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/lit/ - Literature

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6344266 No.6344266 [Reply] [Original]

I want to pick up a foreign language for literary purposes. What's the best one to learn? I was thinking German tbh

>> No.6344269

Latin or French

>> No.6344283

esperanto

>> No.6344308

German is very easy to learn if you already speak fluent English, and knowing it helps a lot with old and middle English. There's grammar similarities and cognates everywhere.
>>6344269
This is good too.

>> No.6344314

Why were you thinking German?

>> No.6344319

You're not going to get anywhere if you're so flippant about it.

>> No.6344336

>>6344266
russian

>> No.6344344

>>6344319
>your decision doesnt matter since you havent made a decision yet
What do you get out of being an asshole?

>> No.6344349

German is definitely a great choice for all sorts of reasons, philosophy in particular. If you're European then it's also huge academically, more so than English depending on your location.

>> No.6344372

German is good, but I would go for French. Easy for an English speaker to learn to read, great literary tradition, but the kicker is that it's a Romance language. Makes learning Spanish, Italian or Latin (all wonderful languages in their own right) much easier.

>> No.6344428

>>6344344
It's not even that. Have you study other languages?

>> No.6344436

S A N S K R I T
A
N
S
K
R
I
T

>> No.6344441

>>6344428
not op, but i haven't even studied english

homeschool faggot from another country i learned it just by being around parents

>> No.6344447

>>6344372
As a Greek I must say learning Greek has helped tremendously in learning inflections of most Romance languages even though Greek itself is not considered one.

>> No.6344461

persian

>> No.6344463

DICK BUTT

>> No.6344475
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6344475

German

>> No.6344495

>>6344441
Ok, so you've been exposed to (at least) two language your (most likely) whole life, since you've been young, likely before you knew any different. What has that got to do with him?

I'm not saying he can't or shouldn't, but good luck to him going anywhere with his personal studies and being interested enough to keep studying the language beyond the BARE basics with his flippant outlook.

>> No.6344592

Not OP.

I'm already learning German, but I have little idea about German books/movies/anything. I'm looking for some good books/movies/tv shows so I have motivation to actually learn the language and a way to 'immerse myself'. Please help.

>> No.6346238

>>6344266

Goethe institut + Watch german films + Audio tapes

I'm planning on expatriating to chase my ex and do masters in switzerland when I grow up OP.

>> No.6346506

German is easy, they said. "Deutsche Sprache, schwere Sprache" is literally a phrase in the language.

>> No.6346517

>>6344447
>greek on /lit/
Φύγε από εδώ ρε μαλάkα

>> No.6346583

>>6344266
>start with the Greeks (Ancient Greek)
>continue with the Romans (Latin)

If possible learn the two languages at the same time because there are some similarities. They are quite hard to learn though.

>> No.6347280

Greek, Latin, and Sanskrit

Everything else is pleb. Plus, French, Italian and Spanish aren't even seperate languages. Literally the whole lexicon is the same.

>> No.6347346

Latin. Use Adler's Practical Grammar and Hamilton's interlinear translations.

>> No.6347712

>>6344266
>What's the best one to learn?
Mandarin. The reason is translations from Mandarin literally do not exist. At best you'll get abridged retellings.

>> No.6347730

>>6344269
latin is a good pick, it's a logical language and its flexibility makes it fun to play with. and reading Horace automatically makes you a patrician

>> No.6347883

>>6344592
der Tatortreiniger is absolutely based. episodes of 20 minutes and it's basically just dialogue. great to learn german for sure. also very philosophical.

>> No.6348545

>>6347883
Literally attending a small lecture in a week's time about der Tatortreiniger and (German) dark humour
Neat

>> No.6348565

>>6347712
>Chinese "literature"

>> No.6348569

>>6344372
I think French is easier to translate though ... As Beckett said- he wrote in french bc it was easier to write with no style whatsoever when using the french language..

>> No.6348604

>>6344266
You won't learn it effectively.
As with the rest of your life, you're far past the acceptable age to start ....anything and be successful.

>> No.6348629

>>6348604
What a bullshit. My uncle learned arabic fluently at 30 when he needed it for his job. It's just a matter of willpower.

>> No.6350019
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6350019

>>6348604

>> No.6350271

>>6344495
>Implying dedicated academic study helps much either

The only way to learn a language is to move to a country that speaks it and start talking to people until they stop noticing your accent.

>>6348604
>those people who invent pseudo-science to give them a reason not to work hard
Don't be one of those people

>> No.6352011

>>6344495
He wasn't being "flippant" you stupid little boy. He wants to learn German, but he wants to be sure because language learning is a big commitment.

I only spoke english 2 years ago and now I'm fluent in German. It's a good idea and you should follow through.

>> No.6352576

>>6350271
>The only way to learn a language is to move to a country that speaks it and start talking to people until they stop noticing your accent.

Not really, you can always use skype and have tutors.

>> No.6352638

french
read madame buvary