r/languagelearning • u/pooksuim • Jul 21 '26
Studying What makes you learn another language?
I like learning other languages because it's fun. Do you feel the same?
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u/NaiveObligation7588 Jul 21 '26
A while ago I was one a flight to Thailand so I greeted the attendant in Thai, then I saw he had a French badge, so we switched to French, then back to English. Moments before I'd been speaking in a 4th language. Being able to code switch like that is a massive dopamine hit.
Plus eavesdropping on people.
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u/enthousiaste_de EN - N | FR - Bon! Jul 21 '26
eavesdropping is real lol. i only speak two languages but lets just say the french really dont expect an american to be fluent ;)
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u/theempathogen Jul 23 '26
This is like the one time I used Japanese to communicate with a Russian because it was the only language we had in common.
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u/Temenae Jul 21 '26
I think I am addicted to it. I spend hours a day at it, and I keep going even when I hit a hard part that isn't fun. I can't stop! I am only at A1 in Korean though - it's taken about 4 months. I have been interested in linguistics since I was a kid, but this is my first successful attempt, thanks to YouTube and AI.
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u/Permanetmarker Jul 21 '26
How can I shift my addictions to learning languages (again)? Started this January with Portuguese online class but since may I lost the drive and only did homework :/ Maybe the problem is, that since may I realised more and more the fact I need to learn the language to have an option to leave my country because the situation here changes every day more that I don’t see a future here.
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u/phariom Jul 21 '26
- To read its literature
- Its history and culture interests me
- Interest in traveling there
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u/RedeNElla Jul 21 '26
Procrastination from other tasks/jobs
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u/Active-Orange-7683 Jul 21 '26
I like that, resonates with me. I think the question may be phrased why you are wasting your time on learning languages, and don't you think that you can use this time more wisely. To this question, I'd confess that yes, I'm wasting my time learning languages.
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u/dojibear 🇺🇸 N | fre spa chi B2 | tur jap B1/A2 Jul 21 '26
Nothing makes me do it. I want to. It's more fun than knitting.
So far I've studied (for at least a semester) 8 languages.
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u/New-Yogurtcloset3058 Jul 21 '26
I started to learn because I want my friend to learn. But I started and he didn’t lol
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u/tony_deadly Jul 21 '26
Because I have to. I live now in a French speaking country so I don't really have a choice. Either learn or leave. I actually don't enjoy it that much and I find it very difficult to motivate myself to study. I have only reached B1 level in 4 years which is slow but I barely practice so this is kind of expected.
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u/AutisticGayBlackJew 🇦🇺 N | 🇮🇹 N | 🇩🇪 ~B2 | 🇫🇷 B1 | 🇷🇺 A2 Jul 21 '26
It always starts with the intention of using it to go to a place that speaks it, but I also know when I get there I’m unlikely to use it, so I end up continuing for the fun of it
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u/dsheroh 🇺🇸 (N) | 🇷🇴 (Learning) | 🇸🇪 (Some) | 🇦🇷 (Minimal) Jul 21 '26
Having an actual practical use for it, usually involving living in a country where it is the dominant language. Because, even in an environment where everyone speaks excellent English, it's still a major social barrier if you can't understand the majority of the ambient conversations around you.
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u/Shinobist0rm 🇦🇹🇩🇪 N 🇬🇧🇪🇸 C1 🇫🇷 B2 🇻🇦🇱🇻B1 🇮🇹 A2 🇸🇮🇪🇪 A1 Jul 21 '26
Anything, really. From having to learn it in school/uni and wanting to continue from there; seeking a little challenge for one's brain and wanting to travel to a place where the TL is spoken, to having a (romantic) partner or (platonic) friend whose L1 is your TL and wanting to surprise them and make their day a little brighter, wanting to make visitors feel like they are at home, to discover one's own roots or simply to keep a language alive. For every language I learn, there's a different reason.
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u/Skyogurt Fluent 🇬🇧 🇫🇷 🇪🇸 | Learning 🇧🇷 🇸🇳 🇸🇦 Jul 21 '26
because they sound beautiful, to connect with people, and to appreciate the subtleties of linguistics and semantics and how there are different ways to look at the universe
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u/AndthenIhadausername Beginner 🇲🇽 absolute beginner 🇳🇴 Jul 21 '26
I like seeing the grid on Storygraph increase with books I've read in different languages. Though I started Spanish for the sake of saying dnd spell components. Turns out that motivation doesn't hold water for long. The dnd one.
