Which language would be most rewarding?

[WICKES]

I can stumble around in French, German and Italian, but I am thinking of really devoting myself to one of them so as to be able to read books in that language.

Which would get your vote? (I would love to be able to read Plato etc in the original Greek, but I fear that is a little too ambitious. I have also thought about Latin).

Anyway, out of those three which langauge brings with it the most rewarding literature?

[dmm]

I can stumble around in French, German and Italian, but I am thinking of really devoting myself to one of them so as to be able to read books in that language.

Which would get your vote? (I would love to be able to read Plato etc in the original Greek, but I fear that is a little too ambitious. I have also thought about Latin).

Anyway, out of those three which langauge brings with it the most rewarding literature?

I wouldn´t go as far as to say that French has more rewarding literature than Italian, or that is better to lear Italian rather than German. It is a subjective issue. But I can tell you about my experience and my preferences. I am Spanish, and I have studied Russian, French, English and German. Among those languages that you mention, I would undoubtledly choose German: Mann, Nietzsche, Kafka, Hölderlin, Schiller, Kant, Bernhard, Dürrenmatt, and so forth. Besides, German is easier for English speakers.
If you have the time, studying Latin or Greek doesn´t have to be that difficult, and it would provide you with a very, very good cultural background.
Russian have a very rewarding literature too (Dostoievsky, Chejov, Nabokov, Tolstoi, and so on) and it is, in my opinion, way more beautiful than French or German.
You will have probably gathered by now that i dont like Italian:yawnb:

[MissScarlett]

Although I love the sound of French and Italian, and although some GREAT books have been written in both languages - Dante's Divine Comedy, I Promessi Sposi, Il Gattopardo in Italian, Madame Bovary, L'education sentimental, and A la recherche du temps perdu, among others, in French, I have to agree with the above poster - German would be more rewarding and you would have a larger selection of books from which to choose.

German is very easy for an English speaking person to learn to speak, but I don't know that it would be any easier to learn to read it than to simply read French and Italian. The accents in French and Italian can be more difficult for English speakers than German.

The first poster pointed it out - "Mann, Nietzsche, Kafka, Hölderlin, Schiller, Kant, Bernhard, Dürrenmatt, and so forth." There are so many German authors to choose from, so many books. And if you can read German, you can probably read Dutch.

I'd go with German.

[JBI]

I study both Italian and French (though I just started French), and I would say, for reading, one can master both pretty easily. For speaking, French is probably more useful, as there are more French speakers than Italians, and it is in many ways still a continental language, whereas Italian only has about 70 million or so native speakers.

Still German is a very useful language - for scholarly literary, and economic reasons. It really all depends on preference.

I personally couldn't choose, so I picked up Italian and French, as they seemed obvious choices for Can Lit studies, and now am trying to pick up Mandarin (starting in two weeks, at an intensive level, so I am a little afraid). I would recommend doing the one you have most difficulty with, as once you get that one, the others will be easier to acquire later.

[Emil Miller]

I can stumble around in French, German and Italian, but I am thinking of really devoting myself to one of them so as to be able to read books in that language.

Which would get your vote? (I would love to be able to read Plato etc in the original Greek, but I fear that is a little too ambitious. I have also thought about Latin).

Anyway, out of those three which langauge brings with it the most rewarding literature?

Now, as you know Wickes, foreign languages are pretty alien to the English who often think them more difficult than they are. However, they are never easy, Spanish being the easiest for English people; or so I have often been told. I found German grammar to be particularly difficult because of the case endings and the fact there are three different genders in German.
With four cases and three genders, the multiplicity of word endings is such that even some Germans get confused as to which to use. Then there are the compound words that frequently crop up in German which can also be confusing for someone learning the language. Initially I went to a language school in London to learn German but, in all honesty, it wasn't until I went to live in Germany that I was able to speak it.
As for reading in German it is true that Germany has some pretty heavyweight contributions to European literature and I have enjoyed reading the above mentioned writers, but for my part the greatest western literature comes from France. I never lived there but I made numerous visits over a period of years and also studied the language in London. In my view, French is much more expressive than either English or German and it shows in their literature. To be able to read Flaubert, Zola, Maupassant, Daudet. Malraux, Gide, Camus, de Montherlant and to know that I have only scratched the surface of French literature is an indication of its greatness.
There are certainly some very important writers from Italy but I don't think they are as numerous as those in France which is considered by many to be the foremost literary nation in Europe; Russia and the UK and notwithstanding.

Therefore, I would suggest French as the best option of the three you have mentioned.

[crystalmoonshin]

Le français bien sûr!

[QUOTE=JBI;706940

and now am trying to pick up Mandarin (starting in two weeks, at an intensive level, so I am a little afraid).[/QUOTE]

Congratulations, JBI! I suppose your department finally permitted you to take up Mandarin? Good luck! :)

[JBI]

Le français bien sûr!



Congratulations, JBI! I suppose your department finally permitted you to take up Mandarin? Good luck! :)

Yeah - well, I can't get anything in it but a language citation, which is worth virtually nothing in the grand scheme of things. But perhaps in grad school I'll be able to put things to use, and maybe in 10 or so years be able to read something.

