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What language should I learn?

Sep 12, 2009#1

strawman

Aside from English and computer languages, what human language should I learn and why?

I've looked at eceonmic growth to see who the next big winners are globally, and current GDP per capita, largest countries, etc, but can't make up my mind.

Not saying I'm going to learn a language, but I'd like to, and the first step is choosing one and diving in.

Bonus points if you can find free mp3 language lessons for commuting.

-Adam

Sep 12, 2009#2

Ross

Spanish or Mandarin.

Sep 12, 2009#3

The Lovely Boehner

Definitely Spanish. Mandarin if you feel like a challenge.

Sep 12, 2009#4

Terrik

M-M-M-Mandarin!

Sep 12, 2009#5

bhamv3

NOOOOO! Don't learn more languages! It's people like you who put translators and interpreters like me out of a job.

More serious answer:
For practical use in a globalized world, you already know English.
For being able to converse with people from other countries and cultures, I'd say Spanish is more useful for Americans.
Lots of people say Mandarin is a good language to learn, and I see their point, but if Mandarin's a good choice then Indian should be too. So... learn Indian.

Sep 12, 2009#6

Twitch

When I just started school I was told to learn German, "The Trade Language of the World", then they started saying it was English, now it's all about learning Spanish in the US. So I'd go for that.

Sep 12, 2009#7

HCGLNS

Farsi + computers = $$$

Sep 12, 2009#8

Wasabi Poptart

Gaelic!

which I am only suggesting because I think it's neat, not for any practical use

Sep 12, 2009#9

HCGLNS

WildSoul said:
Gaelic!

which I am only suggesting because I think it's neat, not for any practical use

People who speak Gaelic rule over all others!

Distance courses now available!

http://www.gaelicacademy.ca/

Sep 12, 2009#10

Krisken

Binary.

Sep 12, 2009#11

Dusty668

BBC has free language courses:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/

Sep 12, 2009#12

North_Ranger

Finnish, because then you would know if I just insulted your mother

Äitisi on minun mielestäni äärimmäisen mukava ja iloinen ihminen. Hänen kaltaisiaan naisihmisiä soisin kohtaavani useamminkin.

But seriously... considering you're from the States, I'd recommend Spanish.

Of course, you could always do what the Google Ads tell you and learn Biblical Hebrew.

Sep 12, 2009#13

AshburnerX

Japanese is a good option too. Japan is a major trade partner, and probably our closest ally after England and Canada.

Sep 12, 2009#14

Chazwozel

stienman said:
Aside from English and computer languages, what human language should I learn and why?

I've looked at eceonmic growth to see who the next big winners are globally, and current GDP per capita, largest countries, etc, but can't make up my mind.

Not saying I'm going to learn a language, but I'd like to, and the first step is choosing one and diving in.

Bonus points if you can find free mp3 language lessons for commuting.

-Adam

Entish.

You'll spend your entire life just learning to say "hello, good morning to you"

Sep 12, 2009#15

Andromache

Mandarin. you can check out http://www.livemocha.com for language lessons for free.

Sep 12, 2009#16

AshburnerX

Japanese is a good option too. Japan is a major trade partner, and probably our closest ally after England and Canada.

Sep 12, 2009#17

JCM

Learn the most important ones... I´d say French, Spanish, or Mandarin.

Sep 12, 2009#18

AshburnerX

JCM said:
Learn the most important ones... I´d say French, Spanish, or Mandarin.

French? How is French relevant today? It's useful for seduction, but it's hardly useful for business, which is why he wants to learn a second language.

Sep 12, 2009#19

Shannow

Sep 12, 2009#20

GeneralOrder24

COBOL.

Sep 12, 2009#21

Rob King

I've been meaning to learn French. Not because it's the second official language of my country, but because it's a big colonial language. Spanish too, but ... well, it being the second official language of my country does have a little bit to do with it.

Not that I'd really want to talk to any Quebecois anyways ... :tongue:

Sep 12, 2009#22

Cajungal

Spanish! There's a free tutor on this board.

(points to the guy in the funny hat, smoking pot, listening to the Beatles)

---------- Post added at 02:21 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:21 PM ----------

AshburnerX;253696][quote=JCM said:
Learn the most important ones... I´d say French, Spanish, or Mandarin.

French? How is French relevant today? It's useful for seduction, but it's hardly useful for business, which is why he wants to learn a second language.[/QUOTE]

It's still the language of diplomacy.

Sep 12, 2009#23

GeneralOrder24

Cajungal said:
Spanish! There's a free tutor on this board. (points to the guy in the funny hat, smoking pot, listening to the Beatles)

---------- Post added at 02:21 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:21 PM ----------

AshburnerX;253696][quote=JCM said:

Learn the most important ones... I´d say French, Spanish, or Mandarin.

Click to expand...

French? How is French relevant today? It's useful for seduction, but it's hardly useful for business, which is why he wants to learn a second language.

It's still the language of diplomacy.[/QUOTE]

Je suis les petit surrender!

Sep 12, 2009#24

strawman

GeneralOrder24;253705][quote=Cajungal;253701][quote=AshburnerX;253696][quote=JCM said:
Learn the most important ones... I´d say French, Spanish, or Mandarin.

