4 reasons to learn a new language | John McWhorter

4 reasons to learn a new language | John McWhorter

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28 Comments

  1. My native language is English but I am learning Japanese, kinda want to do Korean or Chinese. But I wish I could relate to you all, I probably have the proficiency of a 4th grader ? all I can do is hold a simple conversation even after 7mo of learning. (Kanji sucksssss) but I’m planning to try and come back to language learning again after a long break.

  2. My main reason (though it is of course really implied in McWhorters first reason): to be able to read Dante in his original language, Tolstoy and Dostoevsky and Brodsky in theirs, Mann and Goethe in theirs, Baudelaire in his and so on.

  3. I recommend McWhorter to see the Ted-ed lecture of Kelly McGonigal. In opposite of what McWhorter says, she actually gives some interesting examples of point of view or mind skills which depends on the specific language which the speaker has. I especially liked the example of the language that doesn't contain words for right or left, and its speakers know from their childhood to identify their location in terms of North, South, East and West. It was nothing less than mind blowing.

  4. When he said all the 6000 languages will be left only with 100 languages i felt it thinking about our tribe and our culture and it's language,it really scares me,imaging all of them will not be left

  5. I love the first reason for learning a foreign language. If you want to go into a new culture, you need a ticket.
    I have been learning English for 32 years. I started it when I was 6. I will never stop. It's absolutely amusing.
    Now I am learning Korean. It's so different from English or Russian ( I am Russian). But that is what I love about learning a foreign language.

  6. TO ANYONE WHOS SCHOOL ASSIGNMENT IS TO ANSWER WHAT 4 REASONS HE USES TO LEARN A NEW LANGUAGE HERE YOU GO: 1. To become apart of a culture

    2. Speaking two languages has shown it is less likely to have dementia set in, and you are probably a better multi tasker.

    3 Languages are fun to learn

    4. you can learn any language wherever you want rather than being in a classroom for set time.

  7. Not trying to pick bones out of an egg, but I found the Mandarin word-by-word translation at 7:50 rather funny? No way that the first sentence is translated like that.

  8. South Africa has 11 official languages. You are secretly judged by the number of languages you know. We've taken racism to a totally new level.

  9. My native language is Spanish and now I am trying to learn English, slowly and steadily achieving it. The experience of learning has been difficult, frustrating but totally amusing, and at some times chaotic because I have to deal with my own frustration whenever something appears that I can't understand. Still, in the end, it’s too much fun and comforting when I start to realize that I’m getting it. In the end, speaking another language is a constant self-challenge, the important thing is to try to have fun in the process, so that the whole process becomes less difficult and more enjoyable.-

  10. My native language is Spanish, but I need to learn English to be a bilingual person. I think that learning English is very important to open my mind and get to know other cultures better. It is true that if you know how to speak English you can communicate almost anywhere in the world and it is also very important for many areas of life, as it is a great tool when doing business, traveling and when looking for a good job. I didn´t know that learning other languages was a great way to fight dementia and this makes it more interesting for me.

  11. Hi people, this is a very good and motivational video to encourage you to learn other languages rather than English. My native language is Spanish and right now I´m trying to learn English only because as John mention in the beginning of the video is the most common language spoken around the globe. But is very interesting if you want to learn a little bit more about other culture try to learn some words or to understand the grammar. And also if you want to learn other language, probably the time is the best because through technology you can easily learn in the comfort of your bedroom or Livingroom, you can pay for a online course or just ear videos with English subtitles without pay anything.