Foreign Languages Opinions

[jamijoy]

I know that learning a foreign language is a popular thing to do, but if you aren't going to learn to speak it fluently, is there a point?

 

Will using Rosetta Stone or any other language program make us fluent in a language if we don't really have an opportunity to use it outside of our studies regularly?

 

My dh took two years of german in high school and another two in college. He was never fluent and he has never used it for anything practical. He has retained some words but not enough to understand someone speaking or to speak it himself.

 

Will having my kids study a language for years be worth it? Anyone with grown kids who learned a language as a child and still remember and are able to speak it fluently or even semi-fluently? If I start now, will they have to continue to study it every year to be able to keep it fresh?

 

We are military and if I knew we were moving to a foreign country, I would definitely want my family to learn the language because we could use it, but so far, that hasn't been the case (unless you count Texas...:tongue_smilie:!)

 

So, I'm not against studying a foreign language, and my husband wants me to start using Rosetta Stone Spanish with our children, but it's a lot of money and TIME (more important to me) to spend on it if there will be no long term retention.

 

(BTW, I'm not counting Latin in the above...we will be studying that every year and having taken just three years in high school, I still can see the benefits of having taken it.)

[Embassy]

Well, I am biased:tongue_smilie: I believe a good education includes learning at least one foreign language. Learning a foreign language is good brain exercise too.

[ssavings]

I know that learning a foreign language is a popular thing to do, but if you aren't going to learn to speak it fluently, is there a point?

 

Will using Rosetta Stone or any other language program make us fluent in a language if we don't really have an opportunity to use it outside of our studies regularly?

 

My dh took two years of german in high school and another two in college. He was never fluent and he has never used it for anything practical. He has retained some words but not enough to understand someone speaking or to speak it himself.

 

Will having my kids study a language for years be worth it? Anyone with grown kids who learned a language as a child and still remember and are able to speak it fluently or even semi-fluently? If I start now, will they have to continue to study it every year to be able to keep it fresh?

 

We are military and if I knew we were moving to a foreign country, I would definitely want my family to learn the language because we could use it, but so far, that hasn't been the case (unless you count Texas...:tongue_smilie:!)

 

So, I'm not against studying a foreign language, and my husband wants me to start using Rosetta Stone Spanish with our children, but it's a lot of money and TIME (more important to me) to spend on it if there will be no long term retention.

 

(BTW, I'm not counting Latin in the above...we will be studying that every year and having taken just three years in high school, I still can see the benefits of having taken it.)

 

I took French in middle/high school. It was a class of 6, and 3 of us used French after school (I spent a semester in Europe, a guy in the class moved to a monistary in France, and a girl worked for AirFrance after high school).

[Jpoy85]

I took 3yrs of German in HS and 1yr in college. I cant go hold a conversation in Germany, but I could understand the basics and ask for a bathroom. LOL.

 

I have thought about a language for the kids, but Im going to wait until they are older, maybe Middle School.

[ALB]

Learning a foreign language trains the brain in areas that are different from other things we learn. Learning any foreign language at an early age will also help learn a language later as an adult.

 

I do think Latin totally counts as a foreign language! If you don't want to add another, don't worry!

[HejKatt]

I agree with PP that learning a different language stretches one's brain, and could give extra insight into learning grammar by having different examples.

 

I also found that any extra knowledge of languages, even if just a smattering, added cultural context and enhanced my appreciation of literature. For example, I probably know 20 words of French but I was tickled as punch when I read Jane Eyre and could guess what Adele was saying. Or, I read a biography from the Cultural Revolution, and when the author referred to a phrase which sounds bombastic in English, I knew which Chinese phrase she referred to, and its negative connotation.

 

Now, whether the aspects above (ease of learning other languages and grammar, appreciation of literature/history) would be worth the time/effort is a valid question because they are hard to quantify.

[Rosie_0801]

Learning another language gives you a view into how other people view the world. That is valuable, since, as my mother always said, we aren't the only ones in the world!

 

I'm of the opinion that a foreign language, whichever language, will be useful if you make it so and no use if you don't. It's not a whole lot of use if you take a passive approach and wait for opportunities to happen to you.

 

But if you don't want to study a foreign language, there are respectable native languages. ASL, for example! And the lovely thing about signed languages is you don't have to learn to read and write them. :)

 

Rosie

[Laura Corin]

I studied French at school. I started at eleven and studied it until I was eighteen. I spent one month in France on an exchange when I was fourteen. I was certainly competent at speaking the language at that point. I went on to study it at university and to spend two years in France. It was definitely worthwhile.

 

Calvin started studying French at home (using Galore Park) and has continued at school. He just went on an exchange and was able to communicate. He intends to continue studying it until he is eighteen (alongside Latin).

 

Laura

[Roadrunner]

Learning another language gives you a view into how other people view the world.

 

Rosie

 

:iagree: it gives you a set of different "eyes".

 

 

I think gaining an ability to read literature should be the goal of studying a foreign language, rather than an ability to strike up a conversation at a supermarket.

[Donna]

I think there are benefits to learning a foreign language even if you don't ever speak it fluently. I agree with others that it stretches the brain and improves ability to memorize but also, I think it improve vocabulary.

 

Maybe not all languages, I don't know, but I learned Spanish in high school and my required year of college. I cannot speak it fluently but I understand more than I can speak (word retrieval is difficult for me which makes me less than fluent). I can read it fairly well and I can speak to a Spanish speaking 2 year old when the need arises with my work. But I have noticed that since Spanish derives a bit from Latin and our language has many roots in Latin, which are also similar in Spanish, I can figure out words I haven't learned specifically by using my knowledge of word roots.

 

I am using Rosetta Stone with my dd but just as an intro to the languages she is studying. We have a number of friends who speak Gaelic and I plan to have her converse with them once her vocabulary is larger. I would also love to have a native Spanish speaker to speak with her as well once she has a larger vocabulary.