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Side note rant on languages: the fact that on Duolingo there are more people willing to learn made up languages like Klingon or High Valyrian, rather than Arabi

Side note rant on languages: the fact that on Duolingo there are more people willing to learn made up languages like Klingon or High Valyrian, rather than Arabic, says a lot about how invested many anglophones are about opening up towards other cultures. Hopefully peak English has been reached.

krapp 9y ago
>Side note rant on languages: the fact that on Duolingo there are more people willing to learn made up languages like Klingon or Game of Thrones, rather than Arabic, Portuguese, Mandarin or Spanish, says a lot about how invested many anglophones are about opening up towards other cultures. I would rather assume that it says a lot about how invested they are in popular culture and casual learning, because learning Klingon might actually be a fun diversion, and a lot less effort than learning Mandarin or Arabic.
krageon 9y ago
I don't understand why you would pick Arabic as an example here. There are languages you could take as alternatives to the mentioned fantasy languages (Mandarin, German if you read a lot of technical literature, etc) that are significantly more relevant and likely to be useful online.
- tomcooks 9y ago
  Surely the Arab world has no use online, especially lately /s
strictnein 9y ago
Considering that Duolingo doesn't even have an Arabic course yet and won't until August... https://www.duolingo.com/course/ar/en/Learn-Arabic-Online https://www.duolingo.com/course/ar/en/Learn-Arabic-Online
- tomcooks 9y ago
  Considering they postponed it for years maybe that's my point?
  - strictnein 9y ago
    Huh? No, you still have no point. Your point would only make sense if they only had "western" languages and then the pointless toy languages, but that's not the case at all.
pluto9 9y ago
Maybe made up languages are interesting in their own right because they're made up, and are therefore a totally different endeavor than a "real" language. Maybe people like to occasionally do things just for fun instead of for practical reasons. Also, where's your evidence that the people learning High Valyrian and Klingon aren't also learning Chinese, Russian, Spanish, etc.?

krapp 9y ago

>Side note rant on languages: the fact that on Duolingo there are more people willing to learn made up languages like Klingon or Game of Thrones, rather than Arabic, Portuguese, Mandarin or Spanish, says a lot about how invested many anglophones are about opening up towards other cultures. I would rather assume that it says a lot about how invested they are in popular culture and casual learning, because learning Klingon might actually be a fun diversion, and a lot less effort than learning Mandarin or Arabic.

krageon 9y ago

I don't understand why you would pick Arabic as an example here. There are languages you could take as alternatives to the mentioned fantasy languages (Mandarin, German if you read a lot of technical literature, etc) that are significantly more relevant and likely to be useful online.

tomcooks 9y ago
Surely the Arab world has no use online, especially lately /s

strictnein 9y ago

Considering that Duolingo doesn't even have an Arabic course yet and won't until August... https://www.duolingo.com/course/ar/en/Learn-Arabic-Online https://www.duolingo.com/course/ar/en/Learn-Arabic-Online

tomcooks 9y ago
Considering they postponed it for years maybe that's my point?
- strictnein 9y ago
  Huh? No, you still have no point. Your point would only make sense if they only had "western" languages and then the pointless toy languages, but that's not the case at all.

pluto9 9y ago

Maybe made up languages are interesting in their own right because they're made up, and are therefore a totally different endeavor than a "real" language. Maybe people like to occasionally do things just for fun instead of for practical reasons. Also, where's your evidence that the people learning High Valyrian and Klingon aren't also learning Chinese, Russian, Spanish, etc.?