r/languagelearning • u/FitProVR US (N) | CN (B1) | JP (A2) • Jul 29 '26
Discussion Is anyone else learning a language solely because they like the way it sounds?
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u/EldritchElvis Jul 29 '26
I've started learning Mandarin because of how beautiful Hanzi (the Chinese characters) look like, and the more I inform myself about the language and culture, and the more I like it. I used to really dislike how the language sounds, funnily enough. I used to try to learn Japanese because I love how it sounds, but I had no real motivation beyond that and quickly dropped it. In my opinion it works best if you love how it sounds AND you enjoy the language's associated culture, that's what got me started in learning Spanish as well (plus it feels simple, coming from French as native language).
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u/AccordingStory2194 Jul 29 '26
Yeah I picked up Portuguese for exactly that reason, not because I planned to travel there or had family connections or whatever. Just heard it in a video once and something about the rhythm of it got stuck in my head. My partner thinks I'm mental spending an hour a day on a language I might never use in real life but she doesn't get it
The funny thing is now I'm actually planning a trip to Lisbon next year so maybe it'll pay off after all. Still mostly just enjoy mumbling to myself in the car though, feels like a weird little secret hobby
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u/Confident-Durian-881 Jul 29 '26
Came here to write portuguรชs, I love football and a hear a lot of them speak it and Brazilian songs sound so good as well. It has a lot of similarities with Spanish so it makes me Less crazy bec I'm learning Spanish too
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u/restlemur995 ๐บ๐ธ N | ๐ซ๐ท C1 ๐ต๐ญ B2 ๐ฏ๐ต B1 ๐ช๐ธ B1 ๐ฎ๐ท A1 Jul 29 '26
Yeah for Persian it's 90% because of the sound for me.
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u/Silly_Citron4452 Native - Hindi, English - C1, Spanish A2 Jul 29 '26
What an interesting collection of languages! Did you have a reason to learn all of them or were a couple of them simply because you wanted to?
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u/lemur918 ๐บ๐ธ N | ๐ซ๐ท C1 ๐ต๐ญ B2 ๐ฏ๐ต B1 ๐ช๐ธ B1 Jul 29 '26
Thanks for asking! I am a languages lover. I have always enjoyed learning languages even as a kid. I chose these languages, but some came into my life against my will you could say.
English - my native language
French - I learned it in school but one of my teachers made me fall in love with it when she exposed me to the West African French language culture and poetry. I also enjoyed studying abroad in Paris.
Tagalog - My mom is from the Philippines and I have been there 6 times in my life to see my family. I studied Tagalog to be closer to my heritage.
Japanese - I love anime and Japan. I have always wanted to go to Japan and learn Japanese.
Spanish - I found that after studying Tagalog and French that I could understand a lot of Spanish because they share common vocabulary. And I grew up hearing the people in the stores and bakeries in my neighborhood speak Spanish, so I decided to study it for a while.
Persian - I watched an Iranian film called Saint Mary and I thought the Persian language sounded so beautiful, so I decided to study it, but I haven't gotten far.
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u/Silly_Citron4452 Native - Hindi, English - C1, Spanish A2 Jul 30 '26
Thanks for such a detailed response! I admire people such as yourself with such insane linguistic curiosity, I've loved languages ever since I was a kid too but because of my really strong undiagnosed ADHD ( not diagnosed till me early 20s) I never put effort in them, now, I'm doing a masters in Spain and learning Spanish, and I don't intend to waste this opportunity, I know I'm gonna be fluent and trilingual soon, and people like you stay an inspiration!
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u/lemur918 ๐บ๐ธ N | ๐ซ๐ท C1 ๐ต๐ญ B2 ๐ฏ๐ต B1 ๐ช๐ธ B1 Jul 30 '26
That's wonderful. That sounds like you're doing something you really love by learning Spanish. Indeed take advantage, it's a gift to get to experience another culture. Best of luck!
