NationStates Jolt Archive

Due to my choice in major, the university I attend required me to take at least three semesters of a foreign language for graduation. Given the international nature of this site, I couldn’t think of a better place to ask this question. As the title asks, which foreign language should I take?

I took three years of Latin in highschool, and a year of German years ago which I don’t remember in the least, but given the options above, which do you recommend me take. Please give reasons as well, such as easiness to learn, usefulness in the modern world, etc. The poll lists the options available to me from my school.

German. It's easy to grasp, and it's a fun language to learn... for me, at least.

Where do you live? I'm in NZ and when I was at school the only language options were French or German - but we're in South-East Asia! Japanese would have been far more appropriate really.

If you're in the US I would imagine Spanish would be the most useful.

With a background in Latin, Spanish will be fairly easy...and you'll be able to practice assuming you're USian:D

Where do you live?

If you're in the US I would imagine Spanish would be the most useful.

I'm an American. As for Spanish, oddly enough the language and I don't get along. I took independant classes for a bit, but hated it. Although that may have been the teacher...

Spanish is the only one widely spoken outside it's country of origin. After Mandarin, it is the language with the highest number of native speakers (so says the almighty Wiki)...

...so yeah, Spanish.

Russian is fun to learn, and not too hard to get once you get past the alphabet, since most of the grammar rules are pretty loose.
The trouble is, like Japanese, a lot of English speakers can have trouble getting their tounges around words like stradtsvoya (probobly transliterated incorrectly), and the fact that a lot of Russian words are pronounced differently than theyre spelled. (But I see youve taken German, so you shouldnt have too much trouble with long, crazily pronounced words)
And, as a bonus, Russia is getting back into the world economy again, so it seems likely that demand for Russian speakers will rise in the near future.

But, if youre going for immidiate practicality, Spanish is the way to go.

With a background in Latin, Spanish will be fairly easy

The similarities of the language aside, from my experience the difficulty came with how the classes were ran. My Latin education was focused on translations, word conjugations, the classics, and Roman history. In the Spanish classes I took, it was focused solely on rapid memorization of words and phrases through mainly oral methods. It was a complete 180.

Whichever language you are likely to come into contact with the most. Otherwise they're a hell of a lot of trouble to learn.

I picked Japanese, but only because i've studied it, found it interesting, and used it in practice a few times. That and Russian are probably the most difficult, however, as they necessitate learning an entirely new alphabet. Or alphabets, rather, in the case of Japanese.

The trouble is, like Japanese, a lot of English speakers can have trouble getting their tounges around words like...

Like Japanese? Japanese is easy to pronounce, since there are no real sounds in it that are alien to an English speaker. Some of these other languages will pose problems however (I have a huge amount of trouble with the French and Spanish rolled 'r' sound.)

Whichever language you are likely to come into contact with the most. Otherwise they're a hell of a lot of trouble to learn.

I picked Japanese, but only because i've studied it, found it interesting, and used it in practice a few times. That and Russian are probably the most difficult, however, as they necessitate learning an entirely new alphabet. Or alphabets, rather, in the case of Japanese.

The Russian alphabet isnt too hard. Its basically a mix of Greek and English letters, plus a few others. It took me about a week to get them down fairly well, and that was in a one-day a week class.
Russian grammar is pretty simple, you can pretty much arrange sentences however you like, its basically just a matter of memorizing words.

The similarities of the language aside, from my experience the difficulty came with how the classes were ran. My Latin education was focused on translations, word conjugations, the classics, and Roman history. In the Spanish classes I took, it was focused solely on rapid memorization of words and phrases through mainly oral methods. It was a complete 180.

Yeah, that's why I never persisted with German after school. I understood all the structural stuff, but never could rote-learn huge lists of vocab.

Like Japanese? Japanese is easy to pronounce, since there are no real sounds in it that are alien to an English speaker. Some of these other languages will pose problems however (I have a huge amount of trouble with the French and Spanish rolled 'r' sound.)

Aside from the r/l confusion, and the tendancy to get lost in some of the longer words that Ive seen some people exhibit?

