Because sometimes people just don’t understand why we’d want to learn languages. So, I present to you 8 things not to say to a language student…

“You learn Spanish? Isn’t Pan’s Labyrinth great?”

“You learn French? I just loved Amélie!”

                          via http://memegenerator.net/Phil-Dunphy

I once heard a lady in a hostel say to a group of Spaniards just how much she loved Almodóvar films. She couldn’t stop gushing, despite the fact that it was clear that they weren’t his biggest fans. Assuming that because someone learns (or is) Spanish they love Almodovar/Pan’s Labyrinth/Picasso/Lorca is annoying! This applies to any language and the first culturally famous thing that comes to mind.

On holiday – “What do you mean you don’t know what he said?!”

                  via http://giphy.com/search/louise

If everyone spent some time in their life having a go at learning another language (and no, making paper aeroplanes in year 7 French doesn’t count as having a go) then the world would be a happier place as people would understand that learning a language doesn’t mean you need to understand every single word you see or hear on holiday. We’d also be more aware of each other’s differences. And that can’t be a bad thing.

“Google Translate is the future really.”

                      via http://giphy.com/

Yes Google Translate (other translation sites are available) is incredible technology. Yes it’s instant. Yes it’s actually helped me personally when speaking to people whose language I don’t speak. But no, it’s not the future. As far as I’m concerned, and I’m sure many linguists and polyglots will agree with me, digital translation will never be comparable to human translation. Full stop. End of conversation.

“My brother was born in Madrid so he’s grown up bilingually.”

Ok, so your brother was given a head start in his language learning life. I’m jealous. Please let’s move on.

“It’s an easy option really, isn’t it?”

                      via http://i19.photobucket.com

Ooo, this is a big one. Language learning, especially language degrees, are by no means an easy option. If you pick a film studies degree you would be expecting to write about film and film alone. If you picked a language degree, you could be expected to write about film. Or history, or geography, or economics, or politics or anything else for that matter. The catch? You’d probably be expected to write it in a foreign language. Thus, not an easy option.

“What job can you do with languages?”

            via http://www.dvdizzy.com

Anything you can do and then some. Language learning opens up doors to the obvious jobs such as teaching, translation and interpreting but even a little knowledge of a foreign language will help you with any job. You never know when you might need it…

“I read that Chinese is the only useful language now.”

            via http://coolspotters.com/cats/grumpy-cat

Chinese is a massive thing right now. But that doesn’t mean that learning to speak French, Spanish or even Albanian would be a waste of time. If you want to learn a “useful” language (I use quotations because in my opinion, they’re all useful) then pick something not many others have, making yourself stand out.

“Doesn’t everyone speak English?”

                                         via http://beforeitsnews.com

Sigh. Just don’t say this. Please.

And if you’ve dug yourself a hole by saying any of the above…

“I think it’s amazing you can speak another language! I’ve always wanted to. I don’t know how you do it.”

                   via http://pandawhale.com

And if you do want to do it, try starting here.