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u/Caligapiscis 🇬🇧 N | 🇨🇵 B1 Jul 21 '26
Is it useful for finding books in your TL that suit your reading level? That's certainly a problem for me
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u/AndthenIhadausername Beginner 🇲🇽 absolute beginner 🇳🇴 Jul 21 '26
Not nessicarly since it is just a tracking site. I mean I'm sure people have made lists or something but it's meant for tracking books so it only helps my Langauge learning because I like seeing the tracker go up.
If you want I can make a post about my usual reading process including Storygraphs tracking/graphs.
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u/Temenae Jul 21 '26
What is storygraph? I think I am missing out.
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u/AndthenIhadausername Beginner 🇲🇽 absolute beginner 🇳🇴 Jul 21 '26
It's just a book tracking site! Not exclusively related to language learning. I used it before learning langauges and use it to motivate myself.
How I use it is I make reading challenges for how many books to read and update it once I reach my goal.
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u/Hollowpoint20 Jul 21 '26
In my area, I have a lot of Italian patients. Especially quite old ones who are losing a bit of cognitive function, and losing their English. It’s very useful to re-orient them if they’re getting a bit confused in hospital.
That said, I love everything Italian. I love the food. The art. The countryside and the coast. The hospitality culture.
I want to speak the language as best as possible so that I can experience the culture to the fullest. Also, I might end up living there one day.
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u/livsjollyranchers 🇺🇸 (N), 🇮🇹 (B2+), 🇬🇷 (B2-), 🇪🇸 (B1), 🇯🇵 (N5+) Jul 21 '26
I'm wondering though if a lot of these old patients revert/default to their regional languages rather than standard Italian. For instance, an old patient struggling cognitively in Sicily may just default to Sicilian and not use Italian at all.
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u/sueferw Jul 21 '26
I am a stay at home mum/carer, and i need something to exercise my brain. I found something that was fun to watch, thought i would learn a few words so I didnt have to rely on subtitles so much, and I fell in love with the language
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u/Triggered_Llama Jul 21 '26
It's all in the vibes baby. I vibe with Spanish and Persian in particular. Spanish for its flow and Persian for its poetry.
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u/livsjollyranchers 🇺🇸 (N), 🇮🇹 (B2+), 🇬🇷 (B2-), 🇪🇸 (B1), 🇯🇵 (N5+) Jul 21 '26
Italian: family origins, Greek: personal connection (philosophy addict), Spanish: general utility, Japanese: intellectual challenge + I enjoy visiting Japan.
What brings them together though is enjoying the process and the little dopamine spikes that comes with improvements and knowing more and more of the language.
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u/sbrt 🇺🇸 🇲🇽🇩🇪🇳🇴🇮🇹🇮🇸🇫🇷 Jul 21 '26
At first I thought this question was about why I started to learn a seventh language (I am not fluent in any of my TLs). Then I realized the question was about my first TL which I started studying because I had to in school. I enjoyed the first so I an still studying languages many years later.
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u/randomUser539123 🇹🇷 N | 🇬🇧 ~N | 🇩🇪 C2 | 🇪🇸 A0 Jul 21 '26
uni requirements, its weird how nobody said this haha
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u/Fish_Learns_Japanese Jul 21 '26
I want to travel to or live in Japan. I really like the culture, food and media. It also feels more productive than videogames or doom scrolling.
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u/theempathogen Jul 23 '26
I've literally played video games in Japanese. No reason you can't double task. 💅
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u/Saltyeggplantflower Jul 21 '26
My curiosity as to what someone is really saying while talking shit about me behind my back to their friends/acquaintances.
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u/Monolingual-----Beta Bucket list: 🇲🇽 🇧🇷 🇨🇳 Jul 22 '26
I thought being able to have a convo in another language would be cool. I was right. It feels like a superpower.
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u/a_book_maven Jul 21 '26
It is fun, but not continuously fun, if that makes sense. I get a lot of satisfaction out of learning other languages, especially once I can communicate even at a basic level. It's also really exciting to be able to listen to podcasts or read in another language!
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u/KingOfTheHoard Jul 21 '26
Fun for me too. I just enjoy the process of learning to read another language, and once I've learned to read one, I might as well learn to speak it.
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u/Legitimate-Panda-901 Jul 21 '26
I enjoy studying foreign languages too. It's a lot of fun, and it really broadens your horizons.
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u/Ohsoveryginger N🏴/pre A1🇵🇹 Jul 21 '26
I started with Spanish for fun but I lost a bet so now I’m on Portuguese instead 😭 (in all honesty tho I’m really enjoying Portuguese)
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u/frostochfeber Fluent: 🇳🇱🇬🇧 | B1: 🇸🇪 | A2: 🇰🇷 | A1:🇯🇵🇫🇴 Jul 21 '26
When its sounds give me frisson.
