FYI, such studies are not for the purpose of learning a language but for the purpose of
language description which contributes to the structure of human languages in general.
Ever heard about the notion of "linguistic universals"?

I am well aware of that. It just strikes me as odd that a non native speaker would waste 7 years of their life on something that is essentially useless. Surely there are more widely-spoken languages available for study?

I'm not criticising, just offering an opinion.