Does anybody here feel pressure at all to learn a foreign language or feel a need to do so? If so, why? And what is your native language?
My native language is American English. I feel slightly pressured to learn Japanese, and I would certainly like to do so. The reason being is that I come across lots of instances where I wish I could understand the language. Even though I'm not a big anime or manga fan, I do come across Japanese shows or comics sometimes that I wish I could read (I much prefer the original Japanese versions.) Japanese music is pretty good to listen to as well. I also would really enjoy if I could buy new video games from Japan without having to wait for the English release. I've even come across instances where I've had to buy products from Japan, because I couldn't get them anywhere in the United States.
Aside from the entertainment aspects, there is an Asian food market around where I live, and I love to go shopping there. There's some Japanese food, but English is typically not used on the packages, and I'd like to know what I was buying if I couldn't tell solely by appearance. Lots of other people seem to show interest in learning Japanese as well, so I wouldn't be alone (not that that really matters too much.) And lastly, my future career is going to be in artificial intelligence. Knowing Japanese could only benefit me in that career. I'm sure there are more reasons, but this is all I could think of at the moment.
So, what do you all think?
My native language is American English. I feel slightly pressured to learn Japanese, and I would certainly like to do so. The reason being is that I come across lots of instances where I wish I could understand the language. Even though I'm not a big anime or manga fan, I do come across Japanese shows or comics sometimes that I wish I could read (I much prefer the original Japanese versions.) Japanese music is pretty good to listen to as well. I also would really enjoy if I could buy new video games from Japan without having to wait for the English release. I've even come across instances where I've had to buy products from Japan, because I couldn't get them anywhere in the United States.
Aside from the entertainment aspects, there is an Asian food market around where I live, and I love to go shopping there. There's some Japanese food, but English is typically not used on the packages, and I'd like to know what I was buying if I couldn't tell solely by appearance. Lots of other people seem to show interest in learning Japanese as well, so I wouldn't be alone (not that that really matters too much.) And lastly, my future career is going to be in artificial intelligence. Knowing Japanese could only benefit me in that career. I'm sure there are more reasons, but this is all I could think of at the moment.
So, what do you all think?