Learning Languages - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Learning a new language effectively can be challenging. We have created a detailed list of suggestions to help you do it efficiently with better retention. Continue Reading - How To Learn a New Language!

Learning multiple languages enriches your personal, professional, and intellectual growth. It broadens your horizons, enhances communication skills... Continue Reading - What are the benefits of learning many languages?

While most people focus on the obvious benefits of learning a new language such as improved communication skills and exposure to new cultures, there are many unexpected benefits such as improved health, reduced stress levels, and increased confidence. Read more about these in this article:Continue Reading - What are the benefits of learning many languages?

From asking for directions to checking what’s in the food (especially for diet-sensitive people) there are many applications of descriptive skills in a foreign language which could even be life-saving (Are you allergic to nuts?). Read this article to learn more: Continue Reading - 14 Real-Life Applications of the Skill to Describe in a Foreign Language

Yes, it is possible to learn a new language effectively for free. We have created a detailed list of suggestions to help you learn a language efficiently with better retention. All you need to do is pick the resources that are available for free such as apps - my favorite is Duolingo. Read - How To Learn a New Language!

Being a psychologist who has also dabbled in some middle-eastern languages, I find the question both unusual and interesting. That said, considering most of modern psychology is based on work done in English and other European languages - it may actually be much more beneficial to learn languages like German.

However, if you wish to practice in a Persian speaking country it may be useful for you to know Persian to establish rapport with clients more easily. It may also benefit other interactive and interpretive components of your practice.

It varies from person to person based on various factors. Usually, the language that is closest to the languages that you already know are the easiest to learn. Closest in terms of shared vocabulary, phonetics and grammatical principles. The opposite is true for the hardest.

For example: if your mother tongue is Hindi learning to speak Urdu, Punjabi, or 'Haryanvi' may be the easiest for you. Chinese and Japanese, on the other hand, may be very difficult for you.

Yes and No. It depends.

Yes - if you like the idea of being able to understand a completely alien set of people and to know about their culture and history. Or maybe, even if you would like to decipher the unique sounds and symbols of the language for its own sake.

No - if you find the idea of learning a new language uninteresting or even painful, and someone has thrust the task upon you.

If you want to do it for fun - why don't you go for a language that is very different from the languages you already know and, therefore, more challenging - like Chinese or Japanese?

Sanskrit - if you ask a certain section of the human population, Swahili - if you ask another. The 'most important' language to learn would depend on an individual's context and motivation to learn. That is the first thing you need to figure before learning a new language as highlighted here.

I have never used Toffel. I have used Duolingo a lot, and am pretty satisfied with it.

Yes - if the title meets the following conditions:

• It should be in the same language as the rest of the song.
• The words used should be unique to the language. They should not occur in multiple languages with similar or different meanings.

Yes and No.

Yes - exposure to a language is key to learning it, and children can start picking up a language fast with exposure. Depending on their linguistic intelligence, some children may even be able to learn it to a significant extent. Degree of exposure also plays a key role in how much the children learn.

No - for best results, exposure must be combined with structured learning and practice. Please don't expect a child to become fluent in a language merely with exposure, though it is possible.

Deutsch is the German name for German, whereas German is the English name.

When I started learning my first international language - Spanish, I went through something similar. I used to call it Español - still do.

The phenomenon is known as "language automaticity." It's quite common for language learners to unconsciously adopt certain aspects of the target language, including vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, and even cultural expressions. This may be an indicator that you are becoming more immersed in the language and gaining proficiency.

Explained with example of when below:

• Letters starting with K are interrogative - asking a question, at what time?
• Letters starting with J on the other hand are explanatory, the time at which something happens or happened.

Similar for other words.

This seems to be a misconception. Americans can learn foreign history and languages just like people from other parts of the world.

That they don't do it may be because they usually don't need to do it. Or it may be incidental, because the rest of the world watches movies made in America exposing them to its history and language. The reverse is a rare phenomenon.

Yes. It is difficult, but if you're willing to put in the time and effort it is possible.