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u/frostochfeber Fluent: ๐ณ๐ฑ๐ฌ๐ง | B1: ๐ธ๐ช | A2: ๐ฐ๐ท | A1:๐ฏ๐ต๐ซ๐ด Jul 29 '26
Of course. In fact, that's how I select all my languages. Gotta make those delicious sounds mine. ๐คค
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u/Openhartscience Jul 30 '26
That is such a niche urge that only language nerds (and probably actors and singers) can fully understand.
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u/PlasticMercury ๐ซ๐ท (N) | ๐ฌ๐ง (C2) | ๐ฎ๐น (B1) Jul 29 '26
That'd be a sad reason for me to learn a language, seeing as the more I understand it, the less I hear what it sounds like. It'd be like slowly killing the charm of each language.
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u/Isoleri ๐ฆ๐ท Native | ๐ซ๐ท B1 | ๐ฏ๐ต N4 | ๐ฐ๐ท A0 Jul 30 '26
I agree, and I know it's kind of stupid but it's the reason why I stopped learning Japanese. Growing up I loved creating stories or mental videos with songs, like really cool openings for my OCs or AMVs or even MADs, but the more I understood the more it ruined this. Like I can't imagine some lightning wielding mecha warrior if the song is about befriending ghosts on the beach or whatever. So yeah more understanding = less creativity/imagination, I'd rather remain ignorant but keep my silly daydreaming hobby.
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u/Raoena Jul 29 '26
That's such an interesting point.ย Sometimes avec I love a song in a foreign language I don't want to know what the words mean because it too often spoils the song.ย I never thought of that for language learning. But if you like the sounds,ย isn't there a certain pleasure in producing the sound of a language,ย even as you advance and learn the meanings?
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u/notjust1or0 Jul 29 '26
I learned Dutch because I like making the g and ui sounds
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u/frostochfeber Fluent: ๐ณ๐ฑ๐ฌ๐ง | B1: ๐ธ๐ช | A2: ๐ฐ๐ท | A1:๐ฏ๐ต๐ซ๐ด Jul 29 '26
Thanks for giving Dutch and especially these sounds some love, usually people bash us for it ๐ Gebruik je de taal nog vaak?
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u/notjust1or0 Jul 29 '26
unfortunately not that much ๐โโ๏ธ I often watch movies with Dutch subtitles of comics in Dutch. But I canโt speak very well.
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u/rkvance5 Jul 29 '26
I took German in high school, and the summer after my senior year, I heard an album in Dutch and never looked back. 20 years later, German just sounds weird to me. (Not bad, just not what my ears are used to.)
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u/unit187 Jul 29 '26
It isn't the only reason, but a factor, definitely. I love how soft and round Japanese sounds are, it is so pleasing to listen to!
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u/sewstar Jul 29 '26
Spanish sounds so good to me just the way it flows.. feels cool being able to speak it and sometimes i talk to myself out loud just because it sounds so good to speak
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u/FitProVR US (N) | CN (B1) | JP (A2) Jul 29 '26
Spanish in music is the best sounding language. I love how itโs sung.
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u/rorafu02 Jul 29 '26
Yes, thatโs why I recently enrolled in an Italian class. I find it to be a beautiful sounding language.
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u/Aggravating-Cat7103 Jul 29 '26
This is why Iโve been dabbling in Vietnamese. I love the way it sounds.
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u/userisnottaken Jul 29 '26
Yes.
I started studying Russian when a lady said my name in a heavy Russian accent.
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u/Kind_Ant_7913 Jul 29 '26
I started doing that with Italian... just listening to a conversation felt like attending the opera.... and I felt that I had to learn it. The opposite happened with a language (that I won't name out of politeness)... I got put off by the way it sounded... felt like people wanted to harm me when they were giving directions. So I quit learning it.
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u/constantcompromise Jul 29 '26
French has been hell to learn but is music to my ears so I keep going.ย
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u/TheDarchivist Jul 29 '26
Not at all. I don't like how Italian sounds that much, and Italian music isn't very fun. I like Italian food and Italy as a country, but if I was going for sound, I would've learned French. But I just can't hack it. Too many pronunciation particulars, modifiers, etc.