French? How is French relevant today? It's useful for seduction, but it's hardly useful for business, which is why he wants to learn a second language.[/quote]

It's still the language of diplomacy.[/quote]

Je suis les petit surrender![/quote]
:rofl:

I still love the related google bomb:

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=French+Military+Victories&l=1

-Adam

Sep 12, 2009#25

AshburnerX

Cajungal said:
Spanish! There's a free tutor on this board. (points to the guy in the funny hat, smoking pot, listening to the Beatles)

---------- Post added at 02:21 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:21 PM ----------

AshburnerX;253696][quote=JCM said:

Learn the most important ones... I´d say French, Spanish, or Mandarin.

Click to expand...

French? How is French relevant today? It's useful for seduction, but it's hardly useful for business, which is why he wants to learn a second language.

It's still the language of diplomacy.[/QUOTE]

No... that's English now too.

Sep 12, 2009#26

Cajungal

Oops, you're right. :eek:

Love, then? It's pretty. English is not so pretty.

---------- Post added at 02:35 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:29 PM ----------

Also, no matter what language you learn (practical or not), I find it helps you appreciate language and communication itself a lot more.

Sep 12, 2009#27

strawman

Cajungal said:
Oops, you're right.

Love, then? It's pretty. English is not so pretty.

---------- Post added at 02:35 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:29 PM ----------

Also, no matter what language you learn (practical or not), I find it helps you appreciate language and communication itself a lot more.

le meow, le purrrr...

-Adam

Sep 12, 2009#28

Cajungal

Bluuuhhhhh... he always frightened me a little.

Sep 12, 2009#29

strawman

Cajungal said:
Bluuuhhhhh... he always frightened me a little.

Pretty sure that's part of the point. He cracks me up though.

Here's the english version:

-Adam

Sep 12, 2009#30

Calleja

Cajungal said:
Spanish! There's a free tutor on this board. (points to the guy in the funny hat, smoking pot, listening to the Beatles)

HEY!

I wasn't smoking pot!!

but yeah, any Spanish questions you might have, I'd be happy to help.

Spanish is a good option, too. Dominating English and Spanish means I can pretty much communicate with half the civilized world. I can go to any country in this continent, except Brazil and the guyanas, without a problem.

Sep 12, 2009#31

Enresshou

North_Ranger said:
Finnish, because then you would know if I just insulted your mother Äitisi on minun mielestäni äärimmäisen mukava ja iloinen ihminen. Hänen kaltaisiaan naisihmisiä soisin kohtaavani useamminkin.

But seriously... considering you're from the States, I'd recommend Spanish.

Of course, you could always do what the Google Ads tell you and learn Biblical Hebrew.

I've been thinking about trying to learn either Finnish or Swedish, just because I really want to travel to the region someday. Any pointers?

Sep 12, 2009#32

The Lovely Boehner

Ban everyone that suggested a programming language

Sep 12, 2009#33

North_Ranger

Enresshou said:
I've been thinking about trying to learn either Finnish or Swedish, just because I really want to travel to the region someday. Any pointers?

Well, for starters the two languages are completely different. Swedish, like English, is a Germanic language, and due to the contact between the Norsemen and the Anglo-Saxons, there's quite significant close similarities. Finnish, on the other hand, is a Finno-Ugric language, related to Hungarian and the Baltic and Sami languages - as well as several community languages spoken throughout Russia.

If by 'region' you meant Scandinavia, I would reluctantly advise you to try your hand at Swedish. Swedish, Danish, Icelandic and the two varieties of Norwegian (bokmål and nynorsk) are quite close to each other, although not completely mutually intelligible.

if, however, you should come to Finland, then by all means, study Finnish ^_^ Just a cautionary advice, though: Finnish is often ranked among the most difficult languages to master, right after Mandarin Chinese. Fifteen different cases alone tend to scare people away.

Generally speaking, however, you should be able to get by with English in all of the Nordic countries. Most people have been studying English as their first foreign language, and at least the younger generations are extremely fluent in it (at least in Finland).

Fun Fact: Finnish was one of the languages that J.R.R. Tolkien used when developing Quenya. The pronunciation of Finnish and Quenya are quite similar, and there's a lot of words that are either directly from Finnish or can be easily traced back to the Finnish base word.

Sep 12, 2009#34

Rob King

North_Ranger said:
if, however, you should come to Finland, then by all means, study Finnish ^_^ Just a cautionary advice, though: Finnish is often ranked among the most difficult languages to master, right after Mandarin Chinese. Fifteen different cases alone tend to scare people away.

Motherfucker! German kicked my ass with 4. Ancient Greek made me cry with 5. But 15??

Sep 12, 2009#35

North_Ranger

Rob King;253771][quote=North_Ranger said:
if, however, you should come to Finland, then by all means, study Finnish ^_^ Just a cautionary advice, though: Finnish is often ranked among the most difficult languages to master, right after Mandarin Chinese. Fifteen different cases alone tend to scare people away.

