JapanForum.com - French - my biggest regret

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Sitron (Post 807056)

For the past 18 months I've been learning French. I regret it. It's such a useless language.

...it sounds merely strange for any educated person.....:confused:

Why exactly did you decide to learn French if you weren't interested in it?
I mean the usefulness of a language is extremely relative.
When I was in high school, everyone learned Spanish because "it's more useful", while I studied German because I liked it. As a result, none of my friends can ask for directions in Madrid, while I can still read the Süddeutsche Zeitung.

Sadly, I have no use whatsoever of German in my professional life in Japan (Japanese and French), but I'm glad I can speak English or German.

Quote:

Originally Posted by noodle (Post 807086)

You still didn't answer why Japanese would be more useful? By your logic, all three of your languages are more spoken in Europe than Japanese, so why Japanese?

My logic is that France is just like any other European country, hence the no need to learn it. Japan can offer me something different.

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As for all your knowledge of France, have you actually lived in France before? Do you have any idea why year after year, it's either first or second when it comes to Quality of Life?

It depends on which lists you read. According to the UN and the Economist, it mostly is a Scandinavian country that tops the list, usually Norway.

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And, Germany's economy is bigger, but it definitely isn't "far bigger". But that's besides the point; a bigger economy, doesn't necessarily mean more job opportunities!

Austria and Germany combined have an economy that's 46% bigger than France's, and if you also take Switzerland which is mostly a German speaking country, you get a German speaking economy in Europe that's 60% bigger than France's.

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For your last sentence, I have no idea where you get your facts from, but these are the ones I've seen with a quick search on google.

In 1999, French was the 11th most common first language in the world, with 77 million first language speakers and another 51 million second language speakers,

Today; spoken as a first language by about 136 million people worldwide. Around 190 million people speak French as a second language, and an additional 200 million speak it as an acquired foreign language.

I see an INCREASE, not a decrease!

What about the world population has it GROWN at the same time? Of course there will be more French speakers in absolute numbers when the African populations are growing! But when you consider the decline of French as a secondary/third language all over the world, several African countries dropping French from the curriculum, and French only being used in 11% of all EU documents now, as opposed to 40% in the 60s EVEN YOU should get a hang of it.

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Perhaps, you're not getting along with the language so you're trying to find an excuse to drop it!

I didn't even have to look for an excuse. France and French has nothing to offer me.

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I speak dialects of Berber, Arabic, English and French. Berber and Arabic are TOTALLY useless for me,

Sure Arabic is useless for someone living in one of the 22 ARAB countries in the world. And I'm pretty sure Berber is pretty useless for someone coming from Maghreb....

So you "wasted" time learning French, now you're wasting more time bawwwing about it on an internet forum? Does not make sense.
If you are done with the language get over it and move on.

Quote:

Whats cool about France? It's just like any other big European country. Just like any other place you'll find that Lady Gaga, Beyonce and any other American artist top the charts over there, that they also love to watch Lost, Heroes, House, etc. There's nothing special about France anymore.

OK children say it with me,

JAPAN CREATED KINGDOM HEARTS BECAUSE THEY LOVE DISNEY WHICH CAME FROM AMERICA!

P.S.: And you were apparently LOOKING for weeaboos?

Oh, come on. I've learn useless "dead" languages like Latin and Sanskrit. Yet I don't complain about that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by komitsuki (Post 807126)

Oh, come on. I've learn useless "dead" languages like Latin and Sanskrit. Yet I don't complain about that.

It's still used in satanic rituals.

And they are growing. They are growing.

to the OP:

And you just realized 18 months after?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sitron (Post 807110)

It depends on which lists you read. According to the UN and the Economist, it mostly is a Scandinavian country that tops the list, usually Norway.

Austria and Germany combined have an economy that's 46% bigger than France's, and if you also take Switzerland which is mostly a German speaking country, you get a German speaking economy in Europe that's 60% bigger than France's.

What about the world population has it GROWN at the same time? Of course there will be more French speakers in absolute numbers when the African populations are growing! But when you consider the decline of French as a secondary/third language all over the world, several African countries dropping French from the curriculum, and French only being used in 11% of all EU documents now, as opposed to 40% in the 60s EVEN YOU should get a hang of it.

I didn't even have to look for an excuse. France and French has nothing to offer me.

Sure Arabic is useless for someone living in one of the 22 ARAB countries in the world. And I'm pretty sure Berber is pretty useless for someone coming from Maghreb....

You're still not answering a single question I've asked!

Why Japanse over French for general usefulness?

You said Germany's Economy. Not countries where German is spoken! In which case, it is NOT far bigger than France's! But my point is still the same on that. Big Economy doesn't = better job opportunities!

Dude, French is the second most taught language in the world after English. With regards to your last remark, 1st, I said spoke about Arabic with respect to me. I have no foreseeable future in any Arab country, 2nd I sense a bit of sarcasm, but WOW 22 Arab countries? French is spoken in 33 or 35 countries. French and English are the ONLY two languages spoken on ALL continents, so I don't know where you get your facts from, but French is GROWING and not because of an increase of population in Africa!

Surveys for international jobs showed that 47 required or preferred French, 29 Spanish, 10 Russian and 3 German.

So, like I said, if it's not for you, then just say that. Stop trying to justify to yourself or to us that French is a useless language because 1, you're wrong, and 2, it just makes you look stupid for taking 18 months to realise it!

Quote:

Originally Posted by noodle (Post 807165)

I've said it a million times already, Japanese is more fun to learn, because it, unlike France, has a distinct culture. Japan can offer me something different from the European lifestyle, France can't. There's no French culture anymore, and it's pretty much useless as a business language.

Arabic is the MAIN language in 22 countries, French is the main language in 3-4 countries AT MOST. Even in the countries where it is an official language, like Switzerland, it's dying. It's not even the main language in Belgium. Its star is falling in Africa, because English is the business language of the world. It's dying in Spain. It's dying in England. Even in the African countries where it's supposedly big, only a minority of the people speak it. In Senegal 15-20% speak French, and that rate is falling.

French is declining as a language. Even the French are worried about the decline. And you'd seen it if you hadn't been such a Harki. here's a few links for you to read:

The Worldwide Decline of French

Speaking of Languages: The Decline of French | The Brussels Journal

The Hindu : Opinion / News Analysis : Another inevitable decline for French language

BBC NEWS | Europe | French unions wage war on words

French decline bad news for Quebec, group says

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sitron (Post 807170)

Ok, first of all, calling me a Harki is EXTREMELY offensive, so fuck you! My grandad died in the war and if you had a clue, the Algerian war of independense is still very fresh for many of us!

Seconldly, you haven't said a million times that Japanese is more fun etc!

Thirdly, I said FOR ME, Arabic is not a language I need! So, I don't care if it's spoken in 80 countries, if it's not a main language in a country I wish to settle down in, I don't need it!

Finally, have you read any of those articles? Most of them outline the decline of French compared to English... Here's a wake up call! Practically ALL languages are declining in demand compared to English! It's the WORLD language now! So, even your precious German and Japanese is declining compared to English!