Foreign Languages- which would you learn?

@amybrezik (2118)
United States
November 2, 2009 10:22pm CST
I know there are users from all of the world on this site. I am planning on taking a foreign language. I would actually like to learn more then one. However, I have decided that I want to start with Russian. A lot of people here in Texas would say that Russian isn't a useful language to learn since we don't have a large Russian population. However, I find it interesting. If you were to pick a foreign language to learn (any of them, even "dead" languages) What would you choose?
27 responses
• United States
3 Nov 09
I would learn Mandarin Chinese because it would be useful for me. I live in a place where we have a dining room that serves lunch each weekday. Almost half of the people who eat there are native Chinese. Many don't speak any English so I would love to be able to carry on a conversation with them. I have learned a few words so I could be friendly. I see that it would take a lot of study to learn Chinese and would be more difficult than the two other languages I have studied in the past--Spanish and French. I'm originally from Texas so I wanted to learn Spanish. I had a hard time getting into the Spanish classes at the University of Texas because it was such a popular language to learn. However, I managed to get in and was glad I had the opportunity to learn as it has come in handy when I have traveled to Mexico and central America.
@amybrezik (2118)
• United States
3 Nov 09
Spanish would be the most useful for me but I will try that later, as I tok that n high school. You should study Chinese. It would be difficult but it would be a great language to know.
• China
3 Nov 09
okay, I am Chinese, and living in Beijing now, if you wanna any help on Chinese, just let me know, btw I have been studying Japanese too, but dun know any Spanish and French. Good luck.
@hani20 (60)
• Saudi Arabia
3 Nov 09
Spanish. To many, this is considered as the langauage for lovers as it is very romantic. Actually, yo hablo un poco espanhol and I would really want to add my skills in speaking this language. I have some colleagues who used to be a spanish and I am really yearning to learn this language dreaming that someday i could interract with them like they are doing very eloquently. hey please try learning arabic.
• Philippines
3 Nov 09
I am currently working for a Korean company, so I thought learning Korean language will be useful for me. Limited time keeps me from doing it though.
@amybrezik (2118)
• United States
3 Nov 09
It seems that would be useful for you. I hope at some point you get the chance tolearn it.
@amybrezik (2118)
• United States
4 Nov 09
Maybe you can find someone here on mylot to help you out.
• Philippines
3 Nov 09
learning korean would be good for you, most especially in your current job. it wouldn't just help in your job per se, but learning it will also helpyou in building relationships with your colleagues. Goodluck!! Anyeong!!:-)
@Simon1223 (903)
• China
3 Nov 09
There are thousands of various languages in the world. If we have unlimited time, we'd better learn all of them. But it's obviously not the fact at all. So we should consider this issue carefully before we make the decision. In my view, people usually learn foreign languages for two main reasons. One is that they are interested in the culture of this country. The other is that they could benefit from mastering a foreign language. If you lack strong motives, you may be unable to insist on learning a foreign language.
@amybrezik (2118)
• United States
4 Nov 09
I agree. If you don't have the motivation and good reasoning behind it, it would certianly be hard to focus on learning a foreign language.
• Indonesia
4 Nov 09
Haha I have to learn Japanese at my college. So it's a must so that I can reach the good rank on my class. That's my motive to learn another language. But yeah it's nice to learn language which different with English. I want to learn ho to speak French indeed because my girlfriend live there. So many motivations correct?
@artistry (4152)
• United States
4 Nov 09
..Hi amybrezik, I think it definitely adds lot to a person when they are fluent in more than one language. If I were to get ambitious and learn another language, it would more than likely be French. French sounds very romantic, and is spoken by many people, I believe. As well l would love to go to Paris and live for a few years. Russian sounds kind of hard to learn. Take care and good luck with your plans.
@amybrezik (2118)
• United States
4 Nov 09
French is a beautiful language, and good luck to you too.
@mareca11 (212)
• Philippines
8 Nov 09
I like to learn Korean and Japanese. Not to mention German and Russian, they are very interesting languages!
@amybrezik (2118)
• United States
22 Nov 09
I agree these are all very interesting languages.
• Indonesia
3 Nov 09
Well since i already capable of speaking english i think i'm going to learn a different foreign language as currently i'm learning japanese, rusian, arabic and aramaic, i collect a lot of literature about these languages and i intend to learn them because it makes me feel sublime to be able to speak in different tongues.
@amybrezik (2118)
• United States
3 Nov 09
You are studying 4 languages at once? I am impressed. I would get them confused probably. Which of those 4 would you say are most difficult? My bet would be Japanese, but am curious about your opinon.
• Indonesia
3 Nov 09
I think all of them would be rather hard to learn since those languages doesn't use latin character, unlike english which easily learned because it uses latin character.
@amybrezik (2118)
• United States
3 Nov 09
I don't doubt that they would all be difficult. Good luck with it all!
@mkeanel01 (974)
• Philippines
3 Nov 09
If would learn another language beside my language which is Tagalog and another language which is English, I would want to learn French and Japanese language. French because I believe it was the most romantic language I've known so far (for me) And japanese because I want to understand what my favorite anime movies what they are saying when I watch them.