Motherfucker! German kicked my ass with 4. Ancient Greek made me cry with 5. But 15??[/QUOTE]

Hey, it's easy when you grow up listening to the language. I still have trouble with your freaky English prepositions and gender-apartheid personal pronouns

Basically, Finnish uses cases instead of prepositions. Take a gander in here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnish_language_noun_cases

Sep 12, 2009#36

Krisken

Charlie Dont Surf said:
Ban everyone that suggested a programming language

Whiner. :angry:

Sep 12, 2009#37

Rob King

North_Ranger;253772][quote=Rob King;253771][quote=North_Ranger said:
if, however, you should come to Finland, then by all means, study Finnish ^_^ Just a cautionary advice, though: Finnish is often ranked among the most difficult languages to master, right after Mandarin Chinese. Fifteen different cases alone tend to scare people away.

Basically, Finnish uses cases instead of prepositions. Take a gander in here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnish_language_noun_cases[/QUOTE]

That's crazy. At least the Germans keep it mostly grammatical!

I can get what you mean about growing up with it, though. My heart breaks to children who learn creole or pidgin languages first. When it comes time to learn anything else, there's nowhere to go but up (in difficulty).

Sep 12, 2009#38

North_Ranger

Rob King said:
That's crazy. At least the Germans keep it mostly grammatical!

I can get what you mean about growing up with it, though. My heart breaks to children who learn creole or pidgin languages first. When it comes time to learn anything else, there's nowhere to go but up (in difficulty).

OY! It is grammatical. But just like any human system, there's variations and exceptions. Just think about the pain us non-native English speakers have to go through, gettin' all your silly irregular verbs in order

Also, creole languages tend to be quite settled. It's actually the way linguists make the distinction between a pidgin and a creole: a pidgin is a kind of a tool of necessity that one uses in a limited set of situations. BUT when a child grows up speaking a pidgin as their first language - being a native speaker of it, therefore - then it is called a creole. And when one uses a creole as one's first language in daily use, the field of linguistic expression grows and adapts, incorporating fields one could not discuss in the original pidgin. Tok Pisin (literally 'talk pidgin') is one such language. 1-2 million native speakers, and one of the three official languages of Papua New Guinea.

Linguistics 101, part of my basic studies

Sep 12, 2009#39

Chazwozel

JCM said:
Learn the most important ones... I´d say French, Spanish, or Mandarin.

He already knows the most important one... 'MERICAN!

Sep 12, 2009#40

Rob King

North_Ranger said:
OY! It is grammatical. But just like any human system, there's variations and exceptions. Just think about the pain us non-native English speakers have to go through, gettin' all your silly irregular verbs in order

What I meant was they use it pretty much expressly for ... I'm not sure what to call it. English uses word order to express Object, Subject, etc. German uses case. Apparently so does Finnish, but then you guys pile a whole bunch of other stuff on top as well!

North_Ranger said:
Also, creole languages tend to be quite settled. It's actually the way linguists make the distinction between a pidgin and a creole: a pidgin is a kind of a tool of necessity that one uses in a limited set of situations. BUT when a child grows up speaking a pidgin as their first language - being a native speaker of it, therefore - then it is called a creole. And when one uses a creole as one's first language in daily use, the field of linguistic expression grows and adapts, incorporating fields one could not discuss in the original pidgin. Tok Pisin (literally 'talk pidgin') is one such language. 1-2 million native speakers, and one of the three official languages of Papua New Guinea.

Linguistics 101, part of my basic studies

Good to know. All I'm sure of is that I spent 2 weeks in Haiti, and was able to communicate fairly effectively by day four. Haitian Creole was unbelievably simple.

Sep 12, 2009#41

North_Ranger

No, we just use the cases to express a wide variety of relationships between the subject and the object. Well... not really any more than you do, I suppose. But yes, instead of separate words or subordinate clauses, Finnish carries a lot of meaning depending on the case of the word.

Sep 12, 2009#42

Yoink

I´m curious .. is german a difficult language to learn for a native english-speaker?

Sep 12, 2009#43

Rob King

The longer I live, the more I realize that language is flipping retarded.

---------- Post added at 11:36 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:28 PM ----------

Yoink said:
I´m curious .. is german a difficult language to learn for a native english-speaker?

I don't know a lot of German, but I have a year and a half or university German in me, and I didn't find it impossible.

The second hardest part for me was remembering vocab, which is more of a 'my brain is stupid, and I don't always put the effort required into my schooling' thing. The worst part was the problem with case, (mentioned a few posts up) but most of my issue was that I didn't fully understand sentence structure in English.

The biggest problem you're going to have if you try to learn any new language is coming to terms with the fact that you don't understand your own. If you're not confident, I would encourage you to study English structure in depth for a short time to make sure you have it, before you get hardcore into German.

I don't mean like, hardcore study. A few nights reviewing where the subject, object, etc. are, and you should be good.

Sep 12, 2009#44

Denbrought

I'd suggest spanish, as that's the language spoken in most of the countries closer to yours. It'll also make for really fun conversations: stoned mex, drunk spaniard & the newbie american.

Sep 12, 2009#45

Espy

Man, I am not looking forward to my language studies. I'm going to have to have German, French, Hebrew and Greek.
I HATE learning languages.

Sep 12, 2009#46

ThatGrinningIdiot!

Denbrought said:
It'll also make for really fun conversations: stoned mex, drunk spaniard & the newbie american.