The Russian alphabet isnt too hard. Its basically a mix of Greek and English letters, plus a few others. It took me about a week to get them down fairly well, and that was in a one-day a week class.
Russian grammar is pretty simple, you can pretty much arrange sentences however you like, its basically just a matter of memorizing words.

I haven't studied it, so I didn't know for sure. It don't think it's a particularly useful language for me to learn, anyway.


Aside from the r/l confusion, and the tendancy to get lost in some of the longer words that Ive seen some people exhibit?

Shirimasen. *shrugs* I never had those problems, myself. I am out of practice, though.

I haven't studied it, so I didn't know for sure. It don't think it's a particularly useful language for me to learn, anyway.
Most people have trouble with the ordering. I myself cant remember it very well.
I just know the first few letters now, those being (in the Latin alphabet):
A B V G, and the last letter, Ya.

And, as I said, if the current trend in Russia keeps up, theyre going to be a significant factor in the world economy, and since not a whole lot of people speak a lot of PycckN (alright, pretend the N is backwards, I dont have a numpad :P) outside of Eastern Europe, Central Asia and Northern China, translators, and even people who can simply speak the language, are going to be valuable.

Shirimasen. *shrugs* I never had those problems, myself. I am out of practice, though.

Not everybody has trouble with pronouncing things. I didnt have trouble with Japanese either.

Japanese. It may seem hard, but it isn't as hard as it seems. The grammar is intuitive, once you understand the premise it works on, and it isn't so full of exceptions, like English is.

Most people have trouble with the ordering. I myself cant remember it very well.
I just know the first few letters now, those being (in the Latin alphabet):
A B V G, and the last letter, Ya.

And, as I said, if the current trend in Russia keeps up, theyre going to be a significant factor in the world economy, and since not a whole lot of people speak a lot of PycckN (alright, pretend the N is backwards, I dont have a numpad :P) outside of Eastern Europe, Central Asia and Northern China, translators, and even people who can simply speak the language, are going to be valuable.

Maybe so, but for me the biggest issue is not how valuable it will be in 20 years time, but how easy it is to learn now. I simply don't get exposed to Russian. Actually, that's not entirely true - my grandfather is fluent. Outside of that, however, I have no way to really practice the language (a major bottleneck I discovered from learning French). I'm sure I would be able to practice reading with little difficulty, but using it in daily conversation is where it matters the most.

It would be an interesting language to learn, I admit that, but I think one with limited global exposure at the moment. Therefore i'd probably avoid recommending it to someone like Steel Butterfly, especially if he hasn't learnt another language before.

Steel Butterfly, especially if he hasn't learnt another language before.

...but I have, haha. 3 years of Latin, a year of German a long time ago, and a few months of Spanish which I wasn't too successful at.

Also I'm a bit surprised that Russian and Japanese have recieved votes while Italian hasn't

...but I have, haha. 3 years of Latin, a year of German a long time ago, and a few months of Spanish which I wasn't too successful at.

Oh. My bad...

In that case, i'd say pick one of the European languages then, especially if you ahve some background in them.

Also I'm a bit surprised that Russian and Japanese have recieved votes while Italian hasn't

Probably because Italian is next to useless. ;)

greets,
[OOC]
Esperanto. A language created in 1887 for the purpose of neutral diplomacy between peoples for matters of state, business, love, anything.

the idea was that you kept your native language/s, but used Esperanto to talk to people who are visiting your country, or you are visiting theirs.

as the language has no "home country", it is seen as neutral. If you went to Japan it would be difficult getting around, as you would have to be forced to learn Japanese. Same if someone from Japan were to go to England(or where ever you are :p ) they would be forced to learn English.

However if people learned Esperanto, it would be used as a "universal second language". Its intention.

And as far as languages are concerned, it is the easiest to learn. I can talk about my city, family, self, and any number; took me 3*?* weeks!

Esperanto estas la lingvo por min! :fluffle:
-Rafe

Due to my choice in major, the university I attend required me to take at least three semesters of a foreign language for graduation. Given the international nature of this site, I couldn’t think of a better place to ask this question. As the title asks, which foreign language should I take?