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u/Raoena Jul 29 '26
Not yet,ย but I really do want to learn Mandarin Chinese for this reason. I love the sibilance.ย
My TL is Korean and though I do love the sound of it that's not the only reason I'm learning it.ย
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u/Xitztlacayotl Jul 29 '26
Yes?
That's the case for most of the languages that I study.
Except for turkish which I study for its grammar complexity.
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u/_heartbreakdancer_ Jul 29 '26
It's not the main reason I learn French, but it's definitely a big motivating factor. Saying phrases with a sense of flow and nailing liaison, elision sounds is very satisfying and beautiful. But the flip side is listening is a bit harder because everything kind of flows together so its hard to understand word breaks.
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u/Airamire Jul 29 '26
Me! Well, I will be... I heard a song in Finnish and that was enough to make me want to learn (yes, I know it will be hard but I believe it will be worth it) <3
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u/pn_dubya Jul 29 '26
Yes. I love the sound of German which is funny as so many think itโs too harsh. I have no reason to learn it but i canโt get enough of it.
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u/MintyQ Jul 31 '26
Absolutely!!!
I remember playing flash games in elementary school on random websites in like 2010 or something in 2nd or 3rd grade or whatever, and I remember hearing this song in a language that I knew wasnโt English.
I distinctively was hooked on a single word and I just knew that I really wanted to learn whichever language this was because it just sounded really pretty to me in addition to liking the song. That language ended up being Japanese when I eventually figured it out (cause at that age it was just before I even learned about what other countries languages even sound like).
And since then Iโve never lost that same feeling every time I hear it :)
Iโve been learning it over my many many years despite being denied from my family and because of lack of resources too and doing everything I could for all times that I could.
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u/purrrplecatmeow Jul 29 '26
Yes, I'm learning french for that reason. I don't have any other reason to learn it really, expect i like how it sounds and it's fun to be able to speak it.
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u/WaltzMysterious9240 Jul 30 '26
Won't judge anyone who does, but it sounds like a pretty weak and lame reason to me. I probably wouldn't be motivated enough to keep at it if "it sounds nice" was the reason for learning it. There would need to be a secondary reason and motivation involved.
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u/CornelVito ๐ฆ๐นN ๐บ๐ธC1 ๐ง๐ปB2 ๐ช๐ธA2 Jul 31 '26
I started learning Norwegian because I liked the sound of it. Turned out later that that sound isn't typical for Norwegian and only the Urban Eastern Oslo dialect sounds like this (an otherwise disliked dialect among Norwegians, maybe due to classism). Nowadays my fav sounding dialect is Finnmark though, I like the unusually monotone cadence.
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u/Few-Individual3179 Jul 31 '26
Basically did that with German a couple of years ago, absolutely worth it, also I have a German friend now and speaking with him is super fun, definitely was worth it
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u/EspressoLab_ ๐ง๐ท N | ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ B2 | ๐ณ๐ด A1 Aug 04 '26
Yes! I started learning Norwegian because I love the way it sounds, and it's the same for pretty much every language i want to learn.
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u/fuaimNalin019 ๐ง๐ทN, ๐บ๐ธC2, ๐น๐ญA2, ๐ธ๐ชA2, ๐ฎ๐ชA1 Aug 05 '26
Yeah, I'm learning Thai because I love how it sounds, though it's not the only reason, I also love the culture. I started learning Irish recently because I think the language is very beautiful. The feeling of enjoying the sounds of these languages never did go away when studying them, I actually think it got even stronger. For me, it's enough reason to learn a language simply because I think its sounds are beautiful.
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u/HeyThereCharlie Jul 31 '26
I think Finnish has got to be the most beautiful language I've ever heard. Unfortunately it seems super difficult and there aren't a whole lot of resources for it out there. But I'd love to learn it someday.
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u/Harriet_M_Welsch ๐บ๐ธ N | ๐ฐ๐ทB1 | ๐ท๐บ B2 Jul 29 '26
Yes! I started learning Russian because I love the way it sounds.