@amybrezik (2118)
• United States
4 Nov 09
I may be naive, but I have not heard of Tagalog. Where is this language spoken?
@Bionicman (3958)
• Czech Republic
3 Nov 09
I can speak Croatian, Czech, English and I'm learning German. I'd like to learn Japanese and French too
@amybrezik (2118)
• United States
16 Nov 09
I would like to learn that many lanuguages at some point. Good luck on everything else!
• United States
3 Nov 09
I would love to learn Chinese Language. It would be wonderful to comunicate with the asian comunity. They have a beautiful culture. Their painting and artifacts are amazing. Not to mention their exotic and scrumptious food.
@amybrezik (2118)
• United States
4 Nov 09
I agree!
@edxcast (1168)
• Ecuador
3 Nov 09
Hi amy, well i have wanted to learn several languages. French, italian, latin, and japanese are the languages i have wanted to learn. There is no particular reason why i want to, but i just enjoy learning other languages. I havent began learning any, but when i have time i surely gonna start(im not sure which one would i do first but my guees is french).
@amybrezik (2118)
• United States
4 Nov 09
Hopefully you will get to learn them soon.
• China
3 Nov 09
i would like tolearn english.recause i am a university student,so english is my test subject.but i think my hearing is really the biggest obstacle to learn english,and there is no language environments.usually have little opportunity to speak english.
@amybrezik (2118)
• United States
4 Nov 09
Good luck learning English! The more you use it the easier it will become...
• China
3 Nov 09
I hope to learn Latin.So strange.My major is history so I hope to understand the profile of Rome or something.I am thinking about being a chinese teacher after I read your answers.
@amybrezik (2118)
• United States
4 Nov 09
I think Latin would be very interesting to learn. There are a lot of people on the site that would like to learn Chinese, so you would probably already have some students lined up! :)
• India
3 Nov 09
i will suggests u to learn german language it benefits you
@amybrezik (2118)
• United States
4 Nov 09
What do you think makes German beneficial? It is one I have thought about learning.
• United States
3 Nov 09
I am currently learning Chinese (Mandarin) and Japanese, since I come from an asian background and my parents say that it would be economically beneficial if I could be fluent in Chinese and Japanese and work there.
@amybrezik (2118)
• United States
4 Nov 09
Good luck with your studies!
@jpso138 (7851)
• Philippines
3 Nov 09
It would be great to learn different languages. They certainly help and of course they can also give you opportunities for work. In my case, I would love to learn how to speak Chinese and French.
@amybrezik (2118)
• United States
4 Nov 09
It seems a lot of people are interested in the two languages you mentioned. I still think Chinese would be very difficult. For me it would anyway.
@harmonee (1228)
• United States
3 Nov 09
I think I would take Chinese. I'm not really sure which dialect, but at my work, we have a huge chinese clientelle. It would be so helpful if I spoke even a little of the language. Russian is fairly popular here to, as is Spanish. I know Spanish already, so Chinese it would be!
@amybrezik (2118)
• United States
4 Nov 09
Quite a few mylotters have chosen Chinese. I certianly think it would be interesting to learn, but I don't know if I would have the patience for it. It seems like it would be very difficult. I have thought about it though.
• Philippines
3 Nov 09
I've always wanted to learn Spanish. Back then, they had Spanish classes here in the Philippines, but now, it's not required anymore. My sister says it's really helpful as many of her patients speak Spanish only (she's a nurse, and I am, too), and learning the language helps to let her and her patients understand each other. I would also like to study French, but I think I wouldn't be able to use it that much! I used to go on vacation in Saudi, and I only managed to learn a few words in Arabic, just the basic ones. As for wanting to speak in Korean, it has perks working in an English Learning Center. I get free Korean lessons from my students from time to time.
@amybrezik (2118)
• United States
4 Nov 09
Spanish seems to be a good language to pick. I took it in high school and sometimes wish I had continued into college.
• China
3 Nov 09
English is not my native language and is the most popular language in the world.So I first choose to learn English.I have spent most of my time to learn it.But till now I have not acquired English well.I also want to learn another two languages French and Spanish.I can't learn them for the next few years because I have not enough time.
@amybrezik (2118)
• United States
4 Nov 09
Good luck learning English! It can be difficult. Hopefully one day you will get to learn the other two languages as well.
@mareca11 (212)
• Philippines
3 Nov 09
Wow this is interesting. For me I would like to choose learning my nearby countries languages. That would be either Korean, Japanese or Chinese. I always had been fascinated by these languages and I think that it's good to learn them. Aside from those I would also like to learn German and Russian. I like German because they have new letters like this one-- Ü and I think it's interesting to write and learn their language. Russian, I also want to learn their language and writing because unlike English where you write in letters, they write in 'symbols' which is pretty interesting
@amybrezik (2118)
• United States
4 Nov 09
German is one that I eventually would like to learn as well.
• China
3 Nov 09
I'm learning Japanese now.Because many video games are originally in Japanese,and I want to understand the stories,the talkings,so I can more enjoy the games. Well, I still can't fully understand them now, but I'll keep learning. I think the most important thing about learning a foreign language is interest.you'v got it,so you can make it.
@amybrezik (2118)
• United States
4 Nov 09
Good luck in your studies. Japanese is a language I have considered as well.