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/lit/ - Literature

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20050666 No.20050666 [Reply] [Original]

is it dumb to learn another language (french) simply to read foreign-language books or should I give equal focus on the speaking portion?

>> No.20050763

>>20050666
Not dumb at all if that's what your goals are. I'd recommend learning to speak to impress your monolingual friends if you are an Anglo.

>> No.20050772

No, you should learn whatever way motivates you most to keep learning. Lots of people only learn to read, or used to before everyone was retarded. But speaking can also be useful so you should at least consider adding speaking and writing practice down the line too, it will accelerate your learning once you get past a certain point.

But up until that point (and even after it if you really don't care), reading is usually the best way to learn a language anyway.

>> No.20050823

>>20050666
No, especially not if you'll never have anything interesting to say besides repeating unfunny 4chan memes.

>> No.20050939

>>20050763
>>20050772
>>20050823
thanks anons, i was just worried this was sort of an easy way out midwit type of thing to do and it was going to be a detriment to me in the future

>> No.20050943

>>20050772
>writing practice
like, just describing your day/making a story with vocab? or grammar stuff? I plan on doing grammar later, i just want to get a basic idea of the language first

>> No.20051235

>>20050772
>reading is usually the best way to learn a language anyway
Your childhood development disagrees. You could speak your native language before you learned to read.

>> No.20051294

>>20050666
Without speech you cannot know poetry or prose. If you want to use books only as stores of information there is no reason for you to speak.

>> No.20051299

>>20050939
Don't worry about something being "midwit". Do what you desire. It's just an internet meme.

>> No.20051507

>>20051235
what would you recommend then for getting better? especially considering i want to read?

>> No.20051631

>>20050666
> is it dumb to learn another language (french) simply to read foreign-language books
Yes. I recommend learning it also to woo girls (French) into their boudoir

>> No.20051633

>>20050772
>Lots of people only learn to read,
what do you mean?

>> No.20052339

Just google translate that shit bro. You will get like 80% of the authors intention through. It is way more efficient.

>> No.20052425

As a french native speaker, I believe you should at least try to learn the sounds as they are spoken in French (i.e. don’t necessarily know how to recreate them, but know how they sound).
It will help you get some subtleties in the texts, or help you immerse yourself. In addition, it should help you to read faster, or at least without stopping every two seconds.

P.S. French is a language that is much more difficult than English, because of its numerous grammatical rules and exceptions, so pay attention to these in your learning. Good luck!

>> No.20052627

>>20050666
How exactly does /lit/ go about learning a language well enough to read it?

>> No.20052634

>>20052627
Reading a lot
Tens of thousands of pages

>> No.20052694

>>20050666
I don't think there is a problem with learning French just for reading, but there are parts of the speaking portion you will be able to avoid and other you won't, especially if you want to read poetry some day (and even novel, lot of them contains alexandrins and other stuff that you will miss if you don't know the pronunciation of words). That being said, French is orally much easier than English, because it has actual rules, so it won't be so much trouble. Furthermore, don't need to really speak, you just have to understand how it's pronounced.
For example you have to know the rules of French metric if you ever want to be able to read any playwright or poet, and for this you will need to know at least a bit of the speaking portion of French. And those are just not so simple. Example: Où mon ventre a conçu mon expiation (Baudelaire), this must make 12 syllables in your head, and the hemistich cannot be in a word or between a noun and its specifier. Yet another example a bit harder: Que vers lui j'aie fait quelque mauvais office (Du Bellay). 12 syllables again.
So it is not dumb to learn simply to read but you will still need to know a bit about the speaking portion to read correctly and understand the beauty of the language.

>> No.20052820

>>20051633
Only the ability to read a language was learned

>> No.20052867

>>20050666
it's not dumb at all - lots of people learn japanese just to be able to read it (especially on 4chan).

I would say you miss out by not learning how to speak the language, but if you never intend to visit the country or talk with the people then don't bother.
speaking helps with listening.

>>20051633
some people just want to learn how to be able to read in the language so they can consume it's written materials. some people want to read literature. others want to read hentai manga /visual novels, and a lot of these go untranslated.


>>20050943
not the anon you were replying to.
you write about things in your life: your hobbies interests, aspirations,... anything you want to talk about really.
The point is that practicing like this gets you to use the language you already know to tell a story (which happens to be your life). You can then use this if you ever talk to people.
"I'm learning french because of .... I want to .... "
One of the first questions someone will ask you is "why are you learning french"
"how long have you been learning it for". You will answer this question over and over and over again. So you may as well have a "script" for it.

you could get a native friend/ tutor to correct your writing. you can keep adding to it and grow it. if you learn new vocabulary you can keep adding it.
people use apps like hellotalk to help eachother learn. if you help other people they help you.

speaking to others / writing changes learning from passive to active. it will also help you understand more of what you read. you could even write about some of the articles/ books you've read.

gl 666-bro

>> No.20053361

>>20052694
I never even thought of reading poetry but with those examples i want to now. is it just a matter of learning rules?

>> No.20053393

>>20052425
>french native speaker
any tips besides repetition and consistency? i mean i'm sure it's different for you being native but you clearly know english so you do have experience learning a language.
also, slightly off topic: im assuming french is your first language. when you see objects do you first think of them in french or in english? do you have to translate in your head first?
for example: when you see a dog do you think "dog" or "chien"?