Deciding which language to study, if you're looking to start fresh, can be difficult. Maybe you're clear on your reason for choosing a language: to get the job promotion and work with new clients in China; to take a 3-week vacation in Italy; to develop a better relationship with a spouse/partner's Ukranian family. Then the choice has pretty much been made for you. But for others, there may be competing interests.
I often hear people say things like, "I would really love to learn Italian, but I feel like Spanish would be much more useful in my industry/neighborhood." To you I ask a few key questions, all of which lead back to the issue of motivation:
1. Regarding the language that seems more functionally useful, how tangible are the benefits? That is, can you imagine what you would do with it right now? If you want to know what the Latin American prep cooks are saying behind you in the restaurant kitchen on a daily basis, there is a near-immediate and perpetual benefit (and hence motivation) to learning Spanish. If you want a job/promotion that would require German, then the rewards are a bit farther off but the value is real and in your sights as long-term motivation. If you think it might be useful to learn Russian because you occasionally shop at the Russian markets on the other end of town and it's the biggest local 'foreign' language (though most people there speak English anyway and/or you don't need to converse much to buy fruit), the rewards might be a bit too abstract to be truly motivating. Try to quantify the benefits. The REAL benefits you see it likely to have in your life.
2. Regarding the language of greater interest, why do you want to learn it? Do you love the food and music from the culture associated with that language? Do you want to vacation somewhere? Do you have friends who speak it, or just love the sound? Try to articulate what it is that makes you happy about the idea of learning this language.
If the list of benefits from Question 1 is more compelling than the enthusiasm you feel at the thought of the points listed from Question 2, that would be a goood reason to start with the more "functionally useful" language. However, if you simply are happier at the thought of learning language #2, I honestly say: Go for it!
On the whole, the enthusiasm will help propel you through the lessons over time, and is also likely to promote your success. But also remember that there is nothing to stop you from picking up some of the other language at a later time. If the person above decides to learn Italian because of her love of Italian opera and food, a positive experience for 6 months of successfully studying Italian can later influence her decision to switch to Spanish with a more positive outlook.
If the two languages are related - as are Spanish and Italian - one can also facilitate the other. If you are going from Italian to Chinese, of course, there's virtually no transferable language there, but you CAN transfer the study habits, skills and strategies from your Italian experience to your new Chinese experience.
Whatever you do, make sure you are embarking on this journey full of enthusiasm, not with a sigh of resignation and trepidation. Enthusiasm sets goals, goals provide direction, and all of this together helps to breed success!
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
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I see that President Obama wants everyone to learn another language, however which one should it be?
ReplyDeleteThe British learn French, the Australians study Japanese, and the Americans prefer Spanish. Yet this leaves Russian, Mandarin Chinese and Arabic, out of the equation.
It is time to move forward and discuss the subject of a common, non-neutral international language, taught worldwide, in all schools and in all nations.
I would personally prefer Esperanto.
If you have a moment have a look at http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8837438938991452670. A glimpse of the language can be seen at http://www.lernu.net
It's certainly an interesting idea, and it would certainly be nice if a "neutral" language could be universally adopted, but I fear that is more idealistic than realistic. Especially because - hypothetically, at least - some populations would get access faster than others, and it would soon create a gap between the "haves" and "have-nots" once again. Plus, every group that appropriates it will "color" it with their own cultural interpretations, and the language will eventually evolve in a variety of directions, as English is doing now. So I don't know how completely egalitarian the endeavor would be. But it is an intriguing idea.
ReplyDeleteThere are also some underlying assumptions in the video, such as how "easy" it is to learn, which is a relative concept based on how similar it is to the language you already speak. It may be relatively non-complex, structurally, but it will still ultimately be easier for some groups than others, and no single language can truly meet every communicative need.
I don't, however, think that President Obama meant that everyone needed to learn *the same* foreign language. We have many neighbors and many cultures to learn, and efforts to promote the learning of Russian, Mandarin and Arabic are growing here in the US; not everyone studies Spanish. Of course you are correct that it is the most commonly studied non-English language in the US, and each country inevitably has a most-popular foreign language in schools. But that's what makes it interesting!
It all comes back to motivation, for me, in deciding what language makes sense to learn. So if Esperanto meets your needs and interests on the cultural, linguistic, intellectual, social and other fronts, then by all means, go for it!