I took three years of Latin in highschool, and a year of German years ago which I don’t remember in the least, but given the options above, which do you recommend me take. Please give reasons as well, such as easiness to learn, usefulness in the modern world, etc. The poll lists the options available to me from my school.

go with Spanish...surprisingly easy to pick up, Spanish is spoken by more countries on the list than any other, and Latino women are hot..... French comes close but most of those french speaking countries I'd never want to visit and I never found it an easy language to learn...

greets,
[OOC]
Esperanto. A language created in 1887 for the purpose of neutral diplomacy between peoples for matters of state, business, love, anything.

the idea was that you kept your native language/s, but used Esperanto to talk to people who are visiting your country, or you are visiting theirs.

as the language has no "home country", it is seen as neutral. If you went to Japan it would be difficult getting around, as you would have to be forced to learn Japanese. Same if someone from Japan were to go to England(or where ever you are :p ) they would be forced to learn English.

However if people learned Esperanto, it would be used as a "universal second language". Its intention.

And as far as languages are concerned, it is the easiest to learn. I can talk about my city, family, self, and any number; took me 3*?* weeks!

Esperanto estas la lingvo por min! :fluffle:
-Rafe

Esperanto was great idea but there aren't many who speak it are there(I know of no one)? and English has become the language of the world

You really should learn Chinese because Spanish has already made its surge throughout the west. China is the next major power and soon there will be a lot more business coming from that general direction. Also, they used a lot of Chinese in Firefly. That show should have never been canceled!

You really should learn Chinese because Spanish has already made its surge throughout the west. China is the next major power and soon there will be a lot more business coming from that general direction. Also, they used a lot of Chinese in Firefly. That show should have never been canceled!


And by the time he can read his first 100 words in Chinese, he'll be done with the class. It's a losing proposition, trying to pick up characters...

And by the time he can read his first 100 words in Chinese, he'll be done with the class. It's a losing proposition, trying to pick up characters...

...which is why I'm convinced that Mandarin will never become a global language on the scale of English in its current form. It's just not malleable enough.

I would say German, due to the fact that it contains more unintentionally funny words than the next leading brand.

Zwerg!
Bustenhalter!
Sparkasse!

Probably because Italian is next to useless. ;)

*Wonders the use of German, French, or Russian either...*

Where do you live? I'm in NZ and when I was at school the only language options were French or German - but we're in South-East Asia! Japanese would have been far more appropriate really.

If you're in the US I would imagine Spanish would be the most useful.

when i was in high shcool you could take Japanese , French or Italian
now i found out they drop Japanese and change it to something

You could try Welsh or Frisian or something. Such languages could always use another speaker/writer.

You could try Welsh or Frisian or something. Such languages could always use another speaker/writer.

Neither of which are taught at my university or would satisfy the foreign language requirement... :rolleyes:

pick the one you may end up dealing with the most in a job
here the two main ones would be Japanese and Chinese in most jobs

German is ridcioulously easy to learn. Its nice and structured, I cant think of any irregulars...Unlike French which though useful has quite a few irregs.

Yeah, go for German probably...

Neither of which are taught at my university or would satisfy the foreign language requirement... :rolleyes:Well, the not being taugth thing is a bit of a problem. But it's odd they wouldn't fit the requirements, they're foreign; or at least one of them must be, they're from different countries.

You might also want to consider Chinese, if it's taught. The way china's economy is steamrolling to the future, it's bound to be usefull.

Well, the not being taugth thing is a bit of a problem. But it's ought they wouldn't fit the requirements, they're foreign; or at least one of them must be, they're from different countries.

You might also want to consider Chinese, if it's taught. The way china's economy is steamrolling to the future, it's bound to be usefull.

Read the thread, buddy. I said in the first post that these are the ones taught, and likewise, the only ones allowed to fulfill the requirements. No Welsh doesn't count. No Chinese doesn't count.

Read the thread, buddy. I said in the first post that these are the ones taught, and likewise, the only ones allowed to fulfill the requirements. No Welsh doesn't count. No Chinese doesn't count.Bah Humbug, I say; reading threads and having a clue what you're responding to is for sissies *shakes fist in rebellion*

As for plain usefulness on the international scene, you should go with Arabic, Chinese or Hindi.