[crystalmoonshin]

Just keep focused. I remember being forced to memorize a lot of words and phrases when I was in elementary school. It went against my idea of learning as I see no point in rote memorization but I breezed through my high school Chinese classes because of it, I guess. And I really love writing foreign characters and everyday, I'd write in my books or do translations when I'm bored in class. And thanks to Chinese, it became easier for me to learn Japanese which I'm currently studying on my own.

My German class commenced this week. I don't like the prof, she's so boring but I'm still gonna do my best.

[JBI]

Just keep focused. I remember being forced to memorize a lot of words and phrases when I was in elementary school. It went against my idea of learning as I see no point in rote memorization but I breezed through my high school Chinese classes because of it, I guess. And I really love writing foreign characters and everyday, I'd write in my books or do translations when I'm bored in class. And thanks to Chinese, it became easier for me to learn Japanese which I'm currently studying on my own.

My German class commenced this week. I don't like the prof, she's so boring but I'm still gonna do my best.

Yes well, learning 500 characters from nothing in 2 and a half months isn't going to be fun, I'll tell you that. But hey, maybe I'll survive.

[crystalmoonshin]

You'll definitely survive! I once taught a 23 year old woman and she was quite impressive, being able to learn a lot in just 10 days (two to three meetings a week). I gave her lots of grammar exercises which was very "behaviorist" and also lots of take home writing exercises so she can start writing simple words.

[Lokasenna]

Brian is quite correct - Spanish is probably the easiest European language to pick up. I'd probably recommend that you learn Icelandic, but then I would, wouldn't I?

Although I can't actually speak it, I would suggest German. It's on my list of "languages to learn before I die", mostly so I can read Nietzsche in his own tongue. Certainly, the German literary scene seems richer than the French, and for some reason the translations of the Italian stuff are generally superior to that of German literature - not quite sure why, but that's my personal experience of it...

[Niamh]

I think the most rewarding language for me to speak and read fluently would be my native language Gaelic. But unfortunately i was never good at it.

[librarius_qui]

It depends a lot on
1. who you are
2. who you want to be/become

It's a choice.

I think noone can answer for you.~

[LitNetIsGreat]

I have a particular fancy to French literature over the others, though it depends what you are interested in. With my surface knowledge of foreign literature would I be correct in thinking that learning German would be better suited towards philosophy and French towards literature? I'm thinking in terms of Kant, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Witserthingy etc, and in French you have the likes of Flaubert, Balzac, Guy de Maupassant, Hugo, Zola, etc. Yes that's a generalisation but I fair one I think. France has its share of interesting philosophers and theorists too.

I don't know, I am a bit of a donut when it comes to languages, I don't mind admitting, in the end I suppose it is one of those decisions that only you can decide.

[JBI]

19th century Philosophy yes, but post WW2 Philosophy? If you are going to really study philosophy though, you'll need both languages anyway.

[SleepyWitch]

I think I agree with Brian Bean. I'm tempted to say German, but Brian is probably right about French literature. On the other hand, there are probably more high-quality English translations of French books than of German ones, so you could read those in English.
Anyway, let me know if you need help with your German :)
(edit: Of course German would be extremely rewarding in that it's rumoured to be very difficult. So if you'd like to show off a bit, it's a good idea to learn German ;) Well, I suppose showing off doesn't go together with English modesty.)

[WICKES]

I think I agree with Brian Bean. I'm tempted to say German, but Brian is probably right about French literature. On the other hand, there are probably more high-quality English translations of French books than of German ones, so you could read those in English.
Anyway, let me know if you need help with your German :)
(edit: Of course German would be extremely rewarding in that it's rumoured to be very difficult. So if you'd like to show off a bit, it's a good idea to learn German ;) Well, I suppose showing off doesn't go together with English modesty.)

Well, yes, an English gentleman never shows off ;)

We Brits are notoriously lazy and incompetant when it comes to learning other languages, so anything would be an achievement. German is by far the easiest for an English speaker to pronounce, while French is very difficult (I don't know if my fellow English speakers agree?...) to pronounce but, in my experience so far, easier to read.

At the moment I am very tempted to devote a couple of years to German. One of my heroes (along with George Orwell and Bertrand Russell) is Hermann Hesse. I think I know enough German to simply take the plunge and try reading Siddartha in German supported by no more than a German dictionary, plenty of tea, cigarettes and swearing! I am also a devotee of Jung and very interested in Nietzsche and Schopenhauer (but I think that would be pushing it a bit).

Oh to have a brain like CS Lewis, a man who could read Greek, Latin, French, German, Italian and old Norse faultlessly by his mid 20s:flare:

Thanks for your replies everyone

[SleepyWitch]

We Brits are notoriously lazy and incompetant when it comes to learning other languages, so anything would be an achievement. German is by far the easiest for an English speaker to pronounce, while French is very difficult (I don't know if my fellow English speakers agree?...) to pronounce but, in my experience so far, easier to read.


nonsense :) you Brits are not incompetent. I'll readily agree that you are lazy, tough :D You just brainwash yourself from an early age on into believing that you are lazy and incompetent. You're never gonna win WW III this way :D ;)

[Emil Miller]

I think I know enough German to simply take the plunge and try reading Siddartha in German supported by no more than a German dictionary, plenty of tea, cigarettes and swearing!

