Which language to learn?
Foreign languages discussion, revision, exam and homework help.
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Which language to learn?Looking through a load of stuff in an Open University prospectus yesterday and there was something about being able to do a subject without doing the assignments and exams.
One subject they have is languages. I have been looking into doing languages of some sort for a while now; but struggled to find somewhere that does them for beginners. (the last time I did a language that wasn't English was a good 9 years ago)
A couple of questions:
- Is there a way of being able to learn a language without any input (ie, communicating) from anyone else at all? I know I could probably get someone to help me with one of the languages I'm looking at.
- Which language? I have a choice of French, Spanish, Italian or Chinese. I don't know anyone who speaks Chinese, have never studied Italian before and (I think this is what a few relatives speak; not too sure though) wasn't that keen on French at school, either. -
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Re: Which language to learn?Chinese, bloody hard to learn but it'll be worth it, many large coprorationsthat are expanding into china will be looking for people fluent in chinese to conduct business there
which branch of chinese is it, may i ask? -
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Re: Which language to learn?It doesn't say. It's this
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Re: Which language to learn?Go for the one that you'll think you most enjoy. If you didn't enjoy French, then you may not feel motivated to do the language as a course.
To see which language you enjoy, I'd try looking through the different languages first, and try to do a bit of preparation yourself. That way, you can easily find which language you'd feel more motivated to do well on.
Good luck on your choosing!
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Re: Which language to learn?This!(Original post by Ganky)
Japanese!
German is fun aswell. -
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Re: Which language to learn?I started learning Spanish in September and I find it a really nice language to learn. I learned French as a child and I prefer Spanish much more, plus, I suppose it's more useful than French. Depends what you want to do with the language. For me it's obviously useful as I live in Barcelona, but if you're looking to learn a language just for the thrill, maybe pick one you could master quite quickly or in 'easiness' stakes is better. Japanese would be completely different - at least with a European you'd have some comparisons (but then also false friends, too). It's a tough one, but I think you have to weigh up a) what is more useful and b) what you yourself would prefer to speak, as in the sound of the language, what it will give you, and so forth.
Also, it's quite difficult to just learn a language alone, I have found. Something that has been good for me is checking language exchange websites online where you can write messages or arrange language exchanges to talk in your chosen language with either teachers or those who speak it as their mother tongue. It's free and all you have to do is go for coffee, or write emails!
Good luck!Last edited by LaNoia; 19-03-2012 at 12:53. -
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Re: Which language to learn?I'd go for Spanish as it is so widely spoken.
I had a taster class in Chinese in February with a woman who works as a translator. She's been on intensive courses for her job (that in other languages would get you to post-grad level in 15 months) for years and years and is barely fluent, despite having taught herself French and Italian. As lovely a thought as it is, you would be putting in huge effort for years and years and getting not as much out of it.
Plus Romance langs I find are quite logical from English at times, particularly as they get more technical, because it gets much more like English. -
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Re: Which language to learn?1. Not everyone speaks English and even if: languages are interesting and beautiful, learning them is rewarding and it really looks good on your CV (as long as your really speak the language to some extent).
2. It all depends on what you are looking for. Personally I'd go for Italian, I've studied it myself and it is so damn beautiful
Semplicemente meraviglioso ... BUT it is only widely used in Italy, whereas Spanish gets you around almost the whole of Latin America and French is veeery helpful in Western and Central Africa.
3. You may grasp the grammar and learn the vocab, but trust me, you won't "learn" a language without any feedback. You have to speak it. You may start with textbooks and dictionaries, but at some point you need to start talking to people, otherwise it's simply useless since no one will understand you
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Re: Which language to learn?Why would you not want to talk to anyone? how will you ever know if you get the pronunciation of certain words right?(Original post by OU Student)
A couple of questions:
- Is there a way of being able to learn a language without any input (ie, communicating) from anyone else at all? I know I could probably get someone to help me with one of the languages I'm looking at.
- Which language? I have a choice of French, Spanish, Italian or Chinese. I don't know anyone who speaks Chinese, have never studied Italian before and (I think this is what a few relatives speak; not too sure though) wasn't that keen on French at school, either.
As for language choice, out of those I'd French if you intend to have business interests in Europe (German is preferred however). If this is for leisure then learn Spanish or Italian as once you get the foundations of either pretty solid you can learn the other language with relative ease and also Italy and Spain are beautiful countries whereby you are appreciated if you learn the language for when you visit... more so than in France
Chinese is such a broad term for the variations of Mandarin and Cantonese, I'd personally avoid it like the plague. -
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Re: Which language to learn?It's more finding someone to help me. The only person I know who knows Spanish, I can't understand her when she talks. Tutors are expensive. (£15 - £20ph. Don't think one hour a week will be enough)(Original post by tehFrance)
Why would you not want to talk to anyone? how will you ever know if you get the pronunciation of certain words right?
It is more for leisure and at some point, I was hoping to travel.If this is for leisure then learn Spanish or Italian as once you get the foundations of either pretty solid you can learn the other language with relative ease and also Italy and Spain are beautiful countries whereby you are appreciated if you learn the language for when you visit... more so than in France
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Re: Which language to learn?You know you are meant to learn in your own time right? one hour with a tutor then learn by yourself/with friends for a 6 more hours over the week then go back to the tutor and repeat.(Original post by OU Student)
It's more finding someone to help me. The only person I know who knows Spanish, I can't understand her when she talks. Tutors are expensive. (£15 - £20ph. Don't think one hour a week will be enough)
It is more for leisure and at some point, I was hoping to travel.
In that case Spanish is the most common one outside of Europe, you can always learn Italian at a later date as they do interlink very well. -
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Re: Which language to learn?There's a good article in the latest issue of intelligent life about choosing which language to learn.
It suggests (in no particular order of importance) French, Spanish, Arabic, Brazilian Portuguese, Mandarin or Latin.
I'd say if travel is an important consideration, French might be your best bet, given the global span of la francophonie. More people speak Spanish, but the range of countries where French is a first or second language is broader and more diverse.
Fwiw, I'm studying Spanish with the OU atm, and I've got nothing but praise for their course; it's really well structured, and my Spanish has definitely improved a lot in a relatively short period of time. -
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Re: Which language to learn?Why?(Original post by tehFrance)
Chinese is such a broad term for the variations of Mandarin and Cantonese, I'd personally avoid it like the plague.
And if you see the language 'Chinese' mentioned in the context of language learning, it almost certainly refers to the dialect known as 'Modern Standard Chinese', which is the most widely understood dialect and the one which is promoted and supported by the government.
Semplicemente meraviglioso ... BUT it is only widely used in Italy, whereas Spanish gets you around almost the whole of Latin America and French is veeery helpful in Western and Central Africa.