Anyway

I took three years of Latin in highschool,

This could be a good reason to take Italian. Italian is a simplified form of Latin, after all; has a rich, regulated grammar that English lacks; as such, it may help you when you study another foreign language (like German, Russian, French); plus, it's a good starter for learning any neo-latin language like French (useful for Africa), Spanish or Portuguese (useful for America). Also, many people in Central Europe (expecially Hungary) speak Italian as second language.

greets,
[OOC]
Esperanto... has no "home country", it is seen as neutral. -Rafe

from wikipedia:
No country has adopted the language officially, it has enjoyed continuous usage by a community estimated at between 100,000 and 2 million speakers. By some estimates, there are about a thousand native speakers.

Esperanto can be described as "a language lexically predominantly Romanic, morphologically intensively agglutinative and to a certain degree isolating in character".[2] The phonology, grammar, vocabulary, and semantics are based on the western Indo-European languages. The phonemic inventory is essentially Slavic, as is much of the semantics, while the vocabulary derives primarily from the Romance languages, with a lesser contribution from Germanic. Pragmatics and other aspects of the language not specified by Zamenhof's original documents were influenced by the native languages of early speakers, primarily Russian, Polish, German, and French.

1.There are more native speakers of Catala, Milanese, Ticinese and Lingua Gritschuna than of Esperanto. There are more second-language speakers of Latin than of Esperanto. Esperanto is a dead language without any significant native literature.

2.An agglutinative romanic language with slavic phonemes and a germanic adstratum, based on only four european Languages (2 slavic, 1 germanic and 1 neo-latin)... I can't picture this as being "neutral" within the global picture of the world languages. It is an attempt at an european lingua franca, not at all "neutral". For example, the uralic agglutinating languages of Europe (like Hungarian and Suomi) have been left out on the reason that Zamenhof didn't understand them. Also baltic languages have been totally overlooked. So has Greek, so have the celtic languages.
Esperanto is in my opinion a very partial, biased, botched attempt at a lingua franca. Very nice in the philosophical premises, totally lousy in concept and realisation.

I took 2 years of French in high school. It was easy, fun, and the ladies love when you talk dirty in French. :D

Esperanto is a dead language without any significant native literature.

added: studying Esperanto is similar to studying Quenya... but Quenya is cooler:cool: and it's got some native literature.

Due to my choice in major, the university I attend required me to take at least three semesters of a foreign language for graduation. Given the international nature of this site, I couldn’t think of a better place to ask this question. As the title asks, which foreign language should I take?

I took three years of Latin in highschool, and a year of German years ago which I don’t remember in the least, but given the options above, which do you recommend me take. Please give reasons as well, such as easiness to learn, usefulness in the modern world, etc. The poll lists the options available to me from my school.
How good is your leet?

That's what I like about Russian, it's all about the spoken word, loose-ness of it all is what dragged me into it. But from what I've heard otherwise, Slavic languages are apparently the hardest to learn (?). I say choose the language that rolls off your tongue the easiest.

That's what I like about Russian, it's all about the spoken word, loose-ness of it all is what dragged me into it. But from what I've heard otherwise, Slavic languages are apparently the hardest to learn (?).

Actually, I find slavic languages quite easy, but I've studied german, ancient greek and latin before taking russian, so I had no problem with the casus system. I like declinating nouns! Also slavic languages sound like music to me, except for polish - I find it a bit too guttural.
The real problem a non-Slav will find with russian is about the aspect of verbs and the motion verbs, but it isn't a lot harder than understanding the difference between a past tense and a past perfect in english.

Learn German, the language of war.

greets,
[OOC]
Esperanto. A language created in 1887 for the purpose of neutral diplomacy between peoples for matters of state, business, love, anything.

the idea was that you kept your native language/s, but used Esperanto to talk to people who are visiting your country, or you are visiting theirs.

as the language has no "home country", it is seen as neutral. If you went to Japan it would be difficult getting around, as you would have to be forced to learn Japanese. Same if someone from Japan were to go to England(or where ever you are :p ) they would be forced to learn English.

