Is German really worth learning?
Adolfo wrote:
I studied Latin for one year and I don't see how It could had been useful to me.
You probably also learned mathematics in school, things like integration, solving equations, proofs. Do you feel that the more abstract mathematics were useful to you in dayly life? Learning Latin, Greek or German is tmho not a waste of time but a useful training combined with an insight in what are the bases of western culture. If you know Latin you can make a lot of connections between what is written or thought today and what was thought in the past. Possibly your interest in languages (documented in your participating to this forum) has something to do with your learning Latin in the past?
I studied Latin for one year and I don't see how It could had been useful to me.
You probably also learned mathematics in school, things like integration, solving equations, proofs. Do you feel that the more abstract mathematics were useful to you in dayly life? Learning Latin, Greek or German is tmho not a waste of time but a useful training combined with an insight in what are the bases of western culture. If you know Latin you can make a lot of connections between what is written or thought today and what was thought in the past. Possibly your interest in languages (documented in your participating to this forum) has something to do with your learning Latin in the past?
I am not certain; I feel that most people who learn dead languages are rarely doing it for their enjoyment. I am willing to wager that most are doing so because it is career or academics related.
A person who likes a dead language will learn a few phrases, not the entire language. People who learn dead language are historians, archeologists, linguists, and students hoping to get a career in history, archeology, or linguistics ;-)
It is very rare to learn a language without the desire to use it.
I would not place German in the same category as Latin or Ancient Greek. Especially when most of the people who defined and re-defined the art of calculation in the last 250 years spoke German ;-)
A person who likes a dead language will learn a few phrases, not the entire language. People who learn dead language are historians, archeologists, linguists, and students hoping to get a career in history, archeology, or linguistics ;-)
It is very rare to learn a language without the desire to use it.
I would not place German in the same category as Latin or Ancient Greek. Especially when most of the people who defined and re-defined the art of calculation in the last 250 years spoke German ;-)
I studied Latin for one year and I don't see how It could had been useful to me. I think it was a waste of time, and after all I consider me fortunate, because older study plans established 2 compulsory courses of Latin. I'm not referring to direct usefulness, but to what you said Ying: understanding better history , philosophy, science... . Romans did not excel at Philosphy or Science . Perhaps Latin is useful to lawyers but you don't need to learn Latin, only the vocabulary related to laws , and you can learn it just in several hours.
Romans did not excel at phlilosophy or science????
Is Latin related ONLY TO law???????
Considering what you wrote I seriously doubt you went in primary school
Romans did not excel at phlilosophy or science????
Is Latin related ONLY TO law???????
Considering what you wrote I seriously doubt you went in primary school
Adolfo is right, Romans did not excel in philosophy or science, rather in military discipline, laws and architecture
Adolfo is right, Romans did not excel in philosophy or science, rather in military discipline, laws and architecture
...and dozen of other things...
if they "excelled" in Philosophy there were plenty of people here ready to say "yes , BUT it is useless".... the story is old
...and dozen of other things...
if they "excelled" in Philosophy there were plenty of people here ready to say "yes , BUT it is useless".... the story is old
german is only spoken in central europe and in some communities outside central europe! that's it! while french spanish englsih and portuguese are spoken in more than one continent! german is not that useful to learn as those other languages mentioned above! but hey!! if you learn languages just for pleasure than i think you should learn german!
>>Modern English is not like other old Indo-European languages (e.g. Greek, Latin, German, Russian, Polish etc.) but (like French, Italian or Spanish) a relatively new language, something like Esperanto - relatively easy to learn by foreigners who want to communicate on a basic level in a foreign country<<
If English were like Esperanto, there would be no need for Esperanto in the first place, and it wouldn't even exist lol
If English were like Esperanto, there would be no need for Esperanto in the first place, and it wouldn't even exist lol
German is worthwhile if you have a good reason for learning it. One thing that people miss is this: Germans go everywhere. Germans travel around the world, so learning German if you are dealing in tourism is a good idea imo.
Wenn du deine Deutschkenntnisse verbessern willst ,
komm auf der http://www.zdeutsch.com
komm auf der http://www.zdeutsch.com
Wenn du deine Deutschkenntnisse verbessern willst ,
komm auf der http://www.zdeutsch.com
komm auf der http://www.zdeutsch.com
German is the native language of a very singular and of the by far most important and successful people in Europe. Learning German is visiting the source of modern western culture, philosophy and technology. German culture brought forth the art printing books (Gutenberg), the protestant religion (Martin Luther), modern physics (Kopernikus, Kepler, Planck, Einstein) and chemistry (Justus Liebig). You cannot understand Europe or the two Americas if you do not understand German.