Yes. Though, you would need to dedicate a serious amount of time to the task. Also, your aspirations related to the level of proficiency and fluency should be reasonable. Unless you are a linguistic genius you won't be able to become as good a native speaker in three months.

Whether the language will come back to you or you would have to relearn afresh would depend on many factors including how far you had reached in the language learning journey.

To relearn - it is best to follow the exact same method that you used earlier, starting from square 1. The difference is you will be much faster in the parts that you already know.

To complement this - I would suggest using an app like Duolingo which you can use for both learning and practice.

Usually, you will find polyglots are people with high levels of ‘grit’ which determines the ability to persevere. They are able to put in the effort that it takes to learn new languages.

In addition, they may also have high levels of curiosity and openness to experience which determine the willingness of a person to tread into new ambiguous unknown areas - that new languages usually are.

Faster - no. The misconception probably comes from the fact that children are dedicatedly learning languages in the earlier years while being immersed in them. Also, most people don’t include the period from birth to formal learning when the children probably already started learning the language.

Better - yes. The longevity of what is learnt at an early age is much greater considering the brain is developing, there is high neuroplasticity and the encoding of the learnt content is much better.

Just once? No.

It could be either of the two - or both.

In my case it is both. I have learnt many languages for enjoyment of learning. I have also learnt languages when I was to visit a place for 'practical reasons.'

Love languages are languages, that for some reason or other, are associated with love and its expression. In the western world Spanish and French are considered to be love languages, and in the Eastern World Urdu is considered to be a love language.

Translation = converting from one language to another - English to Hindi

Transliteration = converting from one script to another - Roman to Devanagri

Transcription = converting from verbal to written - when you write something that is/was spoken.

The ease of expressing thoughts can vary from person to person and depends on various factors, including their native language, proficiency in other languages, personal preferences, and the specific topic being discussed. However, it's important to note that different languages have unique features and structures that may make certain concepts or expressions easier or more difficult to convey.

Some individuals may find it easier to express their thoughts in their native language because they have a deep understanding of its vocabulary, grammar, and cultural nuances. They may have grown up using that language and have a natural familiarity and fluency with it.

However, for specific topics or communication styles, some people might find it easier to express themselves in a different language. For example, some individuals may find it easier to express complex scientific concepts in English due to its extensive scientific terminology, while others may prefer expressing emotions in their native language because of the cultural depth and emotional nuances embedded within it.

Credit: ChatGPT

Good quality translation of literature into another language requires passion, effort and skill. It also needs an audience which demands the translation.

The absence of one or more of the above factors has led to the situation that worries you.

To change it - first you need to identify people who would be interested in reading the work, then identify a publisher who would be willing to publish it. Then try to find a person who has the linguistic and literary skill to serve as a translator. If all goes well, in a few years time you will have the translation of one of the works in place.

It's difficult to determine which language is the "sweetest" in the world as the perception of sweetness in language can be subjective and vary from person to person. Language is a complex system that encompasses a wide range of sounds, tones, rhythms, and cultural connotations.

People often associate sweetness with melodious or pleasant-sounding languages. However, what sounds sweet to one person may not have the same effect on another. Additionally, cultural familiarity and personal preferences can influence perceptions of sweetness in language.

That being said, some languages are often noted for their melodic qualities, such as Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Hawaiian. These languages are known for their rhythm, intonation, and musicality. Many people find them pleasing to the ear due to their smooth flow and expressive nature.

Credit: ChatGPT

It would depend on the context. In general, I'd prefer the latter as it would enable me to interact with people from more varied cultures and understand them better.

Yes, there is a constructed language based on Chinese characters called "Zhongwen Bu Mafan" or "Zhongwen" for short. It is an artificial language created by Ross Perlin and is designed to be a simplified version of Mandarin Chinese, using Chinese characters as its writing system.

Unfortunately, the attempts to do so may not end anywhere in the near future. However, in the end, in a few hundred years, you may expect the entire world to speak a single common language made of words of different languages from around the world.

It depends.

These are informal words of affection. It would depend upon the nature of your relationship with your family members, the cultural and societal context you live in, and other factors.