However if people learned Esperanto, it would be used as a "universal second language". Its intention.

And as far as languages are concerned, it is the easiest to learn. I can talk about my city, family, self, and any number; took me 3*?* weeks!

Esperanto estas la lingvo por min! :fluffle:
-Rafe
Sure, learning Esperanto is easy, but it's totally useless.
added: studying Esperanto is similar to studying Quenya... but Quenya is cooler:cool: and it's got some native literature.

Quenya FTW!

Just don't pick german, I picked it in the sixth grade and only have a couple of months left of the never ending, booring german classes. The language is okay but with the teacher we have, it's the hardest class to endure just because of it's booooooringness.

ich liebe deutsch :)

ich liebe deutsch :)
Großartig! :fluffle:

If you're only doing three semesters, I'd say the French or Spanish. Both will be helped (in vocabulary terms at least) by your knowledge of Latin and your linguistic starting point of English, given both French and Latin's influence on the language.Both are widely spoken throughout the world. (La Franophonie just doesn't get as much attention.)

It's much easier to learn a language if you can practice it outside class. If you live in the USA, it will be much easier to get outside practice in Spanish than any other language on your list (unless you have friends who speak or are learning them).

Quenya FTW!

...Sindarin is cooler. ;)

...Sindarin is cooler. ;)

I can agree with this.

I can agree with this.

But they can both be written in Tengwar, which makes them both pwn the shit out of any "real" languages. :D

You should take Spanish if you want to learn what will likely be the most useful to you.

German ... thats what I'm studing

Or you could give Elven a try ... :eek:


Elvish Langauge Link:

http://www.google.com/search?q=Elven+Language&rls=com.microsoft:*

German.

Mark Twain loved it, you should too.

Maybe so, but for me the biggest issue is not how valuable it will be in 20 years time, but how easy it is to learn now. I simply don't get exposed to Russian. Actually, that's not entirely true - my grandfather is fluent. Outside of that, however, I have no way to really practice the language (a major bottleneck I discovered from learning French). I'm sure I would be able to practice reading with little difficulty, but using it in daily conversation is where it matters the most.

It would be an interesting language to learn, I admit that, but I think one with limited global exposure at the moment. Therefore i'd probably avoid recommending it to someone like Steel Butterfly, especially if he hasn't learnt another language before.

I found the Japanese language easier to pick upon than French or Spanish and is easier to pronounce (flat tongue :) )(note my level in each language is very basic, i.e. school level). The big problem with Japanese for me is that it has the chinese alphabete included in its writing. I have real trouble trying to remember the words from it, the phonetic alphabetes are much easier to cope with.

But they can both be written in Tengwar, which makes them both pwn the shit out of any "real" languages. :D

Meh, I write English in Tengwar.

Look at what field you're going into to decide. For instance, I'm an engineer, and Germany is the engineering hub of Europe, and many major engineering firms (especially electrical, my concentration) come out of Germany - it would be an excellent choice. If I were going into international business, Chinese would be a good language to learn. Planning on a field involving public service? Spanish would be the way to go.

I found the Japanese language easier to pick upon than French or Spanish and is easier to pronounce (flat tongue :) )(note my level in each language is very basic, i.e. school level). The big problem with Japanese for me is that it has the chinese alphabete included in its writing. I have real trouble trying to remember the words from it, the phonetic alphabetes are much easier to cope with.

Yeah, Kanji is a bitch, and the main reason why I stopped studying the language formally. Fortunately, it's not required in order to converse with people.

As many as you can.

Go for spanish, and we can agree on particular classes in mIRC. For free

Russian > me

Seriously, I like learning it and all, and I'm on my fourth semester of it, but something about it has just completely failed to click with me. Russian grammar pwns me, I've never mastered the how/when/why of the cases, they seem utterly arbitrary for the most part.

Nevertheless, it's been a fun time. My Russian class is great. Because the dept is so small, it's been the same exact group of kids for the past 4 semesters.

Due to my choice in major, the university I attend required me to take at least three semesters of a foreign language for graduation. Given the international nature of this site, I couldn’t think of a better place to ask this question. As the title asks, which foreign language should I take?

