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Yeah, I had kinda put languages that are very different from English onto a back-burner, where I'd sort of consider it a thing to tackle once I had a system in
by SwellJoe 12y ago
Yeah, I had kinda put languages that are very different from English onto a back-burner, where I'd sort of consider it a thing to tackle once I had a system in place (some sort of mental model, proven practice tactics, etc.) for learning the easier languages, like Spanish, French, and German. Slavic languages like Russian and Polish are high on my list of languages to learn, as places that speak them are high on my list of places to visit, but also seem very challenging. Mandarin, Korean, and Japanese take that to a whole new level of difficulty.
Thanks for the tips. I may make it a tiny part of my daily language practice (I spend about 30-60 minutes a day on Spanish right now, and find that consistency is the most important thing), and maybe in a year or two "starting" Mandarin seriously will seem like starting Spanish or French to me now.
- mahyarm 12y agoEven if the 'empire' falls, there are still very profitable pockets that will outlive your lifespan. Look at the UK for example. London is still a major finance center. What is the total GDP of the 6 English native countries is another thing to keep in mind vs. the total GDP of the Slavic countries or the Chinese countries. Don't learn a language until you actually have a requirement to actually use it professionally or personally. Otherwise your time is better spent on other things, like regular exercise, healthy eating and increasing your skill in your profession or working on starting your own business.
- SwellJoe 12y agoI tend to think language learning is one of those things that are intrinsically valuable. And, I'm embarrassed to have made it to middle age without fluency in anything other than English. From a pragmatic perspective it might not 've directly profitable...but it makes me happy.