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daleks
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daleks
3,770 posts
Chamberlain

Hola! Ñ...а Ñ...а Ñ...а.
Translation: Hi! Ha ha ha.

Welcome to the languages thread! Everything language based and how we communicate using a beautiful language will be talked about here. Grammar of languages, best language, translating between languages, and anything that can somehow be related to a language is welcome here.

Now for a few questions to start off the thread:
If you could learn 1 and only 1 language what would it be?*

What language do you believe is the most useful to learn and which will be the most useful in the future?

*In addiction to your first language. If you know more than one language than you can still pick another.

  • 54 Replies
Riptizoid101
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Riptizoid101
6,257 posts
Farmer

If I could learn one language and only one language, it'd either be English or Esperanto. Or maybe Vietnamese. B-D

Esperanto will definitely be a language that will bind together many nations. It's simple to learn and easy to use.

daleks
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daleks
3,770 posts
Chamberlain

�...а �...а �...а.

And now I know that AG cannot handle the Russian x. Thanks AG. :P
pangtongshu
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pangtongshu
9,808 posts
Jester

What language do you believe is the most useful to learn and which will be the most useful in the future?


Latin. Especially if you want ease with learning Western languages.
EmperorPalpatine
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EmperorPalpatine
9,447 posts
Jester

If you could learn 1 and only 1 language what would it be?*

Russian would be neat.

What language do you believe is the most useful to learn

In addition to English, probably Mandarin.

and which will be the most useful in the future?

Apparently Japanese is being viewed as the future universal business language, similar to how French was diplomatically.
daleks
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daleks
3,770 posts
Chamberlain

it'd either be English or Esperanto. Or maybe Vietnamese.

I believe you already know English. I don't see Esperanto catching on, but Vietnamese would be interesting. Would help you get a start in Asian languages.
I would want to learn German

Do your parents speak fluent German?
Russian would be neat.

Ya, I am trying to learn Russian but school and stuff is getting in the way. Plus the alphabet is weird.
Apparently Japanese is being viewed as the future universal business language

Really? I thought Mandarin was going to be viewed as the business language.
nichodemus
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nichodemus
14,988 posts
Grand Duke

Mandarin will be the future business language, that is, if any language can topple English. It's so ingrained in our world, not to mention Mandarin is very arduous to learn and apply for many people.

I would say I wish to improve my Mandarin, I haven't really studied and used it for more than a couple of years. But that's not a completely new language for me, (though it feels like one! Used to snooze in Mandarin classes), my choice would probably be Japanese. I think it's a passing whim now, but we shall see!

MoonFairy
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MoonFairy
3,390 posts
Shepherd

Esperanto will definitely be a language that will bind together many nations. It's simple to learn and easy to use.

I, too, thought this. But apparently it's quite a laughing stock in the linguistic area. I think it's a good way to get a feel for the strange rules of foreign languages, or at least a good starting place for them. But for millions of people learning it, I doubt that will ever happen. It doesn't have culture or history behind it. Or a nation, for that matter. Which seems pretty important.

Vietnamese sounds pretty cool. It's crazy difficult, to me. I'b a bit hesitant to learn more about it, but I feel that I probably will learn a bit in the future.

Russian would definitely be on the list, considering it's one of the many border nations to China. I think it is a really cool sounding language, and one of my favorite professors is the Russian teacher here so I'll probably wind up taking at least the introductory course.

I think Latin would be pretty cool as well. But I think it's only useful when you're working in a field that requires basic knowledge of the language. No one really knows exactly how to speak it, so that's gotta be a little odd when you're learning it.

German is somewhere on my list as well. I started out high school learning German, but I was stupid and wanted more of a challenge so I switched to Chinese instead. It actually is fairly easy to learn in my opinion, because it is pretty similar to English in a lot of ways. I would love to go to Germany, but I don't really have it very high on my list of languages to learn. I think I could get by in the country without really needing to be proficient.

Apparently Japanese is being viewed as the future universal business language, similar to how French was diplomatically.

whaaaaat? link?
But Japanese would be cool to learn. In case you haven't noticed I think a lot of languages would be really cool to learn. Asian languages in general are what I want to concentrate my studies in, and Japanese is on the list of Asian languages last time I checked. Don't let the 3 different alphabets turn you away. Japanese sounds really pretty in my opinion. But again it isn't super duper high on my list. I would like to be able to understand basic Japanese, but I don't think I want an academic level of proficiency in this language either.

I've studied Chinese for quite some time, but I haven't taken college classes to push me back into the routine of studying so my knowledge is falling very fast. I'd like to get back into it, but I'm waiting on a new Chinese teacher because äºèå¸ is such a butt. I already dealt with her in high school, I don't need a repeat of it. Nicho, let's start studying Chinese together on twitter again!