Why Siddhartha or Glassperlenspiel, which are constantly referred to, when you could do much better, as a learner, with Steppenwolf ?

[Sagres18]

Português

[kiki1982]

Well difficult question of course...

I don't know anything of Italian and JBI ight know better whatis to be got there, but French and German I do know.

No doubt a lot of great works have been written in French certainly from the Classics (17th-18th century) on, but I would still go for German. In Philosophy, Science and Culture they were a great centre of knowledge, until they destroyed their own reputation in the two World Wars... (which is of course not to say that they are no longer cultured, only maybe a little more modest and afraid to speak about it... They are getting out of that now, though, as all survivors on both sides are dying out.)

Once you have stumbled over all the grammar and you have mastered the rules it only gets easier because the rules are the rules and there are almost no exceptions. Although a little difficult might be their writing style, because it can be quite long with all kinds of relative clauses. Once you have found your 'ear', though, no other languages pose problems as you are used to more difficult things.

Great operas have also been written in German, so you can understand that as well, but then again in Italian there are also a few things to be seen...

Have fun!

PS: I would be careful with Russian, as it is supposed to be difficult to master, and because the language was changed so much by the Soviets that (reportedly) works of Tolstoi, Dostoyevski,... are even very hard to read for Russians themselves. Only heard that though.

[WICKES]

they were a great centre of knowledge, until they destroyed their own reputation in the two World Wars... (which is of course not to say that they are no longer cultured, only maybe a little more modest and afraid to speak about it... They are getting out of that now, though, as all survivors on both sides are dying out.) .

Yes, the Brits have suffered something similar- especially the English. An American once said to me "the English have so much to be proud of, yet I have never met a people more consumed by self loathing". While German confidence was shattered by guilt over the holocaust and WW2 etc, the Brits have really lost confidence and self esteem since the end of Empire and the rise of the USA. It is hard for the English really- France is still the centre of French culture, Germany the centre of German culture, but the English no longer feel at the centre of the English speaking world. In the last 50 or so years the greatest writers have been American. This is inevitable I suppose, given the size of America's population, but it does make the British, and especially the English, very bitter (perhaps understandably) towards Americans. I sometimes envy the Germans and French over this. This loss of confidence is perhaps the main reason we haven't produced many great, world class writers since the war. From 1900 to 1950 we produced Aldous Huxley, George Orwell, Evelyn Waugh, Virginia Woolf, D H Lawrence, W H Auden, H G Wells, Conan Doyle, P G Wodehouse and were home to Joseph Conrad and T S Eliot. From 1950 to 2000 we really didn't match that.:(

[predict18_white]

Yeah - well, I can't get anything in it but a language citation, which is worth virtually nothing in the grand scheme of things. But perhaps in grad school I'll be able to put things to use, and maybe in 10 or so years be able to read something.
hi,JBI.Are you studying chinese,sure?I have a secret,ha!

[Emil Miller]

From 1950 to 2000 we really didn't match that.:(

One thing that hasn't changed since WW11 though, is British understatement.

[JBI]

hi,JBI.Are you studying chinese,sure?I have a secret,ha!

What would that be?

[predict18_white]

I will tell you the secret.But not now.It is Early morning 1:33,I am tired.I have to go to bed now.

[Madame X]

And if you can read German, you can probably read Dutch.

I'd go with German.

Heck, a decent handle on English is enough to crown one a Dutch Lit Laureate. :nod:

Anyways, I'll second (or third, or eighth) the suggestion to go for German, if only for the Expressionists. Unfortunately, the case system will be the least of your worries but we do like a challenge, ja? :brow:

[Ghuyuran]

I would definitely recommend French to you. I'm currently learning Spanish and German and I'm looking forward to be able to read their literature, but as I study other languages I unexpectedly grow fonder of my mother tongue and its literature. There is just too much to read in the French language. I feel that someone who loves and study literature really has no choice to at least scratch the surface of that language. English has my heart and German has great appeal to me, but that's because I already know French.

In the end, though, it is important that you choose the language that appeals to you most.

[master chief]

japanese!!!!

[dramasnot6]

As a native English speaker, I am currently finding studying Chinese to be very rewarding. It's perhaps the hardest language for a native English speaker to learn, because it is so different in every way. Chinese is an extremely important language that is spoken by a LOT of people. Every Chinese character has a rich story to tell about Chinese culture and history.

[Reader90]

I personally really enjoy Dostoevsky, so I would enjoy learning Russian so that I could read "Crime and Punishment" or "The Brothers Karamzov" in their original forms.

Latin would be neat to learn too, if for no other reason that because so many other languages have stemmed from Latin.

[maraki16]

i would say greek. but as no one seems interested in learning that language, though i think it offers the greatest possibilities for expression, i think french. though i am not a great fan, i always wanted to learn spanish....
english is also useful, since many classic novels were written in that language.