| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Poll: Have you ever been forced/obligated to learn or speak a language you didn’t want to? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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Mario Chavez (X) 
Local time: 07:18
English to Spanish
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Mario Freitas wrote:
Forced/obligated? This gives a bad impression. Perhaps we're talking about being forced to lear Latin or Greek in school? That doesn't exist anymore, since the early 1900's, I think.
And as Muriel said, not wanting to learn a language does not apply to translators.
I would have said required to learn or speak a language.
That said, there have been situations in which students were forced to learn the dominant language and were forbidden from speaking their native tongue. A colleague in Argentina told me about his Guaraní-speaking grandmother being in that sad situation.
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I did Latin at school to the highest level and got the highest grade and I have spent all my life learning or working with languages, and Latin has helped me not one bit.
So many people claim it has helped them but I just don't get it. My knowledge of Latin at 18 was nothing next to my knowledge of French and German despite identical grades; without a dictionary I was lost. And I still am. And you can't even speak it.
| | | | Rui Domingues
Portugal
Local time: 12:18
Member
French to Portuguese
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| To some extent... | Dec 29, 2015 |
yes! We have all been "forced" to learn at least one language... our native language.
Happy 2016
| | | | Mario Chavez (X)
Local time: 07:18
English to Spanish
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| Yes, you can | Dec 29, 2015 |
Chris S wrote:
I did Latin at school to the highest level and got the highest grade and I have spent all my life learning or working with languages, and Latin has helped me not one bit.
So many people claim it has helped them but I just don't get it. My knowledge of Latin at 18 was nothing next to my knowledge of French and German despite identical grades; without a dictionary I was lost. And I still am. And you can't even speak it.
I believe that learning a language successfully depends a great deal on the teacher. I guess I was turned off a bit to math because my teacher was too nerdy.
Seriously, I think you can speak Latin easily. For example, the word quinta (similar to farm or quinta in Spanish) is pronounced QWEEN-ta.
See? Now you try it!
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Mario Chavez (X)
Local time: 07:18
English to Spanish
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| Forceful learning | Dec 29, 2015 |
Rui Domingues wrote: yes! We have all been "forced" to learn at least one language... our native language. Happy 2016
Hahahah, you got a point, like Eat your lentil soup already or you won't get to see cartoons!
| | | | Ines Burrell
United Kingdom
Local time: 12:18
Member (2004)
English to Latvian
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| Political answer | Dec 30, 2015 |
Unfortunately, all former Soviet influence areas were forced to learn a certain other language en masse. One day you were writing out prescriptions in your own language, the next you were supposed to do it in a completely different, non-Latin alphabet, even though you had never learned it before. My dentist here in the UK who is a Pole and I were swapping stories on the subject quite recently.
The 'unfortunately' part refers to the force, not the language though.
| | | | Vanda Nissen
Australia
Local time: 21:18
Member (2008)
English to Russian
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| Classical languages: Latin and Greek | Dec 30, 2015 |
As other colleagues, I was forced to learn Latin and Greek at the University. I must admit, when it comes to the language, a lot depends on the teacher. We had three Latin professors during 2 years and luckily the third one was really competent so I remember some basic Latin and I find it helpful especially while translating legal texts.
My Ancient Greek professor on the other hand was a brilliant linguist but a horrible teacher. She was extremely boring, and as a result I cannot re... See more As other colleagues, I was forced to learn Latin and Greek at the University. I must admit, when it comes to the language, a lot depends on the teacher. We had three Latin professors during 2 years and luckily the third one was really competent so I remember some basic Latin and I find it helpful especially while translating legal texts.
My Ancient Greek professor on the other hand was a brilliant linguist but a horrible teacher. She was extremely boring, and as a result I cannot remember a thing:(. Totally wasted time.
I had a totally different experience with the Old Churhc Slavonic language though, it was really enjoyable, the only thing I have regrets about is that I have not pulled myself together and have not learned any of the South Slavic languages (they are the closest ones to Old Church Slavonic.) ▲ Collapse
| | | | 564354352 (X)
Denmark
Local time: 13:18
Danish to English
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| Well, sort of | Dec 30, 2015 |
But I didn't think of it like that at the time.
I started learning English in year 5 (when aged 10) and enjoyed that immensely.
Then the Danish curriculum called for German lessons from year 7 through year 9, and I disliked that intensely, and never did particularly well at that. Even had to continue German into the first year of upper secondary school, but after that I ditched it with glee!
By contrast, I actually opted to do Latin in year 9, and it was ma... See more But I didn't think of it like that at the time.
I started learning English in year 5 (when aged 10) and enjoyed that immensely.
Then the Danish curriculum called for German lessons from year 7 through year 9, and I disliked that intensely, and never did particularly well at that. Even had to continue German into the first year of upper secondary school, but after that I ditched it with glee!
By contrast, I actually opted to do Latin in year 9, and it was mandatory in year 1 of the upper secondary school. I found it intriguing. So intriguing that I wanted to focus on classical studies (Latin, Greek and Ancient History) at upper secondary school, but alas, only a handful of other students at my school had the same inclination, so that particular line of study was not an option at the time.
Spanish is the only language (apart from English) that I have deliberately chosen to study at any serious level. To me, it was a great help to have some basic knowledge of Latin at the time, and I think that same basic knowledge still comes in handy to this day. ▲ Collapse
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Mario Freitas
Brazil
Local time: 08:18
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
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Mario Chavez wrote:
That said, there have been situations in which students were forced to learn the dominant language and were forbidden from speaking their native tongue. A colleague in Argentina told me about his Guaraní-speaking grandmother being in that sad situation.
True, Mario. I fogrot about situations such as this, which also happen in Brazil. That would indeed be "forcing". Even my mother had to learn French instead of Arabic at her shools in Lebanon, when the country was a colony of France. In here case, however, she thanked God every day.
[Edited at 2015-12-31 03:11 GMT]
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