Current Events > What language should I learn?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I'm tired of being monolingual. My choice would be japanese but it would probably be much harder since they use a different writing system. What would the most useful pick be? Like for resume and stuff like that.

I took a year of Japanese in college but I doubt I'll ever actually use it.

Since I visit Mexico to see my mom once a year, Spanish is the obvious choice for me.

I would recommend learning a language you will actually be speaking. Otherwise, what's the point.

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If you're in the US, then Spanish will probably be the most useful to you
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You won't learn any language coming into it with an attitude like that
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Other: Arabic. Its the coolest looking.

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realistically, if you're leaving this up to a poll, you're probably just gonna do whichever one gets picked for a week or so and then forget about it forever

instead I'd suggest trying to think of what you'll be able to do with each one (talk to people? read books? watch movies? travel there? get a penpal across the world? etc) and decide which one sounds most interesting/applicable from there

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teep_ posted...

If you're in the US, then Spanish will probably be the most useful to you

This.

AloneIBreak posted...

Other: Arabic. Its the coolest looking.

Japanese and Arabic are the most aesthetically pleasing written languages for sure.

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Depends on what you want to do. Do you want to visit certain countries? Are you interested in media that is in that language? Do you know someone or some people you'd like to communicate with? If you have a more directed goal then it'll be easier to keep going, otherwise you may just flounder with an unfocused objective like "don't be monolingual".

Anyway, if you just want "most useful" then I assume that'd be Mandarin Chinese given how many speak it and how China is the second-largest economy in the world and well on its way to becoming the first-largest.

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C and Igbo
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matchboxsantana posted...

What would the most useful pick be?

I'd advise against this line of thinking. Unless you absolutely need it for a job or loved one, the easiest/best language to learn is always going to be the one you're most interested in, regardless of supposed utility. And "best language for a resume" depends entirely on your field.

kirbymuncher posted...

realistically, if you're leaving this up to a poll, you're probably just gonna do whichever one gets picked for a week or so and then forget about it forever

And yeah, this, honestly.

Anyways, Deutsche Sprache, schnste Sprache.

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Whichever you most want to.
You won't learn a new language if you're not into it

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American Sign Language

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Spanish

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Spanish is the most functional in the US.

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German is the same grammatical system and if you go to Europe it's a tie between German and French for utility. So German is going to be the easiest to pick up for a lot of native english speakers. French is pretty simple and considering both draw so much from Latin and there are already french words that are also in English it's not a hard pick either.

Problem with Spanish is the huge span of dialects; French and German don't have that problem in the same regard, and honestly there are so many spanish speakers in North America and so many will do it better than you due to growing up bilingual you're never going to be that great at it in comparison.

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ShyOx posted...

German is the same grammatical system

Uhh, no it isn't lol.

ShyOx posted...

So German is going to be the easiest to pick up for a lot of native english speakers

Frisian or Dutch is the easiest. German is easy, though. Relatively speaking.

ShyOx posted...

huge span of dialects; German don't have that problem

...Is this a joke post?

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Ancient Macedonian

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Japanese is hard. You have to learn 3 different alphabets is the main issue. But another thing I hate is that they use different words to count things depending on WHAT you are counting. I took Japanese in community College and the counting always tripped me up.

But ultimately it depends on what you want to use the language for. Like if you are going to do some traveling, I'd pick the language I will be in the land of

Great feedback ITT, thanks.

If want to do this and I will commit to it (which is also part of your feedback, don't go into it with a shitty attitude, and you're right).

Shezarr posted...

Uhh, no it isn't lol.

Frisian or Dutch is the easiest. German is easy, though. Relatively speaking.

...Is this a joke post?

Frisian or Dutch aren't on the list.

And yes the general organization of the sentences follows the same formula of subject-verb etc

Nothing has dialects like Spanish does, it's the most widely spoken language in the world. Some of the dialects are so different they're effectively different languages. German is learned all over Europe and so is French, so you don't have the same problem with dialects in regards to non-native speakers, not saying there aren't dialects at all.

TBH considering English is the most widely learned language in Europe and Asia it's kind of a moot point in some ways anyways. If you learn Spanish and get really good you're capable of talking to like a third of the planet.

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ShyOx posted...

it's the most widely spoken language in the world

Isn't that Hindi?
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teep_ posted...

Isn't that Hindi?

Well I mean widely as in more countries across the globe. In pure numbers of native speakers it's Mandarin

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_languages_by_number_of_native_speakers

English is spoken more than hindi, natively, and I don't imagine there are a ton of people outside of India speaking hindi.

Considering it's the language of business and capitalism, there are probably more english speakers in the world than any other language, as in more English is known than any other language in the minds of people, if counting words.

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Samoan.

