Language is a means, not an end

As the saying goes, life is a journey, not a destination. What’s important is not where you’re going, but what you do along the way. And the same thing goes for learning a language. There will always be more to learn, you can never know it all.

As children we start talking even knowing only a handful of words, and yet we credit children with having an incredible way with words. This is because they don’t wait until their vocabulary feels sufficient, they simply say what’s on their mind. And so should you.

I’ve seen some crazy stuff lately

Not long ago, I watched as LingoSteve, the author of one language-learning blog started a holy war against Benny the Irish Polyglot, the author of another language-learning blog. Steve dedicated the majority of his written and audio blogging acitivity for nearly a month to nothing more than attacking Benny. And why? Because he disagreed with Benny’s opinion that you should start using your new language right away. Really!

I’ve recently seen comments on my own web site, talking about choosing to learn a language because knowing it “makes you awesome and unique”. Anyone who learns a language for such a reason is, in my opinion, terribly misguided. I can’t get past the irony that language is a means of communication, an act which requires other people to achieve, and that being unique works against that!

And similarly, I recently learned Esperanto, only to find that I had no one to talk to. Sure, I could arrange to join the monthly meetings of my city’s local Esperanto club, and I could fly around the world attending Esperanto meetups, but why go to all that trouble when it will just lead me to use Esperanto in discussions about Esperanto! I’ve said it before, in my opinion Esperanto adds up to very little more than a notch in a polyglot’s belt. This may be a matter for debate, and it may not be true for everyone, but if you ever find yourself learning a language just for the sake of knowing it, it might be time to re-evaluate your priorities.

Everyone has their own motives and their own motivations for the things they do in life. And if you want to learn a language because it makes you cool, or because you enjoy the study of linguistics, or even because it allows you to posture to all of your colleagues… go ahead. Really, I don’t care why you’re learning — just keep reading my blog, leaving comments, and maybe clicking on the ad banner occasionally.

What is the point?

Let’s take a moment and think about this. You don’t learn carpentry unless you’re going to build something. You don’t learn auto-mechanics if you’re not going to work on a car. I don’t care how fascinating you think quantum physics is, or how many books you read, you’re not going to spend the time memorizing the equations unless you plan on using them. And you don’t go to bartending school if you’re never going to mix a drink.

So why would you go to all the work of learning a language if you’re not going to use it?

You learn it so you can use it. And that is the single best reason both for what language you should choose, and for why should you start using it right away. Language is a means of communication, not a badge of honor. Whether you’re learning so you can travel, or so you can do internation business, or just so you can write letters to your family in Denmark… you’re learning to communicate, so start communicating!

The goal isn’t the knowledge of the language. In fact, the goal isn’t even the use of the language. In the end, the goal is what you say, and what others say to you. Telling people you had a conversation in Esperanto may make you feel good — and there’s room for that in our lives — but the real substance is what that conversation was about.

So whatever the language is, get out there and use it, and say something worthy of being said.

Get my ebook and learn Italian in one year or less!

http://www.ikindalikelanguages.com lyzazel

I don't want to sound mean here but the problem I see with that is, what right does anybody else have to tell me why I learn the language I learn?

I have done some studying of quantum physics but I do not ever plan to use it. I simply think it is interesting.

I would like to but I will probably not use all of the languages I have tried learning. I, most definitely, will not use most of the stuff I learn. Most philosophical theories are just as good as theories can be and they are not really “practical stuff”. Knowing the difference between monism and dualism isn't likely ever going to give me any avail in terms of “usage”.

I think knowledge is value in itself. That's one of the reasons why I learn languages. Well, that, and also because it makes me awesome and unique. Oh, and also because I like to use them sometime. Or maybe… I just don't know why.

There is no single reason and I don't think any of these reasons are fundamentally worse than others.
melissamuldoon

Bravo! I liked your blog article today. When I write my blog in Italian sometimes I worry that I am mixing up a tense or using a preposition incorrectly and that I should wait until I am perfectly fluent in the language. But then I stop and let reality sink in…I am communicating and people are understanding and responding back. We are having a dialogue and talking about things other than grammar…we are communicating about the concepts and stories and I realize people are not stopped or put off by a misspelled word here or there. I knew I was really having fun when playful banter about “essere come una famiglia Mulina Bianca” started spilling on over to my FB page…my Italian friends were picking up on my blog articles and playing them forward into real life! They couldn't have cared less if I accidently mixed up a complex congiuntivo past tense grammar construction!

