Have I Been Wasting My Time Learning Foreign Languages?

[ladislav]

I am an avid language learner but what often frustrates me about the whole thing is that while I can speak all these languages, other people do not bother to learn them at all. They just use English and it is enough. They also concentrate on making money. When they arrive in a foreign country with money and only English, the world is their oyster. They get pretty girls, they parade around with their chests all puffed up and the natives tip-toeing behind them like so many obedient puppies.

An average American or a British ( ar any other Anglo ) person abroad is convinced that the whole world wants to be American or British, that they want to speak English and that it is only a matter of time before they join the US Empire or the British Commonwealth.

Here in the Philippines I am the only white guy around who can speak Tagalog. I have not met even one other yet. And the locals cannot even register it. They think it is so unusual that it takes them some five minutes to answer me in Tagalog. All the while other guys are just strutting around with self satisfied looks on their faces and the obsequious people around them cater to their every whim. Dollars come out of their pockets, girls appear, friends appear. Respect goes their way.

Another thing is that while I try to learn more languages, the world wants to practice English and finds English-only speakers attractive and interesting while finding those who try to learn the local language awakward and even insulting to them. When I talk to them in thier language, they laugh and answer in English again and again. An English only person does not seem to have so many disadvantages nowadays.

When I was in Japan, I saw that blond, wrestler type guys who were as dumb as rocks and who could barely speak normal English, let alone Japanese, got all the girls, made all the friends, while I, who could speak Japanese well, did not.

Sometimes I feel I had been wasting a lot of money and time.

There are exceptions to the rule, of course- like Argentina, Uruguay and CIS countres have almost no English and whose languages I can speak well. I can communicate with local people there on deep topics. But even in those, I see various Anglos walking around with a swagger, with girls hanging on their arms, and not speaking a word of the local language. "I am an American!!!" "Ahhhhh", say the girls!

What makes the whole matter worse is that I often attract criticism and envy from English-only people who try and bring me down and who think that I am a wacko and weirdo.

This is my rant!

[Winston]

Are you referring to the Philippines?

Most common people do not respect intellectualism or being versed in multiple languages. It's all about looks, image and chemistry. Those are what determine whether you are liked or not. Not on how talented you are intellectually or culturally.

Europeans probably appreciate it more if you speak their language, since they value stuff like that.

But in the dating world, it's still all about looks, personality, chemistry and subjective feelings.

Your language skills have use in the business world probably. It's not an asset in the dating scene.

If you love learning languages though, why regret it? You did what you loved, and so you followed your heart and have your integrity, at least in that area.

Stuff like that brings "inner benefits" so even if you don't get outer benefits from it, at least you get inner benefits. I study a lot of things just for my intellectual growth too, and because I find them fascinating, stimulating and exciting.

[adam917]

Are you referring to the Philippines?

Most common people do not respect intellectualism or being versed in multiple languages. It's all about looks, image and chemistry. Those are what determine whether you are liked or not. Not on how talented you are intellectually or culturally.

Europeans probably appreciate it more if you speak their language, since they value stuff like that.

But in the dating world, it's still all about looks, personality, chemistry and subjective feelings.

Your language skills have use in the business world probably. It's not an asset in the dating scene.

If you love learning languages though, why regret it? You did what you loved, and so you followed your heart and have your integrity, at least in that area.

Stuff like that brings "inner benefits" so even if you don't get outer benefits from it, at least you get inner benefits. I study a lot of things just for my intellectual growth too, and because I find them fascinating, stimulating and exciting.

I think what he means is that he may regret some of that huge amount of time spent studying, etc. only to not get a chance to utilise what he worked so hard to obtain in the first place. This is why I myself am hesitant when it comes to deciding what to learn. I don't want to spend months & even years studying something that will never get used. So, when it comes to language(s), I will want to learn languages that I will have a high chance of using and would open at least some doors around the world. The only exception to that should be if I will be moving somewhere particular for a long period of time. It would then make sense to learn the local language spoken there.

I have similar thoughts when it comes to CD & DVD recording/writing in that I spent about a decade (1999--2008) learning about it and doing it so much that I am now tired of it and even though people appreciate what I know and do for them in this 'field', I know that those skills will be or even are already obsolete. I now wish I put my time & energy into a larger variety of things over that time period. I will probably do it casually from time to time and get updated on the happenings of the optical media field, but I realised that it's a dying industry and data storage on those discs, while very cheap per GB, is very inefficient and time-consuming once the amount of data to archive or backup rises above a certain amount (I set the bar at about 250 GB).

[america sucks]

..

[xiongmao]

I think working on your game is a better use of time than learning languages.

[Andrewww]

Hmmm, this is an interesting topic. I guess this is an Asian thing because usually people appreciate it when you take interest in their culture and language.

[Ghost]

-----

[E_Irizarry]

@Ladislav,

You have my respect. You know my response already: learn which languages that you want to learn and keep.

See, the more westernized influence in a country, the less respect they have for you as an English-speaker to learn the language.

I say that XiongMao is half-right: you should work on your game CONCURRENTLY along with your languages/maintaining of them.

Great rant by the way!!! I put a "Watch this topic" click action on this thread!!

[clowny]

Here in australia, I have found that learning another language is pretty pointless unless you're actually planning to relocate overseas. I mean, it's not like europe where your surrounded by neighbouring countries who speak different languages, and it's not like the US with a burgeoning hispanic population who speak spanish. If I was living in the US, I would definately learn spanish though. If I was living in Canada I would learn french so I could speak to the quebecois in their language.

[manly5000]

I think it really depends on where you go. For instance, everything I've read to this point makes me believe that if you choose Central or South America as your destination, you really do need to learn Spanish and/or Portuguese if you want to make the most of it and have the best women available to you.

[E_Irizarry]

I think it really depends on where you go. For instance, everything I've read to this point makes me believe that if you choose Central or South America as your destination, you really do need to learn Spanish and/or Portuguese if you want to make the most of it and have the best women available to you.

OH NO F.UCKING DOUBT. There are quite a few members whom have been there whom speak Spanish and Porto at a native level; they will tell you that that's half the battle I'm so sure!!