I have a sudden urge to write up a sitcom.

Sep 12, 2009#47

PatrThom

Don't neglect English. If your English vocabulary is comprehensive enough, you can still figure out what's going on in a German or Dutch conversation even though you don't know the words themselves.

Likewise, when I was still fluent in Spanish (fluent enough to pun), I could hop over to Portugal and still make myself well enough understood.

Right now, I would say Spanish. I can't make a better judgement as to what suits you best without knowing more about you, sorry.

--Patrick

Sep 12, 2009#48

Chazwozel

Yoink said:
I´m curious .. is german a difficult language to learn for a native english-speaker?

Nope. It's actually, probably the easiest foreign language to learn for an native English speaker.

Sep 13, 2009#49

ThatNickGuy

Two pages and not a single suggestion for Klingon?

For SHAME.

Sep 13, 2009#50

Rob King

ThatNickGuy said:
Two pages and not a single suggestion for Klingon?

For SHAME.

This is where we differ. I was proud of us.

Sep 13, 2009#51

HowDroll

AshburnerX;253696][quote=JCM said:
Learn the most important ones... I´d say French, Spanish, or Mandarin.

French? How is French relevant today? It's useful for seduction, but it's hardly useful for business, which is why he wants to learn a second language.[/QUOTE]

Srsly? French is the most widely-spoken foreign language in the world after English and the only other language natively spoken on five continents. When I was traveling in Europe, if I had to deal with someone who didn't speak English, they almost always spoke at least some French--and they weren't always just Europeans. I would say that French is immensely useful, even more so than Spanish on an international scale.

Sep 13, 2009#52

Calleja

I'm sorry Droll, but I think you have your figures wrong. French is NOWHERE near the most widely-spoken foreign language, not even after English.

http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/most_spoken_languages.htm

Sep 13, 2009#53

AshburnerX

Calleja said:
I'm sorry Droll, but I think you have your figures wrong. French is NOWHERE near the most widely-spoken foreign language, not even after English.

http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/most_spoken_languages.htm

I object to that list combining all of the Chinese Dialects, when they are all quite different. It is interesting that Hindi beats English as a native language though.

Sep 13, 2009#54

Calleja

It combines them, but it also separates them.

Sep 13, 2009#55

HowDroll

Calleja said:
I'm sorry Droll, but I think you have your figures wrong. French is NOWHERE near the most widely-spoken foreign language, not even after English.

http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/most_spoken_languages.htm

Sep 13, 2009#56

CrimsonSoul

I say you learn Sign Language, but that's just me

Sep 13, 2009#57

North_Ranger

CrimsonSoul said:
I say you learn Sign Language, but that's just me

The thing is, even that's not universal. Your American Sign Language is different from what they use in, say, the UK or France. Or Finland, for that matter.

Sep 13, 2009#58

Silver Jelly

HowDroll;254051][quote=Calleja said:
I'm sorry Droll, but I think you have your figures wrong. French is NOWHERE near the most widely-spoken foreign language, not even after English.

http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/most_spoken_languages.htm

Sep 13, 2009#59

Kitty Sinatra

Learn Portuguese. Trawl Rio for hawt chicks with JCM.

Sep 13, 2009#60

Terrik

HowDroll;254051][quote=Calleja said:
I'm sorry Droll, but I think you have your figures wrong. French is NOWHERE near the most widely-spoken foreign language, not even after English.

http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/most_spoken_languages.htm

Sep 13, 2009#61

crono1224

I have tried to learn Japanese a couple times, took a class at a college and a little bit of rosetta stone, the problem I think I am encountering is immersion or day to day usage. And without perhaps consistent usage its hard to remeber it all. I dunno if there is a great way of getting around that, but ya.

Sep 13, 2009#62

CrimsonSoul

North_Ranger;254109][quote=CrimsonSoul said:
I say you learn Sign Language, but that's just me

The thing is, even that's not universal. Your American Sign Language is different from what they use in, say, the UK or France. Or Finland, for that matter.[/QUOTE]

I believe there are two types of SL American and then there's the universal sign language (I think) just don't learn American, the difference with it is the slang that the ASL uses

Sep 13, 2009#63

JCM

Terrik;254178][quote=HowDroll;254051][quote=Calleja said:
I'm sorry Droll, but I think you have your figures wrong. French is NOWHERE near the most widely-spoken foreign language, not even after English.

http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/most_spoken_languages.htm

Well, of course when China and India both have 1 billion plus people, more people will speak those languages from those countries. When I said "widely," I meant in terms of this statistic:

English
Official language in 83 countries/regions (ISO), spoken in 105 other countries (E).

French
Official language in 40 countries (ISO), spoken in 54 countries (E)

Spanish
Official language in 21 countries (ISO), spoken in 44 countries (E)

Because, honestly, outside of the Chinese in China and the Indians in India, and perhaps those who have emigrated and their children, you don't have a lot of people learning to speak those languages. It'll be useful to learn if you plan on doing business with these countries, but knowing Mandarin isn't very useful on a global scale when you aren't dealing with the Chinese. However, it's very easy to find people who aren't American who speak English and those who aren't French that speak French.[/QUOTE]

Not entirely true. Chinese is useful throughout all of Asia--. It's a massive regional language and on the fast track to being global due to China's increasing political and economic influence.[/QUOTE]This.

