Ask HN: Is learning foreign languages worth the hassle? - karimf
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a-saleh
It depends on when and where. I assume English is your native tongue, because
if it wasn't you'd probably would be asking in your mother tongue in some
other language forum :D

I think there are several reasons learning foreign language might be worth the
hassle:

1) you are learning language of a place you are moving to. Suddenly you are
the 'foreigner' and being able to speak with the local language is a
advantage.

2) you are learning a language significant minority of your location. I assume
speaking Spanish in the US can be useful. Or speaking $LANGUAGE of neghboring
country if you are in a border region. In small-enough country almost anywhere
can be considered a border region.

3) you want to impress you foreign friends/clients/colleagues/customers,
understand them better.

4) you are studying some artefact from a different culture and want to enjoy
the un-translated original. This applies to things from watching your
favourite anime in Japanese to learning ancient Greek or Hebrew to read the
Bible closer to its origin.

You might find more. But if you don't have the time, or willpower, you can get
a long way just by being reasonably humble and polite, in a level appropriate
to the culture you are trying to interact with :)

On the other hand, getting to good enough proficiency for the language to
actually be useful beyond i.e. asking "Где почтамт?" really slowly, can be
quite a hassle.

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taylodl
Yes. It makes you more _human_ and that in turn will help you build better
products and services for your customers. You'll simply have a greater
understanding of more people in more markets. This is because learning a
foreign language is much more than learning nouns, verbs, syntax and grammar.
You learn how different people _think_. For example, in Spanish they don't say
"I am hungry" they say "I have hunger." To them it's utterly ridiculous to say
_I am_ hungry - that's not what I am! But I do _have_ hunger. To wit - Spanish
even has two variations of the verb "to be" \- one is a more permanent form
and the other is a temporary form. "I am sick" is not a permanent condition
for example. You're not going to be sick forever. That's just Spanish and
that's not even all of it. I can go on about German too and don't even get me
started on the Japanese.

My suggestion then is to stop thinking of learning foreign languages as a
"hassle" and instead think of it as an opportunity to learn about other people
and cultures of the world. Not only will you be culturally enriched but you'll
also be able to compete and survive in this global economy.

~~~
yesenadam
Sure, also I learnt an incredible lot about _English_ while learning Spanish.
(e.g. I didn't know _ten_ and _tain_ in English words means _to have_ ) Also I
can just about read Portuguese, and my French, Italian etc are so much better.
I knew nothing about how Latin evolved into those languages.

Also - I learnt because I was making online friends in Latin America, and 10
years later I've got friends in just about every Latin American country +
Spain, almost none of them English speakers. It hasn't been a 'hassle', it's
been amazing, life-transforming. ...Well OK, the subjunctive is a hassle :-)

There are sites like livemocha and lang-8 that match you with people learning
your language, so you can teach each other. I haven't been on those sites much
- I almost immediately met a great teacher both times I've tried, who became a
dear friend, the first in Nicaragua, the second in Spain.

Also I have to say that the word _foreign_ seems very silly and parochial to
me. "People from every other country in the world except my own" is a strange
category.

~~~
matt_the_bass
I co cur about it helping your native language. I finally learned the
difference between who and whom when studying German.

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shaquana
Learning a different language opens one's mind up to new and unexpected (often
seemingly logic breaking) styles and modes of thinking. It's a naivete-busting
experience. The more languages you know the less naive you're about the world
around you.

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matt_the_bass
I think it is a critical requirement if you want to understand understand
other cultures. I also think if everyone did that, the world would be a nicer
place.

Why do you think it is a hassle? Do you plan to never interact with a foreign
person?

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cafard
Yes. Translations are never as good as they might be.

------
thealanclayton
yes, learn mandarin (assuming you're american). Job for life translating.

------
phakding
Besides the obvious benefits to the brain, imagine you are traveling around
the world and being able to effectively communicate with people without the
crutch of English language. That feels amazing and very very useful.

People open up to you if you can ramble off even couple of sentences in their
language. It is absolutely worth the hassle for a traveler.

But if you live in and don't see yourself ever leaving bumfuckville, Alabama,
then there's no point.

