Foreign Languages

As I was sitting in church yesterday, I found myself drifting and thinking about other things, so decided to take a different approach and started translating the lesson into Greek as it was given, like I used to do on my mission (we had a microphone and everyone was given headphones so that we could translate into either Greek or English, depending on who was speaking). That only worked for awhile, and then my thoughts started drifting again, but this time my thoughts were in Greek. As the lesson was about to end, I realized that I would be giving the closing prayer and for a moment I was struck with fear. My thoughts kept coming out in Greek and I was afraid that I would stand up and slip into Greek during the prayer (I know it's not really a valid concern, but for a split second I was ready to panic). Fortunately I had a few minutes to clear my head and get back into English thoughts, and everything went alright, of course.

In retrospect, it caused me to wonder what the value of a foreign language really is. I studied French for 5 years in junior high and high school, and I have never really needed it. My French used to be quite good, and I have been considering pulling out my old French text books and refreshing my language skills so that I could claim the title of a polyglot, but I have to wonder if there is really any point.

A lot of people make a big deal out of knowing a foreign language, but chances are that you will never really use it. Unless you plan on moving to another country or becoming a professional translator, the time you will spend using a language will be microscopic in comparison to the time you spent learning it.

Learning French DID provide me with some benefits, such as understanding better how language works, it made it easier to learn Greek, it gave me insight into a different culture, and gave me some college credit. The one thing that it didn't do is provide me with a useful language to use.

I suppose I could always try to pull the language card with girls, as many girls seem to find it attractive, but I've always tried to keep it low key. I think that a relationship should be based on better things than foreign languages that the other person can't understand. Why is it that girls like foreign languages?

I also have a lot of friends that have learned a foreign language (French being the most dominant, followed by Spanish), and as far as I know, they don't really use it, or at least don't have a need for it and only use it occasionally for fun.

I figure that I could be fluent in French in about a month if I really applied myself. Would it be worth a month of my life? Would it be a good idea to phase out languages everywhere until everyone spoke a single language, or is it better to preserve cultures? Is it really worth it to invest time, an irreplaceable resource, into learning a language that you will never use?

I suppose that I wouldn't trade my language skills now for the time that I spent learning them, well at least not my Greek. It might be nice to trade my French into some nice art skills or something, but that's not realistic. I would only want to keep my Greek because of the good memories of Greece, my friends who don't know English, and because I plan to return eventually and tour the country.