I took three years of Latin in highschool, and a year of German years ago which I don’t remember in the least, but given the options above, which do you recommend me take. Please give reasons as well, such as easiness to learn, usefulness in the modern world, etc. The poll lists the options available to me from my school.

If you're in the US, Spanish becomes the obvious answer. It's the second language of the country.

If outside the US, the language used second in your country.

Business--Chinese or Arabic--China is the next super power--Arabic is the third (after English and Spanish) international language. About a third of the people of the world speak Chinese but it's limited to China itself. About a fourth speak Spanish and Arabic, and those languages are spread over a larger geographic area. And used in many nations.

If you're in the US, Spanish becomes the obvious answer. It's the second language of the country.

If outside the US, the language used second in your country.

Business--Chinese or Arabic--China is the next super power--Arabic is the third (after English and Spanish) international language. About a third of the people of the world speak Chinese but it's limited to China itself. About a fourth speak Spanish and Arabic, and those languages are spread over a larger geographic area. And used in many nations.

Spanish, French, English, Mandarin, and Hindi would cover more people.

Arabic ranks sixth in the world's league table of languages, with an estimated 186 million native speakers.

Look at what field you're going into to decide. For instance, I'm an engineer, and Germany is the engineering hub of Europe, and many major engineering firms (especially electrical, my concentration) come out of Germany - it would be an excellent choice. If I were going into international business, Chinese would be a good language to learn. Planning on a field involving public service? Spanish would be the way to go.

I'm a Philosophy/Pre-Law Student with Law School aspirations

You should take German, because that's what I'm taking and I want everyone else to suffer just as much as me.

Russian > me

Seriously, I like learning it and all, and I'm on my fourth semester of it, but something about it has just completely failed to click with me. Russian grammar pwns me, I've never mastered the how/when/why of the cases, they seem utterly arbitrary for the most part.

Nevertheless, it's been a fun time. My Russian class is great. Because the dept is so small, it's been the same exact group of kids for the past 4 semesters.

Ya hachu kupeet ahdin koshka! Take Russky tovirish!

Or Japanese, I'd like to learn one or the other.

German.
It's rather easy I say, and with 1 year experience, even if you don't remember any, you are bound to pick it up easier.

Mandarin was not on the list, so I picked Japanese.

I took French in high school (This is Canada, after all), and then German as a minor in my undergraduate degree. If I really want to advance my career, I need to brush up on my French and learn Mandarin and/or Arabic.

It would be fun to move beyond my handful of words in Turkish and Swedish, but neither of them are large enough to really justify it at the moment.

It is neat that you took Latin. That is another one I would love to learn sometime.

German.

Mark Twain loved it, you should too.
If I remember correctly, that's not how Mark Twain phrased it...

OHHH, you missed out Arabic :D. All the rest of languages are alright but the populations that speak those languages are decreasing, pick the rising languages like Mandarin, Arabic, Hindi, or Spanish.

Spanish, French, English, Mandarin, and Hindi would cover more people.

Arabic ranks sixth in the world's league table of languages, with an estimated 186 million native speakers.

The problem with French and Hindi is their limited use geographically. English, Spanish and Arabic are considered the only international languages because they are used in far more countries as a first or second language than any other. (Written Arabic is growing rapidly with the spread of Islam, spoken Arabic is actually several dialects that are close to being separate languages.) Mandarin is important because of the growing power of China. The drawback is it is seldom used outside of China.

To the nit pickers--Yes, I know there are a few countries outside of France that use French, but they are few in comparison. And Yes, I know there are "China Towns" in many major cities, but realistically Mandarin is seldom used outside of China.

You should take German, because that's what I'm taking and I want everyone else to suffer just as much as me.

I know how you're feeling...

Spanish. Its not hard

Le francais. C'est le plus belle des langes.

Le francais. C'est le plus belle des langes.

Crazy frog talk.

Crazy frog talk.

Two frogs, sittin' on a log. One jumps in the water.
"How deep is it?"
"Knee-deep."