I mentioned French because every damn country I visited, it was the third or fourth language in terms of number of language schools and people studying it, behind English and Spanish.

Its also the language Im taking up now, my 7th.

One could say that its the third most important language, if you dont factor in Arabic (due to its geographical limitation) and Chinese (most speakers are Chinese, anyway).

There's also Portuguese, which is popular, but skip it and o for Spanish, and you'll survive in Portuguese-speaking countries if you speak slowly.

Sep 13, 2009#64

wana10

crono1224 said:
I have tried to learn Japanese a couple times, took a class at a college and a little bit of rosetta stone, the problem I think I am encountering is immersion or day to day usage. And without perhaps consistent usage its hard to remeber it all. I dunno if there is a great way of getting around that, but ya.

this, i look forwards to summer break but at the same time i dread it, because no matter how much i try to speak, write, or otherwise use japanese during the summer i always spend the last week before school trying to cram back in everything i've forgotten.

Sep 13, 2009#65

JCM

Gruebeard said:
Learn Portuguese. Trawl Rio for hawt chicks with JCM.

Nah, if you are american (or look foreign, like I do) you dont even need portuguese, there are "Maria gringos" (think tourist groupies) at the airport and most popular beaches looking for unattached male tourists.

Just be careful, while 99% just want to do a foreigner, there's that 1% that wants to hold you for ransom or sell/rob your stuff/money/organs.

---------- Post added at 01:58 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:54 AM ----------

Chazwozel;253813][quote=JCM said:
Learn the most important ones... I´d say French, Spanish, or Mandarin.

He already knows the most important one... 'MERICAN!

[/QUOTE]

Sep 13, 2009#66

Cuyval Dar

Learn Mando'a, Shyriiwook, and Elvish.

Sep 13, 2009#67

Andromache

HowDroll said:
Because, honestly, outside of the Chinese in China and the Indians in India, and perhaps those who have emigrated and their children, you don't have a lot of people learning to speak those languages. It'll be useful to learn if you plan on doing business with these countries, but knowing Mandarin isn't very useful on a global scale when you aren't dealing with the Chinese. However, it's very easy to find people who aren't American who speak English and those who aren't French that speak French.

Sep 13, 2009#68

Chazwozel

Crone;254291][quote=HowDroll said:
Because, honestly, outside of the Chinese in China and the Indians in India, and perhaps those who have emigrated and their children, you don't have a lot of people learning to speak those languages. It'll be useful to learn if you plan on doing business with these countries, but knowing Mandarin isn't very useful on a global scale when you aren't dealing with the Chinese. However, it's very easy to find people who aren't American who speak English and those who aren't French that speak French.

in the constraints of the OP's question, it's really hard to to suggest that Chinese isn't very useful on the global business scale, especially given the country's purchasing parity. From that standpoint, it's a strange notion to ignore the third largest economy in the world. Yes, French is widely used, but a language sector behind a 4.4 trillion (USD) GDP (nominal) is not inconsequential.[/QUOTE]

From a business standpoint, English is the language of choice.

Sep 13, 2009#69

JCM

Yep. Most exporting countries, specially China, already have English-speaking people to handle foreigners.

Crone;254291][quote=HowDroll said:
Because, honestly, outside of the Chinese in China and the Indians in India, and perhaps those who have emigrated and their children, you don't have a lot of people learning to speak those languages. It'll be useful to learn if you plan on doing business with these countries, but knowing Mandarin isn't very useful on a global scale when you aren't dealing with the Chinese. However, it's very easy to find people who aren't American who speak English and those who aren't French that speak French.

in the constraints of the OP's question, it's really hard to to suggest that Chinese isn't very useful on the global business scale, especially given the country's purchasing parity. From that standpoint, it's a strange notion to ignore the third largest economy in the world. Yes, French is widely used, but a language sector behind a 4.4 trillion (USD) GDP (nominal) is not inconsequential.[/QUOTE]However his point still stands.

If you want to be a businessman and deal with the Chinese, its a great language, but if you just want a language that will be useful while travelling, Spanish and French will help more, after English.

Sep 13, 2009#70

Chazwozel

JCM;254303]Yep. Most exporting countries said:
Because, honestly, outside of the Chinese in China and the Indians in India, and perhaps those who have emigrated and their children, you don't have a lot of people learning to speak those languages. It'll be useful to learn if you plan on doing business with these countries, but knowing Mandarin isn't very useful on a global scale when you aren't dealing with the Chinese. However, it's very easy to find people who aren't American who speak English and those who aren't French that speak French.

in the constraints of the OP's question, it's really hard to to suggest that Chinese isn't very useful on the global business scale, especially given the country's purchasing parity. From that standpoint, it's a strange notion to ignore the third largest economy in the world. Yes, French is widely used, but a language sector behind a 4.4 trillion (USD) GDP (nominal) is not inconsequential.[/QUOTE]However his point still stands.

If you want to be a businessman and deal with the Chinese, its a great language, but if you just want a language that will be useful while travelling, Spanish and French will help more, after English.[/QUOTE]

This.

