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Namirrha
Noble Knight
Joined: 03 May 2002
Posts: 218
Location: Utah County, Utah. |
| Learning languages to play RPGs? |
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Do you ever get the feeling you need to learn x number of languages to play all the good RPGs in the works overseas or in different parts of the world? Some of these will never come out in English or one's native language. For example, there are a lot of RPGs being developed in Eastern Europe and Russia. I used to speak quite a bit of Russian about 7-8 years ago, but once I stopped studying it in school, it faded away. I can still read it, but my comprehension is less than satisfactory. But with the number of English RPGs in decline and foreign RPGs going up, I want to keep up with my passion... Any others considered or feel the same way?
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Give me the shadows, shield me from the light, and I shall let nothing pass in the darkness of the night. |
Mon Mar 01, 2004 8:08 am |
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Dhruin
Stranger In A Strange Land
Joined: 20 May 2002
Posts: 1825
Location: Sydney, Australia |
Yes...but I have no affinity for languages so I'll just have to keep my fingers crossed a fair number of these games get released in English. 
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Mon Mar 01, 2004 8:24 am |
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Northchild
Fearless Paladin
Joined: 03 May 2002
Posts: 232
Location: New York, USA |
I had attempted to learn a bit of Japanese some time ago in order to play console RPG titles before they were released in the States. I learn well from books, and learned the kana, pronounciation, grammar rules, and a bit of kanji, but was discouraged by the feeling that I would never be truly *comfortable* with playing games in a foreign language unless I devoted a very significant part of my life to listening to countless movies, music, television programs, etc. in Japanese, in addition to reading books, newspapers, etc. It's not that I don't have the essential ability to do this - I'm a quick study. However, as an adult with a family and responsibilities, I need to use all of the free time that I have to advance knowledge and interests more directly related to my career.
Fluency in other languages is always useful, but the level of dedication required is quite high, and the time and resource cost can be very discouraging depending on where you stand.
"Learning" a foreign language can require just as much dedication as training yourself to become a nurse, a computer programmer, or a scientist. All of these examples require learning many concepts and ways of expressing concepts. It all depends on how you want to/can afford to spend your time.
@Namirrha - I hear you about stuff fading away. I used to be nearly fluent in German, but now I'd probably have trouble putting basic sentences together. 
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Last edited by Northchild on Mon Mar 01, 2004 8:33 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Mon Mar 01, 2004 10:41 am |
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MageofFire
Griller of Molerats
Joined: 03 Oct 2003
Posts: 1594
Location: Monastery of Innos |
When asked what foreign language I wanted to study in school, I said: Italian. Ah well, you wouldn't happen to know of any Italian RPGs, would you?   If I could just snap my fingers and be fluent in another language, though, it would be German.
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Mon Mar 01, 2004 1:08 pm |
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Bartacus
Il Buono
Joined: 24 May 2003
Posts: 4706
Location: Belgium Flemmish part |
Now why would that be, MageofFire? Same interest here. In my country it's obligated (at least when I went to school) to learn French and English. German is considered as an option in some directions, but since I choose a more scientifique approach, I never had any. It would come in handy though for skiing in Austria.(Let my dad do all the talk.  )
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Mon Mar 01, 2004 1:27 pm |
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ShadowWolfe
Noble Knight
Joined: 19 Feb 2003
Posts: 205
Location: In the northern mountains of the western continent. |
I learned basic German to be able to play gothic 2 earlier! A exchange student came over and brought me gothic 2. What a nice kid.
And then on top of it I also bought the English version.
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Mon Mar 01, 2004 5:36 pm |
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Bartacus
Il Buono
Joined: 24 May 2003
Posts: 4706
Location: Belgium Flemmish part |
You know how I've learned English. (Off course as can be read above, I had it during my school eductaion.) Wing Commander V: Prophecy. This game forced me to lean new and other grammar and vocabulary then the one you can learn on school. It also changed the way of watching English movies for me. (Sth are just lost in translation.)
Although I have to say that it's still convinient to see the 'subtitles'(Don't know the right word) in Dutch. Puls, it's stm really funny too.
ex.: Star Wars-> Luke is calling R2D2. When he says R2D2, the translation remains similar. When he says R2, the translation becomes ARTOO.
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Mon Mar 01, 2004 9:38 pm |
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Korplem
Swashbuckler
Joined: 23 Dec 2002
Posts: 853
Location: Pearl Harbor, HI |
Actually, in the books they say 'Artoo' as well.
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If soot stains your tunic, dye it black. This is vengeance.
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Tue Mar 02, 2004 2:07 am |
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Namirrha
Noble Knight
Joined: 03 May 2002
Posts: 218
Location: Utah County, Utah. |
quote:
Originally posted by Northchild
Fluency in other languages is always useful, but the level of dedication required is quite high, and the time and resource cost can be very discouraging depending on where you stand.
Same. Funny that you mention Japanese, since I plan to study it this summer. Language is one of those skills that requires almost daily practice and interaction to keep it useful.
quote:
"Learning" a foreign language can require just as much dedication as training yourself to become a nurse, a computer programmer, or a scientist. All of these examples require learning many concepts and ways of expressing concepts. It all depends on how you want to/can afford to spend your time.
Yes, it does. I found that when I started to pursue my science degree, I had to drop most of my language ambitions, unless I wanted my grades to suffer. My major is also particularly lab intensive. A lot of time for very little credit (although the experience is invaluable, since I get my choice to work with everything from cancer to DNA sequencing).
quote:
@Namirrha - I hear you about stuff fading away. I used to be nearly fluent in German, but now I'd probably have trouble putting basic sentences together.
In addition to my rusty Russian, my Chinese has become like that. When I was younger, I spoke fluently, but I started to speak English at school, and before I knew it, my Chinese vocabulary disappeared. Well, not entirely, because I can still understand 30-40% of basic speech, but I can't say much. Russian, French, Chinese--all hidden in the recesses of my mind... 
It's interesting that when we become adults, it is easier to accelerate in a language mentally, so we can learn vocabulary, grammar, etc. better than a child can, but a child will always beat us on pronunciation, style, and fluency--the stuff that matters most to native speakers.
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Give me the shadows, shield me from the light, and I shall let nothing pass in the darkness of the night. |
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Tue Mar 02, 2004 9:55 am |
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