Which language should I learn?

[sbrylski]

I'm unemployed and kind of bored... going to try to pick up a second language.

 

I took some Spanish classes in the past, but I wouldn't have a huge head start and don't really factor that into my decision much.

 

At the moment, I'm considering Spanish or French the front-runners and Mandarin or Japanese a long shot. I'm afraid I would find the eastern languages a little more difficult to learn and would lose interest.

 

Any thoughts?

[logan82]

I would go with German personally unless you think you might want a language you might actually use. If you want a language you would more than likely use, I would go with Spanish. Unless of course you are going to be spending some time in Montreal, then French would be very helpful.

[InsomniacInkRoss]

If I had the time I would really like to learn American Sign or Shorthand

[trwi7]

German. Umlauts and Eszetts are awesome.

[TracyThom]

IMO, learning Spanish would make you much more employable. There are many fields of business that would enjoy having someone bilingual on their roster.

[paul253]

If you learn Arab (that's a language right?), you could get a job with the FBI like that...or so I hear anyway.

[homer]

I would love to learn a middle eastern language like Farsi if for no other reason than to understand just what the heck cab drivers are saying into their bluetooths. For a resume builder, Spanish would be a great one to know.

[JumpinMacFlash]

I really regret not learning Spanish. I think it would have helped when searching for a job.

 

My Top-Three suggestions:

1. Spanish

2. Arabic

3. Russian

[thebruce44]

Spanish, Arabic, Mandarin...in order of usefulness in this country going forward in my opinion.

[Diskono]

Scottish Gaelic or Cornish.

[berniebrewer4life]

If I had the time I would really like to learn American Sign or Shorthand

It really makes talking at the dinner table alot easier.

[mothershipconnection]

Mandarin or Japanese a long shot. I'm afraid I would find the eastern languages a little more difficult to learn and would lose interest.

 

For me, Spanish was easier than Japanese, plus you can already read it. I knew how illiterate people feel when I was in Japan and had no idea what 90% of signs said. Japanese is pretty nice and logical, though, without so many weird conditional rules that we have.

In most parts of the country, you'll have the most opportunities to hear and practice Spanish, which is very important. Were it not for the lady friend, I never even would've attempted Japanese, as there'd be no use for it, which means no real practice, which means no retention.

[GAME05]

I'd go with:

1. Which would make me the most money

2. Which would I use most

3. which would be easiest to learn. German is at least in the same language family and wouldn't be as confusing.

[valpocrewsader]

Neggo leggove feggor eggegg leggateggin?

[Point Beer Is Best]

I can't believe that Klingon hasn't been mentioned yet.

[strawbossisevil]

As someone who is bilingual and uses his Spanish on a daily basis, I would highly recommend it. It will make you much, much more employable (and will likely earn you more money, depending on your career). Plus, as so many have pointed out, there is much more opportunity to actually use the language.

 

If you don't use the language on a consistent basis you will never get good at it, in fact, you'll probably lose it over time.

 

Honestly, if you are serious about learning a language (including Spanish), and you have the free time (which unemployment would likely allow), I would take an immersion trip to somewhere you are forced to use nothing but that language.

 

I did this twice with my Spanish, living for a month + in Quito Ecuador, and then 3 months in Puebla, Mexico. My Spanish improved by leaps and bounds both times. I've been told that 1 month being immersed in a foreign country is the equivalent of a year's worth of language classes back in the States. And it is likely cheaper than taking a year's worth of University classes and they are far more fun if you like a bit of adventure. At the one I stayed at in Puebla, the cost for classes, 3 meals a day, trips, board, class materials, transportation to and from the airport was only $1845 for four weeks. The one in Ecuador was a bit more expensive, but had the offer of learning Spanish in the rainforest, which was very, very cool.

 

What was neat about both programs is that they usually focused on classroom work in the morning, and then you would go around with a Spanish speaking guide/teacher and explore the cities in the afternoon. This provide ample time to practice what I had just learned in class and develop conversation skills.

 

Let me know if that is something that interests you, as I could point you to a top notch Spanish institute in either Mexico or Ecuador.

[thebruce44]

How are you planning to learn by the way? I want to go to China in the next year, so I am thinking of trying to learn enough Mandarin to not embarrass myself. Thinking about picking up just the first lesson of Rosetta Stone but would love to hear other suggestions.

[TooLiveBrew]

IMO, learning Spanish would make you much more employable. There are many fields of business that would enjoy having someone bilingual on their roster.

This gets my vote. I took 4 years of German in h.s., and basically wound up only using it to get retro-credits at UW. One reason I took German is that everyone was taking Spanish, so I tried something different. I regret not taking Spanish for precisely the reason TracyThom mentions. Plus it's useful on a day-to-day basis, just in interacting with people.

[adamb100]

I've taken a year and a half of Spanish. It starts off easy but there is alot of irregularities to it, especially with the preterit and subjunctive tenses. You also have to memorize the rules for when to use the subjunctive and the whole Preterit vs. Imperfect thing. However if you can nail it down, Spanish is the 2nd most spoken language in the US and one of the most spoken in the world and opens up an entire community to communicate with.

[rluzinski]

Spanish just makes too much sense. Whether it's business or pleasure, you have a decent chance of actually getting to use your newly learned language skills if you want to. Hell, you can watch Telemundo!

[T B0NE 10]

Well I'd stick with a Romance language like Spanish, Portugese, Italian, or French or another Germanic language (English is Germanic) such as German or Dutch.

 

 

They say Spanish is one of the easiest languages to learn, and here in the US its probably the most useful. I've taken a year of both Spanish and German. I found Spanish much easier, German has alot of weird rules (like English does) that are hard to get right away. I like German better, I think it sounds cooler and I find German culture fascinating. English is kinda stuck in between a Germanic language and a Romance language so there really isn't a counterpart like Spanish and Italian. So if you learn Spanish you should be able to learn another Romance language very easily since they have so much in common.

 

Stay away from Eastern Languages like Russian, Polish, Arabic, Japanese, and Chinese if you haven't learned a language yet. Its an entirely different alphabet and family. It would take MUCH longer to learn one of these languages.

[davego]

Latin. Great market for it.

[sbrylski]

How are you planning to learn by the way? I want to go to China in the next year, so I am thinking of trying to learn enough Mandarin to not embarrass myself. Thinking about picking up just the first lesson of Rosetta Stone but would love to hear other suggestions.

I was planning on just picking up a software like Rosetta Stone and taking it at least into the intermediate levels, and then seeing what my options are to go from there.

 

Thanks all for your opinions so far. Straw, I'll definitely let you know if I'm interested in doing those programs.

[logan82]

Latin. Great market for it.

Should have gone with Sanskrit.

[hawing]

There's always Esperanto. It probably wouldn't take much instruction to make you a global expert.