I studied French for a few years in high school, then learned Korean during my mission in Seoul. At BYU, I continued studying both Korean and French because I very much enjoy both languages (and the language learning process in general). There's something incredibly exciting and liberating about actually communicating in a foreign language.
I'm currently studying accounting ("the language of business") more than anything else, but I'd also really like to learn Spanish (I've had that goal for several years, and need to make more consistent efforts to get anywhere).
Some people are really good at learning languages, and others really struggle with it (I'm somewhere in the middle).
So my question is this:
Would you rather be twice as fluent, smooth, eloquent, and articulate as you currently are in English (you'd almost always be able to come up with that perfect word or phrase to describe your thoughts)
or
Speak a foreign language of your choice with equal fluency as you speak English (do tell the language).
Owl
7 hours ago
17 comments:
Now THIS is a hard one. Because I'm not eloquent or articulate and I dearly wish to be. BUT wouldn't everyone just assume I was articulate if I could just break out in awesome, chic French at any moment?
I choose #1. It's more practical.
I'd totally pick the foreign language. (I don't see HOW I could POSSIBLY be twice as good as I already am at English. How can you improve on perfection? Just kidding!) All absurd cockiness aside, I feel my English skills are adequate and I really DO NOT have that knack for picking up foreign languages. It'd be so nice to gain another language without the effort I'm apparently not willing to put forth. I wouldn't care much about which language. I probably pick something European for the sake of my next travel goals.
I would pick another language. I would love to be completely fluent in Chinese because when my husband speaks any Chinese it just sounds like nonsense to me. At least in the romance languages I can kind of understand what they're saying....
I would absolutely choose #2. Easy question. I would like to speak Mandarin Chinese as fluently as I speak English. Although my situation might be unique in that only in this crazy fantasy world that you have created could I actually communicate with my in-laws. How can I make this my reality?
Ooooh, great post.
I'd definitely say the second one, I want to be fluent in Mandarin Chinese.
I've taken a half-dozen languages, French, German, Russian, Spanish and Mandarin, and I would love love LOVE to be fluent in all of them. And Swahili, and Italian, and Hindi....
I'm a language whore, I can't help it.
xox
Hands down number 2. And French. I took four years in high school, several semesters in college and then stopped speaking it. All the skills I had have gone down the drain.
As fun as it is to go to a foreign country and bust out the language (once upon a time I could hold my own in Mexico) I really think being more eloquent and articulate in English would serve me best. Being a good speaker gets you a lot in life (Obama!) and I feel like my words frequently get me into awkward situations when I say something that didn't come out right. So I choose option 1!
I choose option #2. Spanish. It's just so practical, and my Spanish is not as great as it once was! In fact, I have a post on this coming right up. (I would have had it last night, but Eric took the computer with him to work).
I choose the second one. I took Spanish for umpteen years (6th -11th grades and in college). The whole focus was on congigating verbs rather than actually learning to speak the language.
I always feel awful that I can not communication with my customers b/c of the language barrier. So I would pick # 2 - b/c I could use being fluent in spanish so much right now! imagine the possibilities!
This is a hard one, both great options.
I would love to be more articulate and eloquent in speaking, but I can come off intelligent and professional enough when I try. Would those English language skills translate into writing? If I were twice as fluent in my English writing skills as I am currently, I bet I would have an easier time getting work published.
That being said, communicating in another language is so thrilling! I felt fluent in Spanish by the end of my mission - not eloquent, mind you, but I could communicate everything I wanted to say. I would love to feel that I could convey and understand nuances in Spanish like I do in English.
Once again, I'm taking forever to reach my decision. While English would be more practical (as useful as Spanish is supposed to be, I hardly ever have the opportunity to use it), there's just something so much more romantic about being able to communicate brilliantly in a second language.
#2, for sure...but choosing WHICH language is the hard part.
It's a toss-up between French and Spanish. Oh man. So hard. Okay, and Mandarin. Darn. So hard.
Bart, that's a fun question.
I'm working every day to improve my Arabic, (and still play around in French) but a language is such an enormous thing that mastering one is a life-long quest. Barring a miracle, neither my Arabic nor my French will ever approach my English.
Despite the value of foreign languages, I choose option number 1.
I have reasons for this. First, English is a fantastic language in terms of reaching out to people. For almost any global purpose (diplomacy, science, technology, business, literature, entertainment), there is no better language. We're pretty blessed to have it as a first language.
Second, I would love to be able to produce great works of literature. If I took option 2 I could write at my current level but in two languages--there's no improvement in quality. If I took the second option then maybe I could make something that has lasting value. Then it could be translated by great speakers of other languages into those languages.
Finally, one of the attractions of becoming fluent in another language is having direct access to the history and literature of a given culture. However, I think that being able to read and appreciate great piece of literature takes somewhat less ability than being able to write it. Maybe I can achieve the former without a miracle.
(BTW, I'd like to think that studying other languages gives you new insights into your own.)
Bart, I agree, this is a good one. I know German pretty well and with a little bit of work, could become fairly good at it again but it has done me very little good over the years. I don't have a reason to deal with Germans at this point. But, I would love to speak a good Spanish because I always have the opportunity, whether traveling to Spain or Mexico or trying to communicate with Ale's parents or the many hispanics living here in the US. So, make it happen, will you?
However, like Doug said, it is a huge undertaking and I don't have the desire to do what it takes.
Definitely a foreign language, although which one would be difficult to decide. If it was a year ago, definitely Thai (we spoke enough to get by, but NOT fluent), but now that we're back, maybe Spanish is more applicable to everyday life since my neighbors don't speak English!
I'd go for the foreign language. My Japanese isn't anywhere near what I'd like it to be...if I spoke it as well as I did English, I'd love that!
My husband already looks at me a bit askance with some of the English words I use. Improving my English would benefit me little at this point, but even getting mildly fluent in Spanish would be a great benefit--especially career-wise.
The only foreign language I am reasonably fluent with is Aussie-slang. Hey, it's something. I probably lived there two months before I could listen to people speaking without my eyes bugging out of my head for trying to understand a word they were saying.
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