[General] I learn English just for interesting

[Silverobama]

Hi.

I was chatting with a friend. She told me she didn't learn English for any purposes but for making herself happy. She said "I learn English just for interesting". I think it should be "I learn English just for fun".

Is my italic sentence natural?

 

[tedmc]

Yes. How did you explain to her why she was wrong?

 

[emsr2d2]

Hi.

I was chatting with a friend. She told me she didn't learn English for any particular [STRIKE]purposes[/STRIKE] purpose but [STRIKE]for making[/STRIKE] [just] to make herself happy. She said "I learn English just for interesting". I think it should be "I learn English just for fun".

Is my italic sentence natural?

Note my corrections above.

Has she now stopped learning English? Using "she didn't learn English" puts all the learning in the past. If she is still learning, the continuous would be appropriate. "She told me she wasn't learning English ..."

 

[Silverobama]

Note my corrections above.

Has she now stopped learning English? Using "she didn't learn English" puts all the learning in the past. If she is still learning, the continuous would be appropriate. "She told me she wasn't learning English ..."

No. She hasn't stopped yet. I was thinking about the reported speech so I used "she didn't learn English....".

Thanks a lot for telling me this. I thought the present tense should have been used.

 

[emsr2d2]

If she actually said "I didn't learn English for any particular purpose", then your reported speech version would be accurate. However, her sentence would not be correct if she's still learning. She should have said "I'm not learning English for any ..." or "I didn't start learning English for any ...".

If she said "I'm not learning English for any particular purpose", the continuous should be reflected in the reported speech version.

 

[Rover_KE]

She said "I learn English just for interesting".

[STRIKE]for interesting[/STRIKE] out of interest

 

[Silverobama]

She said "I learn English just for interesting".

[STRIKE]for interesting[/STRIKE] out of interest

1) I learn English just out of interest.
2) I learn English just for fun.

Which one is better or they're equally okay? I think the 2) is more AE sounding.

 

[tedmc]

Out of interest is closer to the original, for interesting.

 

[GoesStation]

1) I learn English just out of interest.
2) I learn English just for fun.

Which one is better, or are they[STRIKE]'re[/STRIKE] equally okay? I think that 2 is more AE-sounding.

If you want to use the present simple, "learn" doesn't work. You could say I study English just for fun. "Out of interest" is fine in some contexts but I don't think it works well here.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

1) I study English just out of interest.
2) I study English just for fun.

Which one is better or they're equally okay? I think the 2) is more AE sounding.

Yes, for ordinary conversation, "just for fun" is what we'd usually say in the US.

Number 1 is natural, too, but more formal. For example, you might say it in a college application.

"I learn" is not natural. Use "I study" or "I'm learning." They're both natural and mean the same thing.