If you could learn any language...

[smoke]

...apart from Japanese, what would you pick and why?

I'm a bit stuck because my heart says French (i know a little - tres miniscule) because i find it such a sexy language...especially with women (there's logic there i swear) but my head says Spanish because it's the place i visit most often (call me a typical British holiday maker if you will!).

What would you choose?

[lexico]

French or Spanish seems a fine choice because either way there's a high chance you will use it to good purpose. [Now wait; are you asking for advice ? Definitely go for Spanish so you can use it. You could learn it faster that way; paving your way for a second latinate language such as French, Portuguese, Italian, etc. Besides, aren't there Spanish beauties, too ? ]

I've tried answering similar "what language" threads before, but this is a great chance to talk about something different. How about doing one totally different, unrelated from any language I know ?

For a truly exotic language, I'd go for one of the language isolates or one of an isolated language group. Basque would be interesting, although it's supposed to have many loans from Spanish/French (?)... I hear Basque has some following among the Japanese.

[smoke]

all i know of Basque is the seperatist/terrorist group 'Etta' from the Basque region. But, seeing as the region falls somewhere between france and spain (i believe) i can imagine the influence.

[Tsuyoiko]

I already have a list! After Japanese I intend to learn Welsh and then Russian. Welsh because I live near to Wales, Russian because it sounds sexy!

[Frank D. White]

My next door neighbor for the last 15 years has been a Cambodian family. They are very nice but we can't communicate as well as I would like to. I haven't been able to locate a Cambodian dictionary and would probably murder the correct pronounciation anyway.

Frank

[Kara_Nari]

Ooh Uncle Frank, Cambodians a great language to learn! I would love to extend my knowledge of the Khmer language! Im forgetting all that I learnt already. Next year I would like to live there for about 4-5 months. You would be more than welcome to come and visit. One of my favourite and at the same time least favourite places in the world. Please dont ask me for an explanation, you have to see it to believe it!
I would also like to learn Chinese, and a European language. Russian would be great too, but maybe I could learn that in Korea.

[kinsey87]

The first language I would most probably like to learn would be latin, then followed by chinese or enochian for specific reasons, since these languages have beena large interest to me for a very long time. Is Enochian classed as a real language?

[lexico]

The first language I would most probably like to learn would be latin, then followed by chinese or enochian for specific reasons, since these languages have beena large interest to me for a very long time. Is Enochian classed as a real language?

I found the study of Classical Greek and Classical Chinese most rewarding. The fine ideas expressed by the great minds and their disciples are, in my opinion, what make the study so gratifying. Plato and Confucius rule !! But there are other writiers no less genuine and exciting to follow.

As for Enopchian, I hear it for the first time. Here's what I found in wiki. Enochian

Enochian is an occult language popularised by John Dee and Edward Kelley in the 16th Century. Dee and Kelley claimed that it was revealed to them by angels, though most contemporary practitioners of magick consider it a constructed language. The name "Enochian" is a reference to the Book of Enoch, a pseudepigraphal text and a major source of Judeo-Christian angelology.

[Tsuyoiko]

The first language I would most probably like to learn would be latin, then followed by chinese or enochian for specific reasons, since these languages have beena large interest to me for a very long time. Is Enochian classed as a real language?

I don't think Enochian is a 'real' language, I would class it with Esperanto and Klingon. But it might still be fun to learn!

[kinsey87]

yep, that is what I was thinking, I first heard of it when reading about Dr John Dee, and later, with the Golden Dawn.

[Jungle Boy]

Definatly German. My family is mostly from Germany (the rest reside in Latvia) and I used to speak my native tongue when I was younger but living in a english speaking country doesn't really help a young kid remember alot of German. It would be very nice to re-learn my native language.

[Mike Cash]

Portuguese, because it would be very useful in Japan.

[rose_of_eternity]

Well uh, I know... Ukrainian, Russian, English, French and just starting Japanese... If I go onto a 6th language, I think it'll be Korean. 1) Like 80%+ of my friends are Korean 2) there are alot of koreans everywhere in general 3) its similar to japanese, so it should be easier to learn 4) its a cool language 5) my girlfriend is korean

[WHEATTHlNS]

CHINESE - for purely economical and political reasons.

[monrepo]

I'd like to learn chinese. I like the chinese culture.

[Colin]

I would like to learn Korean. I have Korean friends and it would be nice to have conversations with them in Korean and I find Korean culture and history fascinating. Additionally, I think Korean just sounds cool, and it would assist me when watching Korean dramas and music videos!

German would be my next language to study, for many of the same reasons as my desire to study Korean... I am interested in German culture and I think the language itself has a unique sound to it. It would be especially fun to have the ability to shout random nonsense in Deutsche (those Germans sound so serious when they're yelling!).

[ax]

does the language of love count?

cupix

[Shirahime]

I wanna learn Russian and Germany,,,

but my father always says, "Chinese! Chinese!"
sigh,,,

[Gaijinian]

Mandarin, the 國語 type-- I'm going to Taiwan for a year!
...but then again, I guess that will force me to learn it...

Then, I should choose Korean; know a three Asian languages...

Or maybe Arabic, so I could have at least some understanding of the Middle East.
...or, maybe Hmong, as there is a decent amount of Hmong kids in my school, and I'd be great if I knew what they were saying/could talk to the in Hmong... Most of them speak English, but still, it'd be cool...

My father tells me that I should learn a European language, though... Then maybe... French; it sounds so elegant. However, considering the fact that I can barley spell English words, French seems like a stretch.

[Mikawa Ossan]

There are so many languages I would love to learn if I had the time and resources! Languages open your mind in a way few other things can.

The two languages at the top of my list are Mandarin and Portuguese.

Mandarin so I can speak to my new sister-in-law's family, and Portuguese because it would help out a lot here in Japan.

After that, it just would never end...Korean, Tagalog, French, German, Sinhalese, Spanish, Swedish, Arabic, etc., etc., etc....

[nice gaijin]

I would be very interested in learning Mandarin for practical reasons, especially it's spoken by the most people, and kanji permeates several other languages. After that I'd say the romance languages (Spanish, French, Italian) followed by German, then maybe Hindi, Russian, and Arabic. I'd love to be able to read classical texts in their native languages.

[No-name]

I could really use Spanish in my work.

[Clawn]

I'd have to go with Chinese and Indian for economical reasons and Latin for my love of history.

[Anchyyy]

I would learn Chinese or Spanish. Well i can speak Spanish a bit yet, but i could really improve it in taking some classes

[~Hezaa~]

Either German, because a lot of my family is from there and i can properly produce the correct rolls of the tongue, or Latin, because I would love to know a lost language and it's just plain interesting.