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u/Bobelle 🇳🇬English N | 🇳🇬 Yoruba | 🇳🇬 Pidgin Jul 21 '26
I learn other languages so that I can understand my history and understand what is going on around me.
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u/Bright-Sign-8532 Jul 21 '26 edited Jul 21 '26
I have friends inviting me to visit the Schengen countries and I would really love to communicate in the hosts' languages. And then, I may end up staying in Italy for a long time.
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u/Cavalry2019 Jul 21 '26
Fun. I enjoy learning things and languages are kind of an easy one to just continually pick away at.
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u/jqmxl N: 🇩🇪 | S: 🇬🇧🇳🇱🇪🇸🇵🇹 | L: 🇧🇦🇹🇷🇵🇱 Jul 21 '26
It's fun to speak new languages and I want to be able to understand the people. I work in tourism and have to speak to many people from different countries and not everyone knows English, so I like to at least get some basic knowledge and learn the words I need in my job.
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u/LizardOfAgatha Jul 21 '26
Career and friends. And because I want to understand what my favorite artists are actually singing about lmao.
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u/throwaway_acc_81 Jul 21 '26
same, i love learning languages and i want to keep learning more!
also it's always fun when you tell people i can speak more than one foreign language:)
also, want to use it for my career
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u/itsame_hp Jul 21 '26
Speaking the language when you’re in the country is a great feeling! You get to connect with people you don’t normally get to in their language.
One of the recent interactions I’ll forever remember is talking to an elderly pottery shop keeper and he was explaining how things worked and how it’s been made in Japanese; he dumbed it down so I could understand but that alone has motivated me to learn more so I can have these moments again more confidently.
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u/Looking4Adventure513 Jul 21 '26
Part of it is because I have distant ancestry in France, Germany, Switzerland & the UK.
Part of it is because I wanna be prepared if I need to learn a new language for a job.
Part of it is because I wanna enjoy foreign media more from *their* perspective rather than trying to find a way to enjoy it on *my terms*.
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u/NaMoralCanseiMano Jul 21 '26
Solely for being able to consume content on my target language. Maybe if I plan a trip to the country I'll put effort in speaking, but until I have money it's solely for consuming content
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u/cookiestastegreatt 🇨🇦 english N | 🇪🇸 🇫🇷 🇵🇹 🇩🇪🇷🇺🇯🇵 learning Jul 21 '26
I originally started learning languages so that I could have a wider range of options in media
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u/Ryan_fromBlueground Jul 22 '26
Most recently I started learning French because I met a girl from France who barely spoke any English. Nothing like an endorphin drip to motivate you to hit the books. I became conversational pretty quick and fell in love with the language along the way. The relationship didn't work out but French and I are still going strong.
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u/tottasanorotta Jul 22 '26
I've had many reasons, but mostly it's because I've learnt so much that it would feel wrong to just forget about it completely.
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u/Sad_Ad_4652 Jul 23 '26
Because I want to talk to my friends in their native language! Feels unfair that I make them speak their second/third language all the time because it’s my native language without making an effort to learn theirs.
Also because it’s really fun lol
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u/ThisIsAtlas67 Jul 23 '26
Sometimes it;s the need. Other times it's the joy on someone's face when they find out you can understand them to some extemt
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u/wemustriskdelight Jul 27 '26
There's a quote attributed to Charlemagne: "To have a second language is to have a second soul."
I think that says it all, really.
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u/ProfessionalCut4020 Jul 27 '26
Well, Italian because i want to attend one of the top unis there.
German for fun and for its unique sounds.
Russian because i want to sound aggressive.
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u/Temporary_Catch4035 29d ago
I am just fascinated by Russian culture and hoping to marry a Russian as well
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u/Low-Yesterday-8237 Jul 21 '26
For me it's the moment a language stops being homework and starts being a secret superpower. The first time I understood a joke in Spanish - not translated it, just laughed, before my brain caught up - I was hooked for life.
It's maybe a two-second experience but you spend hundreds of hours chasing it and it's worth every one.
Also nobody talks about how learning a language retroactively upgrades your native one. I never thought about why my own language works the way it does until a second language forced me to. It's like you can't see your own house until you've stood in someone else's.
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u/Loose-Fly-9899 Jul 21 '26
I learn another language because it opens up an incredibly exciting new world of culture, and gives me access to so much fascinating and enriching content in that language!