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French is a great language. Plus it's similar to English at some point: a lot of similar words.

GMAK2442 posted...

French is a great language. Plus it's similar to English at some point: a lot of similar words.

I heard that too.

update - I chose french

matchboxsantana posted...

I heard that too.

update - I chose french

Why

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Shezarr posted...

Why

I live closer to Canada than I do to Mexico and there are not many Spanish speakers in my state. I will not have a chance to practice any of the other languages I listed.

matchboxsantana posted...

I live closer to Canada than I do to Mexico and there are not many Spanish speakers in my state. I will not have a chance to practice any of the other languages I listed.

french then. plenty of french speakers in canada. though it still makes more sense to take spanish since its the quickest growing language in the US.

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Shezarr posted...

Uhh, no it isn't lol.

Frisian or Dutch is the easiest. German is easy, though. Relatively speaking.

...Is this a joke post?

Yes, I have a huge problem with speakers from different parts of Germany. They probably have the worst accent differentiation in one language. And it is only one landlocked country.

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Spanish or Japanese, depending on how much time you dont/do spend on the internet

Hiragana and Katakana are actually really fucking easy to learn. Don't be scared of those.

Be scared of Kanji

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matchboxsantana posted...

I live closer to Canada than I do to Mexico and there are not many Spanish speakers in my state. I will not have a chance to practice any of the other languages I listed.

Well, good luck. I will say there are other ways to engage than in-person, but hope you fall in love with the language!

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Shezarr posted...

Well, good luck. I will say there are other ways to engage than in-person, but hope you fall in love with the language!

thanks :)

The language of love.

Health posted...

The language of love.

indeed!

Java.

tagalog

Nukleen posted...

C and Igbo

based

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Avoid Duolingo.

I'm six months in and about a tenth of the way through their program.

I don't feel like I'm really learning anything with them.

Instead I'm just memorizing basic sentences through brute force. :/

Steffenfield posted...

Avoid Duolingo.

I'm six months in and about a tenth of the way through their program.

I don't feel like I'm really learning anything with them.

Instead I'm just memorizing basic sentences through brute force. :/

Duolingo is great for picking up the basics, vocab and grammar. Its one tool, its never the tool. And you should be branching out as soon as possible

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Mandarin or Spanish are the safest bet. I chose Japanese though, since it's my second most consumed media.

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@Shezarr

Any suggestions on what else to use?

I paid for a yearly sub with Duolingo but it's been wasting too much of my time.

I use Anki and Netflix for my Japanese studies. I try to do 1 hour of Anki and 1 hour of Netflix a day.

I watch Japanese shows on Netflix with Japanese subs. No English. I try to read a summary of the show I'm watching so I can have context on what's going on.

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Steffenfield posted...

@Shezarr

Any suggestions on what else to use?

I paid for a yearly sub with Duolingo but it's been wasting too much of my time.

So as said I think Duo and Memrise are great for beginners, though I wouldn't pay for them. But basically you just want to start engaging with real content as soon as possible. Listen to lots of music, watch youtube videos (what language are you learning?), tv and movies as soon as possible (subs in English are fine to start, but try to move to L2 audio and L2 subs when possible). Don't try to engage with content too far outside your current level, but aim for stuff where you can get the gist of most of it and figure out most of the rest through context. Assimil is a good tool, if they have your L2. It incorporates reading, listening, and writing. Anki is also great for spaced repetition flashcards. Making your own deck is ideal, but ain't nobody got time for that. Really, just engage with as much content as possible across as many mediums as possible, but reading is probably the #1 thing if you can do it.

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Shezarr posted...

So as said I think Duo and Memrise are great for beginners, though I wouldn't pay for them. But basically you just want to start engaging with real content as soon as possible. Listen to lots of music, watch youtube videos (what language are you learning?), tv and movies as soon as possible (subs in English are fine to start, but try to move to L2 audio and L2 subs when possible). Don't try to engage with content too far outside your current level, but aim for stuff where you can get the gist of most of it and figure out most of the rest through context. Assimil is a good tool, if they have your L2. It incorporates reading, listening, and writing. Anki is also great for spaced repetition flashcards. Making your own deck is ideal, but ain't nobody got time for that. Really, just engage with as much content as possible across as many mediums as possible, but reading is probably the #1 thing if you can do it.

this is super helpful thanks

matchboxsantana posted...

this is super helpful thanks

()

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ShyOx posted...

Nothing has dialects like Spanish does, it's the most widely spoken language in the world. Some of the dialects are so different they're effectively different languages.

No they don't. Where's your proof of this, @ShyOx ? You're just talking out of your ass here.

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@Shezarr

Thanks!

I'll take up your suggestions. :)

I'm currently learning Spanish and have about 11k XP so far with their program.