Because for them, it isn’t.
We define the worth of all our pursuits ourselves. The value of learning a foreign language is highly subjective. It depends on the person, and on the language.
You could probably quantify the worth of learning specific foreign languages depending on your location and goals.
- Learning French an German for example, according to the Economist will give you a lot of work bonuses (I presume this data applies to the EU, other than, say Papua New Guinea).
- If you want to work in the Middle East for example, learning Arabic will get translated into better-paid work opportunities.
- International business work currently highly values languages such as Russian or Mandarin Chinese.
When you can’t translate your learning pursuit into money, it doesn't make it worthless.
People pursue different passions and hobbies that don’t turn into careers, monetizable side projects, or Instagram fame. Learning Welsh, Pashto, or Ido on the side might not lead to anything else other than your own satisfaction. And that’s ok.
Different people gain this internal sense of satisfaction from pursing different activities. For some it’s playing the ukulele, for others making etchings, or collecting unique tree leaves.
The only annoying part is when people start imposing their values onto you, and judging your decision to learn a language. That’s an easy way to tell, you don’t share values. You can try to calmly explain to them your reasons, but if the arguments don’t hit home, you can use this experience as a friend filter.
Bye bye from my life, language discriminators!
More on the fun of language learning:
