The Fun of Learning a New Language
I am in many ways fortunate to have had the opportunity to learn more than one language. I have always taken to new languages with zest. I learnt hindi mainly by listening to hindi music and watching national TV in India as I grew up! I think learning a new language opens up a window to a new culture which we would otherwise not appreciate. Apart from my native language (Tamil) I speak English and Hindi. If you are curious about these languages here is some info on wikipedia: தமிழ் and हिन्दी. I am now trying to learn فارسی. Of course, Anar is my primary motivation here. Words of endearment seem much sweeter in Farsi than in English (زبان فارسی خیای شیرین است!). Having said that, I do have a genuine interest in learning new languages. At some point of time I want to learn Spanish, Arabic and Sanskrit.
In Europe and in the subcontinent speaking many languages is fairly common. But its not until I was in America that I realized that being multi-lingual may not seem so easy to the folks elsewhere. I put-together the following list of why we should learn a new language:
1. You explore a whole new culture through a language.
2. You get to see things from the viewpoint of others more easily.
3. It helps you tremendously when you travel.
4. Your time is much well spent in learning a new language than sitting and watching a re-reun of a sitcom.
5. It may help you professionaly if your job requires multi-lingual skills.
6. Above all its fun!
Is there anything else that you can think of?
In Europe and in the subcontinent speaking many languages is fairly common. But its not until I was in America that I realized that being multi-lingual may not seem so easy to the folks elsewhere. I put-together the following list of why we should learn a new language:
1. You explore a whole new culture through a language.
2. You get to see things from the viewpoint of others more easily.
3. It helps you tremendously when you travel.
4. Your time is much well spent in learning a new language than sitting and watching a re-reun of a sitcom.
5. It may help you professionaly if your job requires multi-lingual skills.
6. Above all its fun!
Is there anything else that you can think of?
posted by Vasu at
8:20 PM
8 Comments:
You get to read controvertial news from more than one source and decide what is the real truth.
By
Anar, at 9:59 AM, August 16, 2006
You have well said it!
By
Pedram, at 8:50 AM, August 18, 2006
بله
By
Vasu, at 1:04 PM, August 19, 2006
Ata Tork ( the father of Turk) and the biggest leader of Turkey said: a new language is a new man ( or as a fiminist a new woman).
I learned Turkish when I was there for about nine monthes. Learning French was one of my childhood dream and in California it is essential to know some Spanish.
U see? we lost in languages.
( on by the way I add your weblog to my English new born weblog)
By
leva, at 5:01 PM, August 21, 2006
Nice quote Leva and thanks for adding my weblog!
By
Vasu, at 9:21 PM, August 22, 2006
It's time for a new post my friend!
Anar
By
Anonymous, at 3:10 AM, August 24, 2006
New language is a door to a new world ...it's cliche, but very true. I learned Hindi when I went to school in India for a few months. I think the best way to learn a new language is to live for at least a month or so with people whose native language is that language.
By
mahtab, at 5:32 PM, October 09, 2006
I’m due to finish university in a year or so and am considering going backpacking across Asia, iv heard the countryside is beautiful and the people are so spiritual I think it could be an amazing opportunity to see the world. However I can only speak English and basic French, does anybody know if I would need to learn Thai? Another problem is how to go about learning the Thai language, or any other language that I would need! Is there any good language learning software available that’s pretty cheap?
By
Anonymous, at 12:14 PM, April 01, 2008
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