Input on Learning New Language

[.46caliber]

Gents, I'm seeking input on learning a new language. I'm curious as to what languages are in demand by employers, particularly from those of you who are familiar with more global workings.

In elementary school we had a Spanish class a few times a week 1-6 grade. I took one year of it in Middle school and 3 years in High school. I remember almost none of it perhaps because I wasn't interested in it and remembered it long enough to pass tests and fulfill requirements.

I'm looking at German and Italian because they pique my interest and Italian is a relative of Spanish. But with my previous education Spanish might make the most sense plus I know it is in high demand in the US. I still have no interest in that one.

What say you?

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[TehLlama]

Go with a language that interests you.

I speak Afghan Pashto and Arabic (فصحا and lots of dialects), and haven't cared to find a job that use them. There is a lot to be gained by learning a Latin based language, you can at least gain passable understanding of any similar language just by knowing one well. I'd go with that.

[randolph]

depending on what your profession is.

I speak pretty portuguese and spanish.
I use it at work, but its not really work related, but more geared towards my sammich maker...

[polydeuces]

I speak quite a few languages fluent, read and write. I has always given me the sense of being a bit more in control and given others less opportunity to **** me over, especially when they do not know you understand every word they say....:D
Unfortunately Spanish is NOT one of them, but the one I wish I did. It is a good language to speak, as it is becoming more dominant (good bad or indifferent but it is a fact).

So that's my vote.

I may just go ahead and give it a whirl when I have some time, since shooting is getting a bit too expensive....:shout:

[Kokopelli]

Spanish hands down.. But you'll need to learn the individualized versions (i.e Mexican, various South American, European, etc.) to really make it pay.. Ron

[SeriousStudent]

What is the predominant second language in your area? Might be easier to find learning partners.

Is there a second language that would be most helpful in your specific line of work? Maybe a trade association rep could help there.

Is there any place on your bucket list? I want to attend a cooking school in northern Italy before I die. So Italian is on the list for me.

[RyanB]

Italian is a poor choice because it is only viable in Italy and parts of Switzerland. Most people a foreign traveler will meet there will speak enough English to satisfy your needs.

German speakers are almost all taught English in school. Same with most of Northern Europe.

Learn Spanish.

[SeriousStudent]

That's good news about the Italian, I'm not speedy picking up languages.

Here in Texas, it would be a complete no-brainer to learn Spanish, with Kokopelli's caveats.

[Watrdawg]

I was a German linguist in the Army and while in Germany I spoke it most of the time. Since I got out in 89 I've barely spoken it. If I had a choice it would be Spanish right now. I'm Italian so I'd love to learn my native language but it wouldn't be for any reason other than that. Militarily I would think Spanish, Arabic and the various dialects, Pashto, Mandarin Chinese, Korean and Russian would be the most in demand.

[.46caliber]

Wow, way more responses than I anticipated, thank you all very much.

RyanB - thanks for the heads up on Italian. I was mildly interested in it, but since its use is so isolated, I can scratch that one off.

SeriousStudent - My bucket travel list is heavily dominated by Western Europe. Obviously the UK countries are covered, plus I'm fluent in beer. There are places and things I want to see in Italy, Greece and Germany. Hence why Italian and German were of interest. As far as other locales, I want to see Israel for sure, wouldn't mind stopping in some other mid-eastern countries. I'm mildly interested in Japan or China. I don't see much use for Hebrew or Chinese/Japanese in my future. A duck hunting trip to Argentina is also just about mandatory.

Kokopelli/plydeuces - Spanish would be the most utilitarian for me, and I would venture to say it would be the most useful for any citizen of the US at the rate the language is growing here.

My line of work currently doesn't have a need for foreign language, I work for a nation wide web retailer. Fortunately I'm not on the phones.

I'm far more interested in German, but I imagine I would get the most use of Spanish. We have a large and growing Mexican population here so the local family owned restaurants and food stores would offer great practice in addition to the good food. But I had so many years of Spanish classes with almost 0 retention, which is atypical for me.

If I ever worked in a more international vein, I would prefer Europe vs Latin America.

[eodinert]

This gringo is on a 2,000 mile road trip in Mexico right now, and he says Spanish.

[chadbag]

It all depends on why you want the language.

I learned German in HS and college, did missionary service for almost 2 years in Germany, and worked for a computer company in Munich for another 18 months later on, and have been back a few times to visit. But my original reason to learn German was personal. I found it more interesting than French or Spanish (after 2 years of JHS French) and I was a military history buff as well, particularly with WW2.

(And while they all learn English there, their speaking ability covers a huge broad spectrum, and most of them are not that easy to understand; in contrast to Dutch and Scandinavians, whose English is usually very good and also easy to understand [I have my theories on why and it based on the German market for Hollywood movies and TV to be big enough that most are dubbed, while Holland and Scandinavia are markets too small to usually go that expense, so they are merely subtitled, so most Dutch and Scandinavians grow up hearing US and UK speakers while Germans grown up hearing Germans]).

Spanish and Chinese are probably the two main languages in terms of business. But I have no desire to learn either of them. So I won't.

I took Swedish for 2 semesters in college plus a bunch of self study of Swedish, and one semester of Norwegian. My roots on my mom's side go back to Norway, and Sweden before that. So it was personal.

My wife is from Japan. I'd like to learn some Japanese (more than the 100-200 words from my kids picture books) but have not really applied myself much to it because of time obligations. Again, personal reasons.

Why did I go through this whole explanation? Because you should learn the language that most interests you, no matter if it is popular or has business uses. Unless of course you do have specific business needs now.