Sep 13, 2009#71

Terrik

Kind of depends on where you go though, right? If you're planning to be around the Asia/SE Asia corner of the world, then hell yes, learn Chinese, it's everywhere (and so are the Chinese Diaspora). But If Europe/Latin America/S. America is more your style, then no, I guess Chinese won't work that well (although I bet you could get through Vietnam with some French)

Sep 13, 2009#72

PatrThom

Calleja said:
I'm sorry Droll, but I think you have your figures wrong. French is NOWHERE near the most widely-spoken foreign language, not even after English.

It used to be. There was a time that French was THE language of diplomacy.

--Patrick

Sep 13, 2009#73

Twitch

PatrThom;254340][quote=Calleja said:
I'm sorry Droll, but I think you have your figures wrong. French is NOWHERE near the most widely-spoken foreign language, not even after English.

It used to be. There was a time that French was THE language of diplomacy.

--Patrick[/QUOTE]
Personally I speak Spanish to God, Italian to women, French to men, and German to my horse.

Sep 13, 2009#74

drawn_inward

I'd suggest Hindi since the Indian economy is rising, and their population is friggin' huge, but they all learn English while growing up. I'd go for Mandarin or Spanish, as well. Though, Arabic wouldn't hurt either.

Sep 13, 2009#75

JCM

drawn_inward said:
I'd suggest Hindi since the Indian economy is rising, and their population is friggin' huge, but they all learn English while growing up. I'd go for Mandarin or Spanish, as well. Though, Arabic wouldn't hurt either.

Believe me, it hurts.

For an american speaker its already hard to grasp having masculine, and feminine forms of nouns (in addition to singular and plural) in Latin-derived languages, imagine having to learn a language where every word has three singular, double and plural forms (masculine-neutral-feminine).

The only thing harder would be Latin.

Sep 14, 2009#76

HowDroll

Terrik said:
Kind of depends on where you go though, right? If you're planning to be around the Asia/SE Asia corner of the world, then hell yes, learn Chinese, it's everywhere (and so are the Chinese Diaspora). But If Europe/Latin America/S. America is more your style, then no, I guess Chinese won't work that well (although I bet you could get through Vietnam with some French)

Don't forget Africa. A great many African countries are francophonic--France was right down there imperializing with the best of them.

JCM;254303]Yep. Most exporting countries said:
Because, honestly, outside of the Chinese in China and the Indians in India, and perhaps those who have emigrated and their children, you don't have a lot of people learning to speak those languages. It'll be useful to learn if you plan on doing business with these countries, but knowing Mandarin isn't very useful on a global scale when you aren't dealing with the Chinese. However, it's very easy to find people who aren't American who speak English and those who aren't French that speak French.

in the constraints of the OP's question, it's really hard to to suggest that Chinese isn't very useful on the global business scale, especially given the country's purchasing parity. From that standpoint, it's a strange notion to ignore the third largest economy in the world. Yes, French is widely used, but a language sector behind a 4.4 trillion (USD) GDP (nominal) is not inconsequential.[/QUOTE]However his point still stands.

If you want to be a businessman and deal with the Chinese, its a great language, but if you just want a language that will be useful while travelling, Spanish and French will help more, after English.[/QUOTE]

HIS point?!

Sep 14, 2009#77

Frankie Williamson

Learn to speak French in Canada. Then during your trip to France, have them still be complete assholes because your accent is wrong.

I fucking hate the French.

Sep 14, 2009#78

North_Ranger

JCM;254346][quote=drawn_inward said:
I'd suggest Hindi since the Indian economy is rising, and their population is friggin' huge, but they all learn English while growing up. I'd go for Mandarin or Spanish, as well. Though, Arabic wouldn't hurt either.

Sep 14, 2009#79

AshburnerX

Frankie said:
Learn to speak French in Canada. Then during your trip to France, have them still be complete assholes because your accent is wrong.

I fucking hate the French.

That would be the Parisians. They somehow think that there rich arts culture justifies them being obnoxious twits to anyone who enters the country, mainly as a reaction to France's decreased influence in a world that is becoming less Euro-centric. Once you leave Paris, people stop being assholes.

Sep 14, 2009#80

Rob King

Frankie said:
Learn to speak French in Canada. Then during your trip to France, have them still be complete assholes because your accent is wrong.

I fucking hate the French.

Hear, hear!

I've also had Quebecois tell me how France speaks french wrong. With french, there is no winning. Which explains all the surrendering.

Sep 14, 2009#81

Covar

learn Kling...

...human language...

...on. nvm.

I suggest Spanish. Its easy and increasingly useful in this country.

Learn the Language of your enemy. It will be extremely useful.

Sep 14, 2009#82

JCM

North_Ranger;254456][quote=JCM;254346][quote=drawn_inward said:
I'd suggest Hindi since the Indian economy is rising, and their population is friggin' huge, but they all learn English while growing up. I'd go for Mandarin or Spanish, as well. Though, Arabic wouldn't hurt either.

