Which "second" language do you think is the best to learn after English, and why? (In general.)
Some choices..
-French
-German
-Italian
-Spanish
-Japanese
-Chinese
-Latin (Dead language)
etc.
I'm thinking Spanish... because a lot of people know it.. but then the others could be good for getting a job where people lack the translators needed.
EDIT: This topic is now about your favorite language and why, and what languages you want to learn or are learning. Basically just Languages in general.
Spanish, French, Italian, etc. Basically, any of the Romantic Languages. If you can learn and understand one, it would likely become easier to understand the others as well.
Why is this in Debates?
Though I took French, it was only because they didn't have Japanese in middle/highschool. Being the nerd I am, I'd say go with Japanese, as they're one of the biggest tech countries in the world.
Hmm French or German ... I personaly would learn German ... I also believe the country is the easiest place to find jobs ... For engineers mostly ...
Role has a point to .. And the language is kinda fun to learn ... Especially writing ....
@Salanwet- That sounds bout right.
@Role- It is in debates... because we can still argue about the best second language. Edit: Though, this is probably a topic that people would rather answer than debate over.. hmm..
@Japanese- I'd like to learn some of that language as well. It'll probably take the longest to learn than the romantic/germantic ones.
English is my second language, lol. But I'm currently learning Latin. Japanese and Chinese are on hold ATM and the only German I know is from the song Du Hast.
If you want my vote though, go with Japanese. There's more opportunities for people who speak it and it's going to take some time to learn it. Better to get a head start on it.
English is my first language.
I studied Russian by myself for a little while, but I didn't go very far and I only remember the alphabet and simple phrases.
I took 4 years of German in school, but I'm not very good at speaking it, but I can read/understand it fairly well.
I'm thinking of taking Japanese in college because I failed to learn it when I lived there, and I'm thinking about going back to visit some of our family friends.
Useful languages? Er... I would probably say Spanish if you're going into human resources, retail; mainly customer service industries or industries in high-Spanish speaking areas. German is very important if you're going into the auto industry, as is Japanese, but Japanese can also be used in other technology-based industries. French is useful in politics, as well as Arabic and Russian, although Russian to a lesser extent.
Chinese... er... people say Chinese is useful but I think its slight propaganda to be more friendly with the country, because it provides a lot of that cheap crap we buy. It can be good when working for one of those companies that buys stuff from there, and there's a lot that do, but I doubt there's as many positions for that as there are for the automotive/technology companies. It might be though that it's just not used in my area much.
Where I live, a lot of people speak different languages, so I've heard (in order of how common it is), is German, Chinese, Russian, Korean, Spanish and Japanese.
Hm. Well, any romantic language is good to learn, as it's pretty easy to learn the rest when you know one, due to them being in the same language family iirc. Same with russian and the slavic family langauages. Personally though, I'd say learn Japanese just so you don't have to wait for nintendo and the like to translate jrpgs.
You know what's weird. When your mom uses Gratuitous Japanese on the phone to look cute to her old friends back in the Big H. It's awkward to say the least, especially considering how much she denounces of weeaboos who do the same thing.
Hehe, sounds a bit odd if she does what she doesn't like others doing. It sounds cool, but kind of funny in that it sounds awkward.
Come to think of it, I used to be able to speak a small amount of Hungarian when I was younger; mostly counting and a small amount of vocabulary. That went away with time, unfortunately.
QuoteHehe, sounds a bit odd if she does what she doesn't like others doing.
That is what I believe you call a Hypocrite.
QuoteI studied Russian by myself for a little while, but I didn't go very far and I only remember the alphabet and simple phrases.
Too bad I couldn't just give you a free Russian dictionary.. I mean, I did get one for free from my English class before.. (He was given them away, so..) I can't even understand it, lol... I probably will one day, though, if I study it.. I have no idea if I ever will, though.
Personally, I am sick of english. They never teach us anything new in school. Every year since 6th grade we have started over the same book to review. Grrr. But I love latin. Although its somewhat useless. But lots of languages come from latin so it might help. But I have to choose french. It sounds awesome and its considered the love language. But sadly, my redneck football crazed school wont waste money on language teachers. It all goes to stupid football. That's why we only have spanish. Gaaaaay. Boring. I want a more interesting language. Any other language. I don't care. Just give me a choice.
Quote from: dwkjohn on 07, July, 2011, 08:22:59 AM
But I have to choose French. It sounds awesome and its considered the love language.
I, in a friendly manner, disagree. French is overrated.
I actually think Japanese sounds really pleasing. <--- Genuine view, not to be confused with weeaboo (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/article_history.php?article=Main.Weeaboo) belief...
But that's just me...
Or not...
I also fail at French, so my dislike for it may come from there.
QuoteIt all goes to stupid football.
I think football is stupid as well. It'd be better that they spend it on something else. Even if they have to donate it.
Also, I did have 2 years of Spanish by choice...
I would just stick to English, as i'm not so great with languages...I don't even know my mother tongue Sinhalese(Sri Lankan Language), well enough to speak or write it
Quote from: Shinigami on 08, July, 2011, 06:26:53 PM
Quote from: dwkjohn on 07, July, 2011, 08:22:59 AM
But I have to choose French. It sounds awesome and its considered the love language.
I, in a friendly manner, disagree. French is overrated.
I actually think Japanese sounds really pleasing.
I agree, Japanese is a very nice sounding language, especially in male speakers. I also like the sound of Russian but people think I'm nuts for thinking that. It can be generally held that German though is one of the fugliest sounding languages
ever, even moreso than French.
...I don't see any debating going on in here. Perhaps we should move this to general discussion?
Sounds good to me. *moves*
English is my mother language, but I also speak French fluently. I'm learning Cantonese as a side hobby, because I'm half Chinese, but I might learn German or Japanese, because they seem to be big in the technology industry, but Japanese doesn't use a Latin alphabet, so I'm not sure.
Quote...I don't see any debating going on in here. Perhaps we should move this to general discussion?
That's because people went and started talking about their life experiences with Languages instead of focusing more directly on the debate. People did answer the question, though.
Debate = opposing viewpoints... if it helps define "debating"... but it has several definitions.
Yes, I realize Rolina won't see this, but it's here for future reference/other readers.
French. If you have English and French you could pretty much talk to anyone
The best secondary language is the one that you benefit from the most.
Spanish is the first secondary language I want to learn.
Well, that sounds good, I guess.
Spanish still seems to be the closest to being my second language, since I haven't taken much time with other languages aside from my primary language. ( English )
I used to think rolling the R's would be practically impossible a long time ago, but now days, I figure once you get it, you get it for good, or something. (And, it might even be fun.)
Guess it's time to reveal that I'm not English....
Oh wait never said that before. Anyway English is my secondary language.
I thought about learning French, but it was hard and I liked other subjects more so yeah...
I have learned Russian And English.
And now we can see how this helps.
Español? Genial compadre!
Learning new languajes is awesome, I'd like to learn moonrunes.