While Spanish would be useful in the sense that a lot of folks in my area speak Spanish, I have no interest in speaking to most of them and the ones I do want to speak to also speak English. So I have no interest in Spanish. (Again, I relate this just as an example)

So, choose whatever language you find interesting or whatever language comes from an area you have interest in, for whatever reason.

If I had time and resources, I'd like to learn (not really in any order) Japanese, Swedish, Russian, Korean, Hebrew, and Italian. I may get a little more Swedish and some Japanese under my belt in the next 40 years before I die but if I had the time and resources that is what I would do. None of them would be really useful in a commercial or business sense, but would be fun for whatever reasons (except Japanese, which would be useful so I could speak in 1st person to my MIL and SILs and to people when we go to visit).

So, what floats your boat? What really interests you?


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[.46caliber]

Chadbag, thanks for the insight.

If I learn a language just because I want to I would say that would be German, but I don't currently foresee it being very utilitarian.

I guess part of me is seeking to kill two birds with one stone because of the time and effort involved.

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[chadbag]

Chadbag, thanks for the insight.

If I learn a language just because I want to I would say that would be German, but I don't currently foresee it being very utilitarian.


If you go to Germany it would be utilitarian. Are you more likely to go to Germany on vacation or for whatever reason or Mexico/SA/Spain?




I guess part of me is seeking to kill two birds with one stone because of the time and effort involved.


Because of the time and effort involved, I think I'd rather do something I enjoy and want to do than something "utilitarian" ;)

Good luck.


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[ICANHITHIMMAN]

duplicate post

[ICANHITHIMMAN]

Well from my stand point, unless you are flawless with your English bush up on that first, nouns, verbs, adjectives and gerund etc. Two weeks into Arabic training my head was about to explode, I turned to the NCO next to me and asked "whats a verb". He made me a list and I studied it over night all set but wow!

On what language to learn, I suggest Mandarin Chinese. When your frustrated and think this is nuts, just remember "even the dumbest china-man speaks Chinese". But I have a little Russian and Brazilian Portuguese under my hat as well, what ever the ladies need you know.....

[Smuckatelli]

If you are looking at this as a possible source of income later on...

I would skip Spanish, there are too many speakers as it is unless you can master the language with an ILR of above 3.

Any dialect of Chinese would be a good first choice.

Russian for the next 20 some odd years would cover a pretty wide area of the world.

French would open up a lot of areas.

Arabic for obvious reasons.

Also keep in mind, the culture plays a large part in this.

[Ned Christiansen]

Whatever you choose, go to speakalanguage.com. I've tried various CD courses and this one worked best by far. If you stick with it it'll do the deal but better maybe if it's supplemental to something else. Either way you need someone to speak with.

[Smuckatelli]

There is some technology out there that lets you speak to avatars:

http://www.alelo.com/siia/

[brickboy240]

If you live in the SW in America...anything else but Spanish is silly.

Italian and German will not help you in the job market in most cases and French USED to be sort of the international business language but that is now pretty much English.

The only languages that "matter" in learning are English, Spanish and Mandarin Chinese.

-brickboy240

[Moltke]

Spanish if you are targeting businesses in the United States.

Chinese if you're interested in international trade.

Arabic if you want a cleared job with the government.

I chose French years ago and all I learned was how to surrender. Apparently it's "Bonjour".

[Smuckatelli]

If you live in the SW in America...anything else but Spanish is silly.

Italian and German will not help you in the job market in most cases and French USED to be sort of the international business language but that is now pretty much English.

The only languages that "matter" in learning are English, Spanish and Mandarin Chinese.

-brickboy240

I have to differ with you on that, French is in high demand.

Spanish isn't on the critical language lists because there are a lot of born and heritage speakers in the States. If his intent is to have casual conversations at the local grocery store....Spanish would be a fit.

If he wants to do something to improve his financial situation later on he should stick with what I recommended above.

[Smuckatelli]

If you can't attend a brick & mortar course, this is the best way to go:

http://mvlonline.org/

[rackham1]

+1 on French, depending on future goals. I believe it's still the second most taught language worldwide after English. I learned it while at Kandahar and found it helped with French, Canadians, and Africans (TCNs). An American friend who learned in Paris and then lived in Africa for years said you can successfully navigate almost all of Africa between English and French. Also found that nearly everywhere traveled in India and South America could find French speaking people often enough to be useful.

But I suppose that only helps with international travel. Not much French to be found CONUS unless you're far north.

[.46caliber]

French holds 0 interest for me. Also, I learned that the platform I'm looking at, Duolingo, uses Spain Spanish, not Mexico Spanish.

I think German is the way I'm going to go. Plus I have a long term fantasy of doing sales in the US for Blaser. Thanks for the input all, it's been most helpful.

Any one used the duolingo platform?


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[halo2304]

I grew up learning French in school since my area has a huge Franco-American heritage. Also, I went to a Catholic elementary school. (No, I wasn't a choir boy.) I can read some and speak a little but the only real use I got from it was on a business trip to Quebec. I was the only one of three that could speak any French.

I work in the auto industry and for a short while I tried to learn a little bit of Japanese. Not much has managed to stick. Now, should I feel the need to increase my job security, I would need to learn Spanish and Chinese...screw that! :alcoholic:

The other languages I have dabbled in are German since most of my guns are Heckler & Koch, and most recently, Russian...yes, Russian. Reading Cyrillic and pronouncing the words is a bit of a challenge but knowing what it is you're reading/saying is the tricky part.

It's tough to learn a language when no one around you speaks it. Anyone try the Rosetta Stone programs? (Sorry to hijack/sidetrack the thread.)