Finnish ( suomi (help·info), or suomen kieli) is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland... bla bla....The morphosyntactic alignment is nominative-accusative; but there are two object cases: accusative and partitive. The contrast between the two is telic, where the accusative case denotes actions completed as intended (Ammuin hirven "I shot (killed) the elk"), and the partitive case denotes incomplete actions (Ammuin hirveä "I shot (at) the elk"). Often this is confused with perfectivity, but the only element of perfectivity that exists in Finnish is that there are some perfective verbs. Transitivity is distinguished by different verbs for transitive and intransitive, e.g. ratkaista "to solve something" vs. ratketa "to solve by itself". There are several frequentative and momentane verb cat-

Puts Finnish in his "never want to learn" list

Sep 14, 2009#83

Drachenherz

Ookay, didn't read through the whole thread, so I guess this is bound to already been posted:

Learn chinese (mandarin preferably), english, spanish and french, and you can get through in the most places on earth.

Sep 14, 2009#84

CrimsonSoul

What is Shego's preferred language? Find out and learn it, she may then let you live when she takes over. Either that or kill you last.

Sep 14, 2009#85

Chazwozel

CrimsonSoul said:
What is Shego's preferred language? Find out and learn it, she may then let you live when she takes over. Either that or kill you last.

Shego's too lazy to even end her loveless relationship in order to maintain financial stability enough to not have to work fulltime and play video games all day. What makes you think she's taking over anything anytime soon.

Sep 14, 2009#86

Silver Jelly

Chazwozel;254675][quote=CrimsonSoul said:
What is Shego's preferred language? Find out and learn it, she may then let you live when she takes over. Either that or kill you last.

[/QUOTE]

Wow, thank god you winked.

Sep 14, 2009#87

JCM

Silver Jelly;254693][quote=Chazwozel;254675][quote=CrimsonSoul said:
What is Shego's preferred language? Find out and learn it, she may then let you live when she takes over. Either that or kill you last.

[/QUOTE]

Wow, thank god you winked.[/QUOTE] :popcorn:

Sep 14, 2009#88

ThatGrinningIdiot!

Chazwozel;254675][quote=CrimsonSoul said:
What is Shego's preferred language? Find out and learn it, she may then let you live when she takes over. Either that or kill you last.

[/QUOTE]

Your wit, sir, is a finely honed rapier. Carry on.

Sep 14, 2009#89

North_Ranger

JCM said:
Puts Finnish in his "never want to learn" list

Pansy

Sep 14, 2009#90

Krisken

My banner ad suggests "Confucius Institute". Google is almost never wrong.

Sep 14, 2009#91

JCM

My adsense box reads -
Kamasutra para elas
Saiba tudo sobre sexo Hindi
20 posições para você escolher
www.bolsademulher.com/sexo

North_Ranger;254815][quote=JCM said:
Puts Finnish in his \"never want to learn\" list

Pansy

[/QUOTE]I already speak 7 languages... I´d hate for something confusing to traumatize me like Arabic did.

Sep 14, 2009#92

MisterSteve

Ebonics.

What?

Sep 14, 2009#93

North_Ranger

MisterSteve said:
Ebonics.

On the behalf of every linguist on the face of the Earth...

Sep 14, 2009#94

Wasabi Poptart

igpay atinlay

Sep 14, 2009#95

PatrThom

Ebonics is just a dialect, anyway. Not a full language.

--Patrick

Sep 14, 2009#96

Calleja

mexican naco

Sep 15, 2009#97

tegid

CrimsonSoul;254212][quote=North_Ranger;254109][quote=CrimsonSoul said:
I say you learn Sign Language, but that's just me

The thing is, even that's not universal. Your American Sign Language is different from what they use in, say, the UK or France. Or Finland, for that matter.[/quote]

I believe there are two types of SL American and then there's the universal sign language (I think) just don't learn American, the difference with it is the slang that the ASL uses[/QUOTE]

Well, that's in the States, of course. There's like a gazillion sign languages all over the world, I think. For instance, we have at least two here in Spain. As for the universal one, I don't know how widely it is used in other places, but I can tell you that here no one uses it (I think it is better known in northern Europe).

Although apparently when you're 'fluent' with one of them, you can easily communicate with other SL signers ('speakers'). Kinda like learning Spanish an talking to a portuguese, or dutch and going to germany, but with the whole world and the limited comunity of deaf people who sign.

Also, answering to the OP, learn German. It's kinda useful, shouldn't be too difficult for a native English speaker, and it's cool to learn a declinative language without getting into fucking Finnish

---------- Post added at 07:45 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:40 AM ----------

Or Spanish. More useful... but German's cooler, just for the cases and whatnot.

Sep 15, 2009#98

North_Ranger

tegid said:
*sniparoo* --- fucking Finnish

Sleep with one eye open.

Sep 15, 2009#99

Silver Jelly

North_Ranger;255261][quote=tegid said:
*sniparoo* --- fucking Finnish

Sleep with one eye open.[/QUOTE]

...Or you'l get finnish fucked!

Sep 15, 2009#100

North_Ranger

Silver Jelly;255265][quote=North_Ranger;255261][quote=tegid said:
*sniparoo* --- fucking Finnish

Sleep with one eye open.[/QUOTE]

...Or you'l get finnish fucked![/QUOTE]

Actually, that would be a Swedish response.