I would suggest you discuss with elders in your family. They would be in the best position to advise you whether you should or should not use these terms.

All languages are not variations of one another. There are distinct families of languages which are very different from each other - English from Arabic, Arabic from Japanese, Japanese from Hawaiian. Find a language that is very different from the ones you know - let that be your first challenge in language learning.

In all likelihood, the languages in the universe will merge into a single universal language, however, it will not happen suddenly - it takes time to happen and will be a gradual process.

However, assuming it were to happen suddenly - I don’t see any significant change to the way the world works. The cultural and literary transformation and transfer of knowledge that accompanies the breakdown of linguistic barriers will still take its own sweet time to happen.

Chinese, Japanese and Spanish are considered to be amongst the world's most efficient spoken languages. Read more - Which are the world’s most efficient languages?

Most members of the international business community usually speak their mother tongue and English, apart from this they may also speak languages of the countries they do business with, to different degrees.

Definitely. For example: there are a lot of people in the world who are non-native speakers of English - yet they consume English literature.

For native speakers and speakers of sister languages, or speakers of a language belonging to the same family of languages, a given language is easier than for non-native speakers. So it depends on which category you belong to.

If people have to use sign languages to communicate - their hands will be busy - multi-tasking will become difficult. Leading to high inefficiency. People will probably talk a lot less.

Additionally, there will be several other disruptions - for example: the entire web will undergo a radical change - with significantly higher use of video based sites. This will put tremendous load on the global telecom infrastructure.

Yes, a lot.

This situation may be a bit difficult for some. But, remember, what you need to do is to simply help the other person improve from their current level to a more advanced level. You do not need to make the other person fully proficient immediately.

There is no standard answer to this question. It would depend on many factors such as why you are learning the language, what is your personal preference, do you have any immediate use such as asking for directions and food if you're visiting a place.

This may happen due to two reasons:

1. If you learn a language, then it becomes easier for you to learn languages belonging to the same language group - especially, ones that use the same script.
2. You develop your own method of learning - figure out what works for you and what does not. This makes the process more efficient and less of a struggle in the future.

Generally, no. However, sometimes there are culture specific concepts/things which can be conveyed 100% accurately only in the native language - no word in other languages are able to do justice to them. When discussion such matters, you may feel constrained if you're not using the native language.

The important thing here is for you to ask yourself - do you want your child to learn your native language well. If the answer is yes, then it is not just beneficial, but necessary for you to use your native language with your child.

Possible, yes. But, difficult - very difficult.

It will transform much more than that. It will make me rich. I will be the world’s best translator. It will transform my life. Once I’m rich enough I’ll spend the rest of my life reading and travelling the world - probably also getting involved in serving the people in some way!

Considering there are two languages from the European family already serving as international languages - we should pick languages from other parts of the world - probably Swahili from Africa, or Chinese from Asia.

Hindi is not the language of all Indians. India is a huge geographically and culturally diverse land mass with many different peoples - all with their own languages, cultures, and histories! And almost all these ‘peoples’ are as proud of their past as they are of being Indian. So any attempt at forced imposition of any language will get the kind of reaction you mentioned.

Yes it is. Just google 'Etymology of word'

Considering they are different families of languages with very different scripts, vocabularies and syntactical structures - it will not be very easy.

Language serves many purposes beyond communication. Even if highly advanced AI based translators replace this functionality, language learning may continue to be useful in other ways. If you’re interested you can read more about the different uses of learning a language at the following links:

• What are the benefits of learning many languages?
• 14 Real-Life Applications of the Skill to Describe in a Foreign Language

It depends on why you're learning the language. You should accordingly be able to judge.

I know 3 languages as ‘first language’ - the learning was immersive. The third one is slightly weaker because both formal learning and immersion were lesser. Immersion is necessary for you to become fully proficient in a language.

Generally, it is because of the accent - Indians who don’t belong to the major metros usually do not have exposure to international accents. Their accents are heavily influenced by their mother tongues which makes them difficult to understand - as difficult as Welsh English at times! This is changing with increased exposure due to internet connective and exposure to international media - but the change is slow.