Language learning is a journey that should be shaken out, used and enjoyed along the way and not just reserved for the “end game” after you think you have mastered it!
http://www.fluenteveryyear.com/ Randy

I'll agree with that — your reasons aren't fundamentally *worse* than anyone else's. :)

Sure, reality is that whatever makes you happy, whatever motivates you, whatever it is you want or wish for, that's what you should do. But then again, if you look at what you just wrote, you that you don't know why you learn languages, so I'm not quite sure if I can accept the “whatever makes you happy” argument.

I'm inclined to think that learning a language you're never going to use is either a) a self-serving notch in the polyglot belt, and/or b) an utter waste or time.

Naturally, you're welcome to disagree with me. In fact, I think disagreement makes my web site a whole lot more fun, and of course I encourage you to always point out when I'm wrong!
http://www.fluenteveryyear.com/ Randy

Thanks. I agree. Waiting to use a language (for any reason) means missing out on a lot of great experiences. But as I said in the text, it also means missing out on some *necessary* experiences… because no amount of study is going to teach you those subtle things like saying “give up to me” does not mean “give it to me up here”, or that saying “he's hung” does not mean someone died with a rope around his neck! :)

These things just have to come up in use — in conversation, in chat, however, wherever — but they're not going to be in any textbook, or on lingq or livemocha or whatever.

It's so much better to shed the insecurities and just make mistakes. Anyway, it's not as if you're likely to fool people into thinking you're not a beginner. Might as well just accept it! :)
http://globalmaverick.org/ John B

I know what you're getting at, but it strikes me as the equivalent of saying something like “you're never going to need to run away from a pack of hungry lions, why jog?” For some people (myself sometimes, though not too often, included), it's the process that is joyful.
http://www.fluenteveryyear.com/ Randy

No, it's not at all the same. That'a a bogus cop-out and a lousy excuse.

Jogging is walking fast. It's an accelerated version of an activity we already do. Moreover, we all jog in essentially the same way. There aren't different languages of running.

But Spanish, or Italian, or any other language, is not the same as just speaking English fast. It's not the same as just building endurance for something you already do. It's not the same as keeping your skills sharp or your weight down.

Learning a new language is *RE-LEARNING* something you already know how to do, but in a completely different way. It's more akin to saying I have written with my right hand my whole life, but now I'm going to learn to write with my left hand, and then doing all the exercises and practice and making legible letters and then eventually being able, one day, to create useful, perhaps even elegant text with the other hand.

Now tell me… if someone did that, would you not think he or she was wasting their time? Would you not think that those were hours that they would never get back? Would you not wonder exactly how that skill is ever going to be useful?
linda

I dont think we should discourage people from learning a language, even if they dont have anyone to speak with, it ccan still open their minds in other ways. They can now listen to new music or read different authors they would never had access to before. Some things are just lost in translation so reading or watching something in the native language only enhances your understanding of a culture. Look at the millions of American who never travel and dont even bother to learn Spanish which should be the countries second offical language, and their ignorance is embrassing. To become more self-aware usually makes you a more informed person, and sometimes more compasstionate. Maybe they wouldnt be starting wars all over the world if they understood other cultures more, and that could start with language.
http://www.fluenteveryyear.com/ Randy

I think you make an excellent point about enjoying music or even just connecting in some way with the culture. I think if someone gave that as their answer to “why do you learn?” I would find it to be perfectly valid… thought I would still feel they were missing out on more, and would encourage then to find someone and speak! After all, how can you connect to the culture without actually taking the time to talk to one of its members? :)

But with regard to your comments toward the end, it's as if you started making my point for me. In saying millions of Americans should learn Spanish, why do you feel that way? Let's be honest, you're not saying that because you think it's fine to learn it and then never use it!