But, should someone somewhere be bludgeoned to death in their sleep with a deep-frozen salmon... *shrug*

Sep 15, 2009#101

tegid

Hey hey! Don't get me wrong, I'm sure it's cool, but I mean, it's only for real men, right? Like, anyone would go crazy from trying to learn it with 15 cases? C'thulu crazy?

That's what I meant with fucking Finnish. C'thulu Finnish. Goddam, we normal people need to be careful or we'll lose our sanity if we think about this things too much, arright? I understand it is no problem for you, but we could all use some sympathy thank you.

EDIT: Ha! More like an unfrozen, stinky salmon here in the hot weather!

Sep 15, 2009#102

Shannow

Silver Jelly;254693][quote=Chazwozel;254675][quote=CrimsonSoul said:
What is Shego's preferred language? Find out and learn it, she may then let you live when she takes over. Either that or kill you last.

[/quote]

Wow, thank god you winked.[/QUOTE]

Why?

Sep 15, 2009#103

Silver Jelly

Shannow;255278][quote=Silver Jelly;254693][quote=Chazwozel;254675][quote=CrimsonSoul said:
What is Shego's preferred language? Find out and learn it, she may then let you live when she takes over. Either that or kill you last.

[/quote]

Wow, thank god you winked.[/QUOTE]

Why?[/QUOTE]

Go wander the earth a little longer.

Sep 15, 2009#104

Shannow

No thanks, I am here now.

Sep 15, 2009#105

Chazwozel

PatrThom said:
Ebonics is just a dialect, anyway. Not a full language.

--Patrick

Really? Cause every time I go to Atalanta I don't understand a goddamn thing anyone says.

Sep 15, 2009#106

Calleja

Están todos ustedes bien pinches locos, me cae.

Sep 15, 2009#107

Shannow

Chazwozel;255295][quote=PatrThom said:
Ebonics is just a dialect, anyway. Not a full language.

--Patrick

Really? Cause every time I go to Atalanta I don't understand a goddamn thing anyone says.

[/QUOTE]

Sep 15, 2009#108

Covar

I said it before, I'll say it again.

Learn the Language of your enemy.

Sep 15, 2009#109

bhamv3

Covar said:
I said it before, I'll say it again.

Learn the Language of your enemy.

That way, when you defeat him, you can tell him in his native tongue that his mother was a hamster and his father smelt of elderberries.

Sep 15, 2009#110

Bubble181

Dutch, Finnish or Mandarin. Three out of five hardest languages to learn for a native english speaker, supposedly, and each'll allow you to share in jokes with some cool forumites. (I mean Ame, not myself :-P)

Sep 15, 2009#111

North_Ranger

bhamv3;255383][quote=Covar said:
I said it before, I'll say it again.

Learn the Language of your enemy.

That way, when you defeat him, you can tell him in his native tongue that his mother was a hamster and his father smelt of elderberries.[/QUOTE]

Äitisi on hamsteri ja isäsi haisee seljapensaan marjoilta.

Sep 15, 2009#112

Calleja

North_Ranger said:
Äitisi on hamsteri ja isäsi haisee seljapensaan marjoilta.

Tu madre era un hamster y tu padre olía a saúco

Sep 15, 2009#113

JCM

North_Ranger;255607][quote=bhamv3;255383][quote=Covar said:
I said it before, I'll say it again.

Learn the Language of your enemy.

Sep 15, 2009#114

Silver Jelly

Calleja;255640][quote=North_Ranger said:
Äitisi on hamsteri ja isäsi haisee seljapensaan marjoilta.

Tu madre era un hamster y tu padre olía a saúco[/QUOTE]

La teva mare era un hàmster i el teu pare feia olor de saüc!

Sep 15, 2009#115

PatrThom

Shannow;255307][quote=Chazwozel;255295][quote=PatrThom said:
Ebonics is just a dialect, anyway. Not a full language.

Really? Cause every time I go to Atalanta I don't understand a goddamn thing anyone says.

[/QUOTE]

[/QUOTE]Ebonics, Mofo! Doesn't you speak it?

--Patrick

Sep 16, 2009#116

Wasabi Poptart

Silver Jelly;255648][quote=Calleja;255640][quote=North_Ranger said:
Äitisi on hamsteri ja isäsi haisee seljapensaan marjoilta.

Tu madre era un hamster y tu padre olía a saúco[/QUOTE]

La teva mare era un hàmster i el teu pare feia olor de saüc![/QUOTE]

Tu mére est un hamster et ton Pére pu le sureau!

Sep 16, 2009#117

Bubble181

WildSoul;255893][quote=Silver Jelly;255648][quote=Calleja;255640][quote=North_Ranger said:
Äitisi on hamsteri ja isäsi haisee seljapensaan marjoilta.

Tu madre era un hamster y tu padre olía a saúco[/QUOTE]

La teva mare era un hàmster i el teu pare feia olor de saüc![/QUOTE]

Tu mére est un hamster et ton Pére pu le sureau![/QUOTE]

Ta mère est une cricette et ton père pu des baies de sureau ;-)

Sep 16, 2009#118

Hylian

good thing for gTranslate for FF or I would be completely lost in this thread

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