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Best language to learn?

Enfalas

He's caught that disease all us linguists get at some point - "forgetyourownlanguage"itis. (By the way, this was a poor joke not an attempt to get neg rep... lol)

:tsr2:

Isn't Mr Teacher French? :confused:

Anyway...
Globally I'd say Spanish or Russian. Spanish simply because of the high number of speakers (especially in South America) and Russian because it's a rising world power in business and has almost as many speakers as Spanish.
Europe-wise I'd say German for Business and French for anything else. Personally I'm not a big advocat of French, it's not widely spoken, and in a European context it isn't that helpful either as the working language in the majority of European institutions/organisations/firms is English (both English and French in the EU and European branch of the UN).
It all depends where you want to work/who you want to work for. Some companies will value certain languages over others because of the links they have with oher businesses.
From a purely linguistic perspective I'd recommend Spanish as it is by far the easiest language I've mentioned. Its spelling is completely phonetic, it merely has 6 accents (á,é,í,ó,ú and ñ) and its grammar is more like English than any of the other languages mentioned.

Reply 21

Mr. Jim

i must admit spanish is surprisingly easy when you get into it...

Reply 22

Gael

8

Why would a gay frenchman convert to islam? beyond me.

Reply 23

Cunning Linguist

3

drsmeeth

Why would a gay frenchman convert to islam? beyond me.

where did that suddenly come out from?

Reply 24

Gael

8

"well i started learning Arabic because I want to read the Holy Qu'ran in Arabic because I am a muslim convert, albeit the fact that i am homosexual-thus i have difficulty in entering the community at the moment- umma not very accepting where i come from"

Reply 25

mrteacher

1

drsmeeth

Why would a gay frenchman convert to islam? beyond me.

am half french/spanish half greek :smile:

why would i convert? because it has made me happy, cant say i am the best muslim around by far not. but i feel more complete

Reply 26

Pickaskill

Learn german it's great!!!
Pickaskill :smile:

Reply 27

quintessence

6

Pick a language you really love and want to study! It's all very well picking French/Spanish/German just because you think they'll be v. useful...but if you fall in love with a language like Swahili then it'll be much more rewarding for you personally. Also, I don't think learning an uncommon language necessarily damages job prospects and so forth...it'll just make you stand out more and look like a really interesting person (and mean you can get a job in a less competitive area!)

Reply 28

Gravastar

11

Learn Dutch - it's great at parties.

Bloemen = Flowers
Slaag = Tram Stop
Slagerie = Butchers.

Reply 29

BovineBeast

mrteacher

am half french/spanish half greek :smile:

why would i convert? because it has made me happy, cant say i am the best muslim around by far not. but i feel more complete

Okay, but why Islam in particular. I'm by no means judging your religious choice (indeed, I like your courage), but I am curious why you chose that particular religion.

Reply 30

Mr. Jim

we had quite a bit of fun in belgium last year trying to read the menu which was only in dutch...
seriously i've never laughed that much for that long ever.
good times. lol

Reply 31

BovineBeast

mr jim

we had quite a bit of fun in belgium last year trying to read the menu which was only in dutch...
seriously i've never laughed that much for that long ever.
good times. lol

When I was in Estonia I watched a Dutch film with Estonian subtitles. It was surprisingly easy to understand, but perhaps that was because half of it was in Spanish.

Reply 32

mrteacher

1

BovineBeast

Okay, but why Islam in particular. I'm by no means judging your religious choice (indeed, I like your courage), but I am curious why you chose that particular religion.

why Islam? because Islam is the one and true religion. thank you for your compliment

Reply 33

paddy

14

mrteacher

why Islam? because Islam is the one and true religion. thank you for your compliment

Let's not turn this thread into a religious discussion :smile:

Spanish is the best.

Reply 34

Mr. Jim

paddy357

Spanish is the best.

er, nar, it's so totally norwegian.

:cool:

Reply 35

Piggsil

16

mr jim

er, nar, it's so totally norwegian.

:cool:

Ja! på magendin! :biggrin:

Have you heard the expression, 'the raisin in the sausage'? I know how to say it but I can't spell it! I love that phrase! :biggrin:

pølser

Reply 36

BovineBeast

mrteacher

why Islam? because Islam is the one and true religion. thank you for your compliment

Yes, but what made you decide that? Was it a religious experience, or what? It's a subject that interests me.

Reply 37

BovineBeast

mr jim

er, nar, it's so totally norwegian.

:cool:

Norsk er bra. (did I do that right?). I know a little, but can understand more than I can speak.

Reply 38

Mr. Jim

Becca

Have you heard the expression, 'the raisin in the sausage'? I know how to say it but I can't spell it! I love that phrase! :biggrin:

pølser

en rosin i pølsa? haha aye that one's a good'n, tho i'm not sold on it being so great...hehe

BovineBeast

Norsk er bra. (did I do that right?). I know a little, but can understand more than I can speak.

jo, men det er bedre som `Norsk er altfor kul`! lål

Reply 39

Gael

8

mita se on? voiko sinne menna rullatuolissa oleva henkilo? en ymmarra. en puhu suomea. pahastutteko jos paltan?

Best language to learn?

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