Kudos for pointing out that bit about being more compassionate, though. Becoming more self-aware — and more aware of others — is facilitated by travel, communication, and the language learning that facilitates them. One of my favorite things about learning languages is all the new contact I have with people from unimaginable foreign places, who tell me about their homes and their towns and their lives. It's quite humbling. (But it starts with talking! *grin*)
http://www.fluenteveryyear.com/ Randy

One other thing: you started out by saying “I don't think we should discourage people from learning a language”, and it makes me wonder… do you really think I'm trying to discourage people from learning a language? What do you think is the purpose of this web site, if not the complete opposite of that?

On the contrary, I am not only encouraging people to learn a new language… I'm also trying to get them to actually use it!
jismyname

Dude, you just can't let that “awesome and unique” comment go, can you? It was tossed out there with self-deprecating irony. No one here in the language learning community is learning a language simply to show off, there's far too much work involved for such a silly goal.

Apparently it touched a nerve with you and I apologize for the undue angst it has caused.
http://www.fluenteveryyear.com/ Randy

Hahah… no undue angst here, my friend. It's simply a remark that stood out to me as misguided. :)
http://englishharmony.com/blog/ Robby Kukurs

Your post hits the nail on the head. You're talking about people trying to learn a language for the wrong reasons – if we generalize the concept, we arrive at people doing all sorts of things in their lives that they assign some importance to, but which are actually meaningless.

Here I'd like to share a bit from my own experience with languages, and how it perfectly illustrates what you're saying on this post.

I'm a foreign English speaker myself – Latvian. I also speak Russian as it's been kind of a second language in my home country. Now I live in an English speaking country so I'm fluent in English as well.

So why am I fluent in Russian and English on top of my native language? Because they were necessities in my life. I didn't decide one day – hey, why not learn Russian and brag about that to my friends? Or if we take English – it's simply everywhere – films, music, Internet and I also happen to live in an English speaking country so I'm surrounded by it.

On the other hand – I was studying German for something like 7 years at school. Where's my German now? It's simply gone. Forgotten. I don't use it, never been using in real life conversations, so what would be the point for me to, for example, start re-activating German now? To be honest – I've had such thoughts recently. I came across Benny the Irish Polyglot's blog and thought – that's cool, this chap speaks 7 languages. I already have 3, and if I re-activate my German – that would be 4! I also could learn Polish 'cause it's quite similar to Russian, and add on to my Romanian basic conversational skills that I picked up years ago when working with a bunch of Romanian lads… That would be 6!

And you know what else I've been thinking? OK, here it is – I've had an idea of learning the Irish language. It's still spoken in some parts of Ireland, my daughters study it at school, so I thought at one stage – why not? I even bought an Irish language self-study book to start learning it.

But as you're saying above – what is the point of it all if you don't USE the language in real life in real conversations!

But here's the most interesting part – I don't actually believe anyone does master a language if it's no real use for them. Language just for the sake of watching films or reading? I don't buy it! There has to be something else in it to drive that person to learn the language to extent of being able to understand it at a decent level. Simply learning it for the notch in a polyglot’s belt – I think it's impossible for one to keep motivated!

So I'm saying – all those who are saying, yes, it's nice to know a foreign language, maybe it'll come handy some day… have you really mastered one yourself without using it in real life?

All these polyglot guys on the Net are actually traveling and using the languages.

So let's not be hypocrites and admonish the blog's author for discouraging people to learn foreign languages. What he was actually trying to say is – hey folks, let's be REAL and don't just waste your time thinking – OK, I just want to learn this language, so I'll make my goal to do it! If there's no real use of the language for you – you'll lose the motivation ANYWAY somewhere down the line and all your time and effort investment will we for nothing!

By the way – I have Spanish language book sitting on my shelf for a couple of years. Never done more than the first two lessons. I also had this sudden thought – why not learn Spanish? I'll do it! Now I understand completely – once I don't have Spanish friends and I don't go to Spain 5 times a years holidaying, I'll never retain enough of the language in my head to make the studies worthwhile.

But if anyone has all the time on world to learn a foreign language just because they feel like it or because they think that one day it may come handy – good luck! ;-)

Thank a lot for this eye opener!
http://www.fluenteveryyear.com/ Randy

Wow, thanks!
http://englishharmony.com/blog/ Robby Kukurs

You're welcome!
http://www.kunar.eu/ Kunar

why go to all that trouble when it will just lead me to use Esperanto in discussions about Esperanto!

The good news is: This is your experience after one week, seemingly without good ressources for the internet and a local club which did not satisfy your expectations. While the linguistic basics may be learnt in seemingly no time, the whole cultural background takes more time to learn compared to other languages. Sadly enough, even nowadays not all courses take into account that it is important to teach something about the people speaking the language, the music, the literature and so on.

The second good news is: You are not alone with this experience. One week without a congress or gathering is really not enough to learn what fun (or practical use) you can have with the help of the language. I have heard from many people that they were rather scared away by their local club (the experience is the same for different countries in Europe). If they had not met someone nice through the internet or attended an international meeting and made friends there, they would have never continued their way.

The third good news is: Most Esperanto speakers I know will strongly agree with the topic of this post. While some others may have taken the whole thing too seriously (to have fun and to give a nice company), the majority seems to be more practical.
http://yuehan.org/ John Biesnecker

Me, personally … yes, I would think that person is wasting their time. But, WTF does it matter what I think? Or what you think? If the person doing it thinks its a worthwhile use of their time, then almost by definition it is, because each day is our own to pass, no?
http://www.fluenteveryyear.com/ Randy

I find abstract philosophical remarks like this to be little more than a passive-aggressive way of disagreeing while deflecting rebuttal.

Here. I can carry your existentialist remarks to several logical conclusions, all entertaining, all delightfully argumentative, and all equally useless:

1) What does it matter what anyone thinks? Nothing matters. Therefore what I say doesn't matter. In that case, why are you so concerned about it?

2) Even better… If none of this matters, then your comments here are equally meaningless.

3) If the only thing that makes something worthwhile is because a person “thinks so”, then maybe we should close up all the hospitals and just go back to bloodletting and prayer for treating sickness. And we should all stop washing our dishes because they're just going to get dirty again.

I could go on and on with ridiculous rebuttals, but — pardon the pun — what's the point?

So, nothing personal, John, but if people don't make the effort to share their knowledge AND their opinions, there would be no progress in the world. I won't ever claim to be always right, and in fact, when I'm wrong I want to know right away so I can correct my own errors and move in a better direction.

But what's most interesting is that this is my web site, I am the only author, and if what I say is so wrong, it doesn't explain why my subscribers keep growing and my commenters keep coming back.

The explanation is this: people disagree because their cop-outs and excuses are being challenged. It's natural to fight against anyone who tries to break you from your comfort zone. But when one does finally stop making excuses and start doing something more productive, one tends to find oneself wishing they'd done it sooner, rather than wasting all that time. :)
Aleks

Hi Randy,

First of all congrats, I guess it was not easy, and it seems you did it well, according to what I read.

I personnally agree with Lyzazel. There is no need to claim for a utility in anything we learn. There are plenty of people who learn to play piano, but will never become a pianist. My father knows how to drive a boat, but he didn't ever have any. The claim that the fact to learn a language but actually not using it doesn't fit with facts.

I was in fact a bit surprised my what you wrote. That's true that issues in esperanto are too often (most of the time?) about esperanto. But I used to use the language in practical situation and chat about things not related to languages. So it depends on what you do with it. Also, you said there is no place to meet esperantists. Well, it's true and false! It's true that there is no *permanent* place where the concentration of esperantists is high enough (except maybe in the central office of UEA in Rotterdam, or in Herzberg, etc), but there is still a lot of events that occurs all along the year in different places in the world. So the only thing to do accept to travel far enough (and if you consider that esperanto is only a bunch of old fanatics, then come to a youth esperanto event :) ). take a look here: http://www.eventoj.hu/ (click on internacia kalendaro de esperanto aranĝoj)

So, keep going and all the best for your learning of the italian. I guess that after a month you will forget all you have learned in esperanto (like it already occured to me with arabic). But don't consider you have completely wasted your time, at least you have discover how an artificial language looks like.

Cheers,

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Apr 14, 2010
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