What language would you like to be fluent in, and why?

The only human language I am fluent in is English.

In Junior High School and High School, I learned a little bit of Spanish, but most of it did not stick.

Learning foreign languages is not my forte, but it would be convenient to be at least bilingual.

If I could magically learn any human language, I would probably learn either Chinese or Japanese.

Chinese would be good for shopping online because some of the best value for money products are made in China.

But my love for video games would benefit from knowing Japanese.

A lot of really good video games never get translated into English, plus there are great Japanese movies and TV shows.

Which language would you like to know?

(Please do not discuss politics, and please be respectful of different cultures around the world.)

I learned English (first foreign language) and French (second foreign language) at school. While English is a ‘must have’ in today’s business world I found out I have little to no use for French (except for my vacation in Québec, Canada…wonderful people there by the way!). If I could turn back the time I would have learned Spanish instead as this language is widely used in areas I like to spend my vacation :smiley: and it’s the second most frequent spoken language in the US and many more countries of the western hemisphere.

As a third foreign language I would have also chosen Mandarin/Chinese but I assume this would be a lifetime task to learn and if you don’t use it on a frequent basis you might lose all the vocabulary sooner or later.

That would be Spanish. Loaded with papal letters, thousands of members of the Spanish impovered nobility set sail for unknown destinations in the hope to make a (new) fortune. Their behaviour was quided by the notion that the end justifies the means. They were so thorough that whole (agricultural) countries returned to wasteland. The Conquistadores litterally changed the climate of the world!
Because they were everywhere (hoping to get rich) Spanish is spoken all over the world.
.
Chinese isn’t my favorite. There seem to be more diverse Chinese languages than Romance languages. Like Mandarin, including Standard Chinese, Pekinese, Sichuanese, and the Dungan language in Central Asia. Wu, including Shanghainese, Suzhounese, and Wenzhounese. Gan, Xiang, Min, including Fuzhounese, Hokkien, Hainanese, Taiwanese and Teochew. Hakka and Yue, including Cantonese and Taishanese. Chances are that your attempts to communicate get a deaf ear with the explanation that your Chinese is not their Chinese

I would like to improve my german, I can make myself understandable but I’m far from fluent.

I always wanted to fully learn a third language (already speak Portuguese and English); the difference has always been which language. I at first wanted to learn Japanese, but that was a long gone fad; now I have a moderate interest in Russian and Chinese, but now I’m really into learning Guarany. After all, it’s the language of my people and I’d be doing my nation a disservice if I let it die.

Swedish, but only some good pick up lines would also be ok :wink:

I did a little research and found this in an online search:

"The Beijing dialect, a subdialect of Mandarin, is the phonological basis for Standard Chinese, and is thus well-understood throughout the entire country."

So, for online shopping purposes, Mandarin, or the Beijing dialect, would probably be good.

Of course, actually learning a foreign language is way easier said than done.

Rust. I think it has a great future and it just fits my needs quite well.
F*. I like what people do with it.
Hungarian. I like to visit the country yet I can barely utter 10 words.
Erlang. Completely different from what I’m used to yet very successful.

For practical reasons Chinese. To be able to communicate during business, travel and living in China.
For fun I would like to know Rongorongo.
Mike

German for philosophy and Japanese for mangas.

tlhIngan Hol. Why not? Great for voice-command devices no one else would be able to use. Besides, you can’t fully experience Shakespeare unless you’ve read him in the original Klingon.

German. To fully understand Rammstein lyrics.

Chinese, because flashlights. Spanish, because California.

Heh… seeing Hindi characters in your Location, I thought that is what you spoke as well.

English as a foreign language. Because about 15% of the World speak it. That’s about 3x more than people who speak it as a first language. Seriously, my brother-in-law is Japanese and speaks business English, and he can go to international meetings and speak with anyone…. except the native English speakers who speak too fast and use too many different and complicated words.

But, if I could have another language, maybe Chinese (Cantonese probably, because of the UKs links to Hong Kong, and Bruce Lee spoke Cantonese, and I bet Chuck Norris does too, but he probably speaks fluent Mandarin too.)

I wouldn’t bother with Cantonese. I’m 2nd generation Chinese and speak 1 flavor of Cantonese but there are several other ones and some aren’t similar at all. Mandarin is the way to go even in Hong Kong since most of the younger Chinese speak that rather than Cantonese.

It wouldn’t surprise me. Plus, Chuck counted to infinity… twice!

I heard he squeezes mandarins with his eyelids.

Pennsylvania Dutch, so that I know what the Amish are saying.

Came here to say that.

Also, gaining fluency is a language is a very perishable skill. I lived in Japan for a couple of years, and was pretty good at 30+ years ago. I wish I had time to remain fluent in it, but even just trying to maintain some of what I used to have takes way too much time. The very basics of a foreign language are like riding a bike, but fluency definitely is not. In my experience with French, Japanese, and C, anyway.

When he cuts onions, the onions cry.