negative aspects of knowing languages

Inpsired by K.T's comments:

<<well enough to get INTO trouble"? This is my variation on that. Frankly, knowing another language can get you into trouble or out of it.

If you know a language, you may end up being a free translator, interpreter or tour guide. >>

I'd add:
- teaching in schools takes away from other important subjects
- could cause unwanted attention when spoken in public, ie, you might get hit on, or be the victim of racism.
- if people hear you speaking a foreign language they could treat you like a foreigner regardless of how well you speak the local lingo
- you could faint or have a heart-attack from excessive code-switching
- could be considered elitist in English-speaking society if you're a native Anglo, or you could be seen as liberal illegal immigration supporter if you speak Spanish as an Anglo.

I don't think speaking Spanish is considered "elitist" in the US, but I could be wrong. I think there are some negative connotations associated with language-learning in general-namely, that one becomes a cultural suspect. This paranoid thinking occurs in other countries as well, where someone will only learn a language to a certain level (i.e. a Chinese girl who doesn't want to speak Japanese TOO well for fear that she'll be taken cheaply/ as a so-called comfort woman).

My reasons for learning languages are practical. Languages are useful in communication and in training the mind.

As I wrote just now, by the same token, mean Chinese guys would label those girls as Japanophile chicks anyway, so why bother...

What I didnt write is: I think language learning is healthy in an Assimil setting. I could imagine how A. Cherel wrote his courses in the first place. First, there are some lang. bks for you (him) to start with. Learn a first language, probably a popular one, like English (which he did). Then, talk to an understanding, highly-educated native speaker and ask for translations (probably, by hiring one).

At that stage, Cherel turned it into a business that would remain until now. And at that stage, you are actually understanding what a contemporary informant would say in his/her language in his/her country. Of coz, it can be now done somewhat via Skype... but at the beginner stage (like Cherel), it must be done in person.

Sometimes I find it ironic that I learn better with recordings, and recordings only (along with grammar books, dictionaries, multiple courses...), without real people. Yeah, I'll do that later too, but it's ironic that classes (yeah, with real people), in my experiences, are never as good. I know I can't remove the soul from the body, but I have little choice when real people won't even work. At least in my experience, it seems to me that some of us (or it's me only, hope so) are losing that power to communicate...

When we say some languages are damn difficult, while the answer is certainly not true when you ask natives related, it already shows signs of REFUSING to understand. This is sad when you can only think in English (me too, but as an SL), while not knowing others, quite many of them...