Topic: Which (natural) language should I learn? - page 5. (Read 10625 times)
Funny, Spanish is similar to Italian, as well as French and Portuguese... So if you learn one of those Romance languages you have access to pretty much hotties from latin america, spain, italy, and france
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As a Chinese, I'm willing to remind you that learning Chinese is not that rewarding as learning IndoEuropean languages.
Agreed. It takes 5 years to bother speaking Chinese fluently and 10 to learn Hanji.
So Spanish will be the most "useful" language to learn.
Seconded. Out of all the languages Theymos mentioned, I think Spanish is the most useful and rewarding.
Learning ANY second language makes it easier to learn ANY third language. It wires up the brain for multiple languages. So don't worry about that.
At least when that language is in the same family of course. Learning Korean doesn't help me learn Vietnamese any easier at all. Learning English though sure does help me learn Spanish!
If you're in the US, Spanish, absolutely. You'll get to use it all the time.
Agreed. Languages are learned to use. Spanish is actually useful, although not very exotic in the USA. Too bad Korean is not on your list.
Whatever you do, stick to it.
Couldn't have said it better myself. I have never studied Korean once, but I'm fluent in reading, writing, speaking and listening, only because I stopped using English when I got here and wrapped my life around the process of using it continuously. The result? My English got worse every day, proving that continued usage is key.
I need to take two semesters of a foreign language, but I'm not sure which language to learn. My choices are French, Chinese, Italian, Spanish, and German. I've been leaning slightly toward Chinese; I don't really like the "sound" of Romance languages, and Chinese culture seems interesting. I've heard that Chinese is pretty difficult, though, and it probably wouldn't be as useful as Spanish. Also, I intend to learn Japanese someday, and I'm worried that knowing the Chinese readings of characters would mess me up (or would it actually help?).
Any advice?
Any advice?
Since your required to take the classes for your major, I suggest choosing one of these three: French, Chinese or German. Spanish, ergo Italian, could easily be learned via Rosetta Stone. Pick the one you desire to know more about its country of origin, unless you're concern about your GPA, then go with the easiest one of those three, albeit Spanish is the easiest of the five. ¿Comprende?
Quote
El mundo es un pañuelo.
~Bruno~
one thing that hasn't been mentioned is that learning italian or spanish is almost like learning two languages in one.
out of those two i've only ever studied italian, but as a result i can understand a lot of spanish, purely because of my italian study.
out of those two i've only ever studied italian, but as a result i can understand a lot of spanish, purely because of my italian study.
you should learn swahili
I need to take two semesters of a foreign language, but I'm not sure which language to learn. My choices are French, Chinese, Italian, Spanish, and German. I've been leaning slightly toward Chinese; I don't really like the "sound" of Romance languages, and Chinese culture seems interesting. I've heard that Chinese is pretty difficult, though, and it probably wouldn't be as useful as Spanish. Also, I intend to learn Japanese someday, and I'm worried that knowing the Chinese readings of characters would mess me up (or would it actually help?).
Any advice?
Any advice?
As a Chinese, I'm willing to remind you that learning Chinese is not that rewarding as learning IndoEuropean languages. You should be prepared that after one year of study, you will be still struggling reading element school level materials, while your friends who chose French are already happily reading Bastiat without any difficulty.
Not because Chinese is intrinsically harder. It's just too different from English in almost all aspects.
Learn Chinese if you wanna learn Japanese someday. You won't regret it. The katakana(or was it hiragana?) alphabet for Japanese comes from Chinese. In fact, I don't know Japanese but I could survive for two weeks at Japan - you can pretty much figure out wtf those words are on the signboards if you know Chinese. Most of the similar-looking words have the same meaning. Also, ribuck has a good point there. Many countries are starting to set English as an must-take language in addition to their native tongue.
Friedcat has a point there - Chinese is damn hard to pick up if you don't have a base. However, most of the kids over my country learn 3 languages here, and some Indians even go to 4 as they learn Indian as their native language. I'm sure you wouldn't have any problems picking another language up.
Whatever you do, stick to it.
I find learning any languages very rewarding, but you do need discipline to progress. If you constantly hop subjects when you're bored, your learning curve will never really catch up.
Find motivation and make a resolution not to abandon it for any long period. Don't do the OCD thing to study 12 hours a day three weeks and burn out, only not to touch it in 2 months. A steady, disciplined approach works SO much better.
I find learning any languages very rewarding, but you do need discipline to progress. If you constantly hop subjects when you're bored, your learning curve will never really catch up.
Find motivation and make a resolution not to abandon it for any long period. Don't do the OCD thing to study 12 hours a day three weeks and burn out, only not to touch it in 2 months. A steady, disciplined approach works SO much better.
Learn Portuguese. 2 words: Brazillian hotties 
... Also, I intend to learn Japanese someday, and I'm worried that knowing the Chinese readings of characters would mess me up (or would it actually help?).
Learning ANY second language makes it easier to learn ANY third language. It wires up the brain for multiple languages. So don't worry about that.
In 50 years, the majority of the world will speak English, Mandarin (Chinese) or Spanish. The Chinese are teaching English to their youngest generation in a big way. So Spanish will be the most "useful" language to learn.
Spanish is also easier to learn than Chinese. It is pronounced the way it is spelled, and uses the same alphabet as English. Fluency in Spanish will greatly increase your enjoyment as a tourist in Spain, the Canary Islands, most of South America, and much of the Carribean.
Of course, if "usefulness" and "ease of learning" are not your criteria, the field is wide open. French and Italian are beautiful languages, and open up the enjoyment of French and Italian movies. I would not bother with German. It's not an attractive language to my ear, and young Germans speak great English.
Spanish is also easier to learn than Chinese. It is pronounced the way it is spelled, and uses the same alphabet as English. Fluency in Spanish will greatly increase your enjoyment as a tourist in Spain, the Canary Islands, most of South America, and much of the Carribean.
Of course, if "usefulness" and "ease of learning" are not your criteria, the field is wide open. French and Italian are beautiful languages, and open up the enjoyment of French and Italian movies. I would not bother with German. It's not an attractive language to my ear, and young Germans speak great English.
I need to take two semesters of a foreign language, but I'm not sure which language to learn. My choices are French, Chinese, Italian, Spanish, and German. I've been leaning slightly toward Chinese; I don't really like the "sound" of Romance languages, and Chinese culture seems interesting. I've heard that Chinese is pretty difficult, though, and it probably wouldn't be as useful as Spanish. Also, I intend to learn Japanese someday, and I'm worried that knowing the Chinese readings of characters would mess me up (or would it actually help?).
Any advice?
Any advice?
As a Chinese, I'm willing to remind you that learning Chinese is not that rewarding as learning IndoEuropean languages. You should be prepared that after one year of study, you will be still struggling reading element school level materials, while your friends who chose French are already happily reading Bastiat without any difficulty.
Not because Chinese is intrinsically harder. It's just too different from English in almost all aspects.
I need to take two semesters of a foreign language, but I'm not sure which language to learn. My choices are French, Chinese, Italian, Spanish, and German. I've been leaning slightly toward Chinese; I don't really like the "sound" of Romance languages, and Chinese culture seems interesting. I've heard that Chinese is pretty difficult, though, and it probably wouldn't be as useful as Spanish. Also, I intend to learn Japanese someday, and I'm worried that knowing the Chinese readings of characters would mess me up (or would it actually help?).
Any advice?
Any advice?
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