now a lot of people know at least one other foreign language, people learn language for many reasons . i learn english because i kind of like this language and can know different people abroad , but i never think about going abroad , is this awkard , anyone have the same feeling with me ?
<font color="#000000" face="Calibri" size="3">Whether I go and visit the country is irrelevant – it would be a nice “bonus” but it’s not why I learn languages.</font>
<font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font><font color="#000000" face="Calibri" size="3">First, I learn languages because I like the way they sound. Second, for the “inner” voyage – learning a new language allows me to read books, listen to songs, and watch films I wouldn’t have understood otherwise. It opens up fascinating new worlds and modes of thought. It’s like having multiple childhoods, and it’s the most intense form of travel without the hassle of spending a lot of money and being exhausted. Don’t get me wrong – I love to travel. I just love learning languages more, for reasons that are not at all pragmatic or even really communicative. I do enjoy being able to talk to people in their native language, but it’s more for the artistic and literary culture than for the people.</font>
<font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font>Even if you never travel to an English speaking country, you might need English for your job, so it's definitely worth learning it.
I have lived in France, Japan and China and have travelled to more than 20 countries so far and am travelling a lot every year, so I really use the languages that I learn for travelling and living abroad.
What i dont understand in general are students ...
here i just give you an example for german students studying chinese :
All students have to go abroad (to China) after 2 years of studying chinese in Germany.(for at least half a year)
And roundabout 20 % of the female students quit their studies after visiting China.
I know ,why they quit,but thats not the case :WHY DONT STUDENTS GO TO THE COUNTRY FIRST TO SEE IF THEY LIKE THE COUNTRY;
AND THAN START STUDYING INSTEAD OF WASING TWO YEARS OF THEIR LIFE ?
Because I want to. :)
While I'm hoping to visit South Korea next year where having some skills in the language will be nice, even if I don't, there's just something about Korean that appeals to me.
When I was a child I was thinking like you. I was learning English and thinking why am I learning English when everyone I know and everyone I'll ever meet speaks Serbian. Anyway, It's nice to live in China and have Mandarin Chinese as your native language and never have to learn another language. But in Europe countries are small and people travel a lot and work with people from other countries a lot, so more or less everyone has to learn other languages. But maybe you need English too if you want to teach Chinese.