Russian if only for the ability to not have to raise your voice but english speakers automatically beleive you are shouting about draining some vodka bottles and shoving the glass through their capitalist digestive systems. Alos you can tell Russians to stop dancing on the bar and splashing the waiter.

Ja, take German!

It's best if you can manage a German accent too. Those are swell.

Russian if only for the ability to not have to raise your voice but english speakers automatically beleive you are shouting about draining some vodka bottles and shoving the glass through their capitalist digestive systems. Alos you can tell Russians to stop dancing on the bar and splashing the waiter.

I wish I spoke Russian now. Though apparently it has hundreds of irregular verbs.

What undergraduate program are you taking? I have applied for the International Bachelors of Business Administration (iBBA) at York U in Toronto and they offer concentration in those languages.

If you are planning to go into international business, like me, you should choose a language that is present in the country you plan to do business in. For me, I'm planning to go into Japan because their economy is stable and is a safe bet that it won't collapse. Therefore I'd take Japanese... If your planning to go into China or Hong Kong, then learn Mandarin or Cantonese.

I'm a Philosophy/Pre-Law Student with Law School aspirations

Spanish is good if you'll be dealing with Spanish clients. German is very good for philosophy - Kant, Nietzie (sp), Maybe some Clauswitz if you get into Just War or something. International law and treaties...French, maybe? The French used to be the negotiators of the world, mainly because they can't win wars, but I don't know if that would apply today.

French will be the easiest. A lot of English vocabulary and grammar is from French.

German. It's easy to grasp, and it's a fun language to learn... for me, at least.

I second that. :)

I wish I spoke Russian now. Though apparently it has hundreds of irregular verbs.

Verbs in Russian I really don't find very difficult, most of them do conjugate very regularly, there's only a couple different classes of verbs and they conjugate similarly anyway.

No, it's those tricky cases you got to watch out for. Stupid things.

French, because its the most attractive.

Apparently, Italian is the one to go for if you want tot talk your way into a woman's pants.


Though you might actualy have to be italian for it to work properly.

sigh

they are all about the same difficulty to learn. how do you decide?

where would you like to GO? if you think that it would be cool to go to japan, pick japanese. if you want to hang out in europe some day, pick a european language. a working knowlege of spanish could have you travelling all over latin america for your job some day.

As the title asks, which foreign language should I take?

If you live in the US, take Spanish so it won't matter if you press 1 or 2 when you telephone a company. :mad:

French, because its the most attractive.

French always sounds sleezy to me compared to Italian, if we're going down that route haha.

It's best if you can manage a German accent too. Those are swell.:p

With some of the people to post in this thread, I am actually quite surprised this hasn't been said, but your are thinking about this the wrong way.

There are chicks in your major. What language are they taking. If the chicas like Spanish, take Spanish. Picking one language over another because of its usefulness or technical merit is idiotic at best. Pick the language that will help you pick up the most chicks.

It's best if you can manage a German accent too. Those are swell.
I was asked three times today whether I'm from South Africa...:eek:

Spanish. It's fairly widespread and easy to learn. And, as previously mentioned, your background in Latin will help.

Russian should be good looking at that nowadays Russia is progressing quite rapidly.

Spanish, seeing as it's one of the most widely spoken languages on the planet.

French and German are handy as trading languages, as well as being useful if you wish to go to any French or German-speaking states, that's all.

Japan isn't spoken by a great deal of people. Waste of time, to be honest.

Russian - again, not that useful. More people speak it, but since you'll never talk to any of them, due to them either being in abject poverty, or massively high positions in business, you'll never use it except perhaps to analyse the USSR's history or somesuch.

Italian - no need. Only really spoken in Italy, and hence only useful if you want to go there. Even then, speaking French or German as well as English means that you'll be able to talk to people in Italy.

Go Italian. It is the most simple, butt-easy language I have ever encountered. The most challenging aspect of this language is its verb system, a system that (after 3 years of latin) you should already have down pat. Not terribly useful, except that Italian immigrants are to be found everywhere.

In terms of usefulness, I would pick Chinese (mandarin), being the most spoken language of the world, the runner-up bussines language (after english), and the language of our future-overlords. However, it is not an easy one.