch or Irish speaker and someone came at me with really lousy Dutch or Irish and I was busy with my own affairs, I would answer them in my impeccable English also.

But, from the learner angle ... where's the incentive, really?

[neofight78]

Russian is a no go for me. I tend to only spend my time on languages which are spoken in countries that I will potentially go to and there's way too much racism in Russia for me to be safe there.

Maybe the Russians on this board could chip in, but I'm not sure this is really true. We have plenty of students of different races here and I've not heard of any problems. I have heard of several cases where people worried about this and it turned out not to be a problem for them. Of course this is all anecdotal rather hard statistics but still...