blurb: language studying

Sep 22, 2009 14:03

*can`t be bothered to log out of this account and into her esperanto lj, so i`ll post this there later ( Read more... )

esperanto, japanese, random thoughts, meh

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chochajin September 23 2009, 01:56:07 UTC
So many people learn Esperanto and I wonder what is the deal with it? I really wanna know because I have no clue at all, sorry (^^)>
It looks very similar to Spanish so I can understand part of what you've written, but what is so fascinating about Esperanto? :)

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nighstar September 23 2009, 02:27:27 UTC
i can`t really answer your question as i`m sure different people find different things fascinating about the language just like with Japanese or any other language.

i started studying Esperanto in 2003, which would mean i`ve studied it about as long as i`ve studied Japanese had i kept studying... *sigh* i can`t even really remember what originally got me into the language... perhaps it was the fact that it`s easy to learn... what has kept me interested in the language over the years, however, is the fact that its beautiful to me and that i can and do talk to people all over the world in it. unlike with the "international" language that is English, there is something different about speaking Esperanto with someone in Brazil, France, etc. *shrugs*

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chochajin September 24 2009, 01:25:47 UTC
I also heard that USUALLY you don't really learn any foreign language in school in America? You CAN take "language courses", but it's not something you HAVE to do? No wonder people would feel like studying something by themselves then :)
Compared to what people in Europe have to learn .... and not all of it makes always sense.
I had to study English, Latin (WTF?!), French (that was a "language course" I chose and dropped again after 1 year XD) and Spanish.
Apart from French I needed all those languages in order to graduate.
Some other schools offer Greek instead of Latin, though.

I might have heard about Esperanto and Basque in my Spanish lessons, but can't barely remember. I read somewhere that Basque is considered to be the most difficult language in the world btw. O__O
I wonder where Esperanto stands.

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nighstar September 24 2009, 04:12:48 UTC
that`s not true at all. :o i am fairly certain that once you enter high school anywhere in the US you HAVE to study a language for atleast 2 years of a language to graduate. the offered languages are usually very limited (Spanish, French or German with Japanese becoming more common only recently), but yeah... you cant even enter many universities without atleast 2 years of a language under your belt.

as for where Esperanto stands in terms of difficulty, it is probably one of the easiest languages to learn in the world. :p

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chochajin September 24 2009, 07:50:27 UTC
Some of my coworkers told me that they don't really learn any foreign languages compared to other countries and they all said that it's kind of a shame and all, so sorry if I misunderstood that (^^)>

Really?
Well, once I'm satisfied with my Japanese ability (aka in 1012304924 years) and once I've polished my Spanish skills, then .. maybe .... MAYBE ... uhm ... yeah ;P

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nighstar September 24 2009, 09:25:52 UTC
maybe what they meant is that 2yrs of a language in HS in America is nothing compared to how much other countries studying foreign languages. ^^; in Europe especially, you probably start studying a foreign language before HS/for long than 2 years...? and on top of that non-English speaking countries sometimes require students to study English too! D: so yeah... compared to that, foreign language study in America is kinda pathetic lol.

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chochajin September 24 2009, 09:28:58 UTC
I only can speak for myself and it really depends on the school, but I had English for 9 years, Latin for 7, Spanish for 3 and French for 1 year (years in university not counted of course).
I thik it's a shame, but on the other hand I also think nobody should be forced to do it.
I think English is necessary and as you guys already speak English ... well ... that's that then, I guess ;P Good for you :D
I know that a lot of my classmates hated language studies, but I really enjoyed it ^^

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nighstar September 24 2009, 10:39:11 UTC
wow... my English has been pretty shitty these last couple of replies... am i that tired?? D;

and your great English reflects your 9yrs of study. :D

yeah, studying languages is a love/hate thing for a lot of people sadly and being forced to study a certain language(s) in school really doesn`t help things. ^^; i was forced to study Spanish and now i`d rather never touch the language again.

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