Korean is my newest interest. I had a friend live over there for 8 months and he constantly showed me pictures and told me all of these really cool stories and stuff and it sparked my interest. K-pop was a side-effect. Not the cause of my interest.

Aaaaaanyways. I would really like to learn French, now. There are many reasons behind this. The city I live in has extremely deep roots in French. We are the creators of Mardi Gras, after all. I have someone very close to me who is going off to grad school soon for a masters in French, and I would like to be able to communicate with them using the language they are so passionate about. My advisor is also pushing me to learn French, because that is her area of specialty and that's what advisors and professors are supposed to do. Push you to learn what they teach, etc etc. My sisters both took French in high school and college, and a lot of my close friends have chosen French as their target language.

If you could learn 1 and only 1 language what would it be?*

Besides the English thing, I would probably continue to concentrate my studies on Chinese.

What language do you believe is the most useful to learn and which will be the most useful in the future?

Again here I will say Chinese, probably because there are just so many people who speak it and it's a part of BRIC. Portuguese, Russian, Hindu/Urdu, and Chinese (or Mandarin, whatever you want to say even though the phrases are interchangeable. Mandarin is just 'standard' Chinese) will probably be the most useful. If you are uncertain of what you want to do in life, go study any of these languages and you'll more than likely be able to find a government-supported job translating. Basically any company or agency or institution that participates on the global stage, will hire you for translating purposes.
09philj
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09philj
2,825 posts
Jester

German. They are the top dogs in europe.

gh0sts
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gh0sts
865 posts
Shepherd

Japanese would be a great language to learn, very useful, and it would come in very handy if I ever decided to travel to Tokyo.

I would want to learn German, as I am a quarter German (my parents both had a German mother),


Wouldn't that make you half German?
Minotaur55
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Minotaur55
1,373 posts
Blacksmith

I would learn German. I already know some German so learning more would just make sense.

daleks
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daleks
3,770 posts
Chamberlain

Mandarin will be the future business language, that is, if any language can topple English. It's so ingrained in our world, not to mention Mandarin is very arduous to learn and apply for many people.

While I agree English has the advantage now I would argue that the difficulty of Mandarin isn't a huge issue. English would be a very annoying language to learn, because it has rules, and then breaks them 30% of the time.
Vietnamese sounds pretty cool.
Russian would definitely be on the list
I think Latin would be pretty cool as well.
German is somewhere on my list as well.
But Japanese would be cool to learn.
I've studied Chinese for quite some time
Korean is my newest interest.
I would really like to learn French, now.
Besides the English thing

African languages feel left out Moon.
German. They are the top dogs in europe.

They are holding up the Eurozone, at least last time I check, but that is a story for a different time.
Japanese would be a great language to learn

I can count to 10! That would get me far, right? Right?
I already know some German so learning more would just make sense.

What is knowing some German? How much is some?

As for me again, I actually really suck at learning languages. For some people it comes really easy but it is usually a struggle for me. Took years of Spanish but only ever got to 2nd semester college Spanish. It would be nice to audit language classes just so I can look at a few more but honestly I just don't have time.
So here is the Dalek plan of attack if he goes to a country with a different language:
Spanish Country: I know a ton of people that speak Spanish fluently or pretty darn close to fluently, so I could find someone.
Italian: See Spanish, they are basically the same language.
French: I know 1 person living in France and 2 that are in the US but are fluent in French.
Japanese: Got a friend in Japan.
Chinese: Got a decent amount of friends that speak Chinese.
Russian: Well I am trying to learn.
Other languages: I'm not a huge traveler, probably will not go anywhere else.

How will I get these people to come with me? Classified.
SportShark
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SportShark
2,980 posts
Scribe

I hope that nobody minds if I put the following in the language that I know.
I took three years of German in high school, so here it is.

Ich nahm drei Jahre der Deutschen in der High School. Ich habe sehr viel Spaà im Gespräch mit einheimischen Deutschen in ihrer eigenen Sprache. Es war eine schwierige Sprache zu lernen, aber es war auf jeden Fall die Mühe wert. Ich würde es nicht anders wenn ich es nochmal.

GandalftheGrey666
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GandalftheGrey666
1,859 posts
Peasant

I'd like to learn Macedonian or Slovenian. Why? Cuz they are very similar to Serbian.

What would be the language of the future, you ask?
Yugoslavian languages. Why? Instead of me learning other languages, why wouldn't other people learn my language? Therefore, I wouldn't have to bother learning languages, and everyone would live in perfect harmony.

minecraftsniper
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minecraftsniper
697 posts
Herald

Im learning english so far my national language is spanish so i at 2 or 3 years to finish my studies of english so i guess i want to learn japanese ^^

Ernie15
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Ernie15
13,349 posts
Bard

I speak fluent Google Translate.

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