Ask HN: Is learning foreign languages worth the hassle?

It depends on when and where. I assume English is your native tongue, because if it wasn't you'd probably would be asking in your mother tongue in some other language forum :D

I think there are several reasons learning foreign language might be worth the hassle:

1) you are learning language of a place you are moving to. Suddenly you are the 'foreigner' and being able to speak with the local language is a advantage.

2) you are learning a language significant minority of your location. I assume speaking Spanish in the US can be useful. Or speaking $LANGUAGE of neghboring country if you are in a border region. In small-enough country almost anywhere can be considered a border region.

3) you want to impress you foreign friends/clients/colleagues/customers, understand them better.

4) you are studying some artefact from a different culture and want to enjoy the un-translated original. This applies to things from watching your favourite anime in Japanese to learning ancient Greek or Hebrew to read the Bible closer to its origin.

You might find more. But if you don't have the time, or willpower, you can get a long way just by being reasonably humble and polite, in a level appropriate to the culture you are trying to interact with :)

On the other hand, getting to good enough proficiency for the language to actually be useful beyond i.e. asking "Где почтамт?" really slowly, can be quite a hassle.

Yes. It makes you more human and that in turn will help you build better products and services for your customers. You'll simply have a greater understanding of more people in more markets. This is because learning a foreign language is much more than learning nouns, verbs, syntax and grammar. You learn how different people think. For example, in Spanish they don't say "I am hungry" they say "I have hunger." To them it's utterly ridiculous to say I am hungry - that's not what I am! But I do have hunger. To wit - Spanish even has two variations of the verb "to be" - one is a more permanent form and the other is a temporary form. "I am sick" is not a permanent condition for example. You're not going to be sick forever. That's just Spanish and that's not even all of it. I can go on about German too and don't even get me started on the Japanese.

My suggestion then is to stop thinking of learning foreign languages as a "hassle" and instead think of it as an opportunity to learn about other people and cultures of the world. Not only will you be culturally enriched but you'll also be able to compete and survive in this global economy.

Learning a different language opens one's mind up to new and unexpected (often seemingly logic breaking) styles and modes of thinking. It's a naivete-busting experience. The more languages you know the less naive you're about the world around you.

I think it is a critical requirement if you want to understand understand other cultures. I also think if everyone did that, the world would be a nicer place.

Why do you think it is a hassle? Do you plan to never interact with a foreign person?

Yes. Translations are never as good as they might be.

yes, learn mandarin (assuming you're american). Job for life translating.

Besides the obvious benefits to the brain, imagine you are traveling around the world and being able to effectively communicate with people without the crutch of English language. That feels amazing and very very useful.

People open up to you if you can ramble off even couple of sentences in their language. It is absolutely worth the hassle for a traveler.

But if you live in and don't see yourself ever leaving bumfuckville, Alabama, then there's no point.