You know, i learned a lot of math, and it was fun, and made sense, and yes, i put in some work but it was rewarded. I’ve taken formal classes in Hebrew, French, Latin, and ancient Greek, and despite tons of work i got almost nothing out of it.
I’m sort of vaguely trying to pick up some German from Duolingo. I visit Germany regularly, and there are Germans I’d like to talk with, and German is close enough to English that i feel i have a fighting chance. At least i can hear most of the sounds, and people understand my accent when i repeat the handful of words i know.
But it’s incredibly boring and tedious, and going very slowly.
am in the beginning stages of learning Thai as it appears to be a place I can retire and enjoy comfortably and/or work remotely if I choose to leave the US sooner. I already have some French, in case Europe is an option (doubtful) I have heard it is difficult, but I think it is important at the moment.
Other than English I can only speak a little French and a bit more Dutch. It’s funny–I had 4 or 5 years of French in school and never a single Dutch lesson and I know Dutch far better than French. It’s because I lived in Holland for a bit. I’d be a lot better but almost all Netherlanders speak English so well I barely had to use my Nederlands. The main exception was an older lady who lived beneath me and couldn’t speak English. She told me all about her experienced living in Rotterdam during the terror bombing by the Luftwaffe in “De Tweede Wereldoorlog”
I’d like to be better at it–near fluent–but the language that would be most useful for me to learn is Spanish because I live in California, I can speak a few words but can’t have a conversation or read much of it.
My Spanish is like my Dutch–I never had any formal training but I’m around it a lot.
For the record, I can say hello/goodbye, please and thank you, and order water in Japanese, Thai, Spanish and German (and Dutch, French and English).
I intend to take at least one class in Arabic next summer. I decided some years back that, once I got a permanent teaching job, I’d research what the most underserved language was in the school community, and learn that. Well, at my school, the most common home language is of course English, and the second is of course Spanish… but there are already plenty of Spanish-speakers in the school community. The third-most-common home language, though, is Arabic, and I’m not sure that we have anyone who speaks that.
I’m hoping that it will help with building relationships with students and their families.
I’ve studied Arabic for many years, mainly concentrating on the colloquial language (Palestinian Dialect), but I have nobody I can speak Arabic with, in my immediate area. I’m not super fluent anyway, but it would sure be nice to have someone to talk to and practice with.