[game of james]

I'm looking to start learning a new language but do not know which one to choose.
I was thinking maybe Chinese as it'll probably become more popular in the future, but people say it is quite hard?
Has anyone got any suggestions and good ways to learn?
Thanks

[darkxangel]

french, spanish, mandarin or japanese.

[888jamie888]

Mate, languages are for pussies.

[123formyabc]

urdu

[The Epicurean]

Realistically, a language with a similar latin based alphabet would be easiest to learn. If you were to base you choice upon future popularity, maybe a language such as Portuguese? Portuguese being the national language of Brazil which happens to be one of the BRIC nations, has a fast growing economy and population.

That said, Chinese is a great language and the culture is amazing. If you really have the will and enthusiasm, you will be able to learn the language

[ViceVersa]

Japanese!

[scarlet-dancer]

Chinese is actually quite fun to learn (: but it really depends because i'm a chinese lol i take english as a 2nd language and french as my 3rd. I like french (: the only thing you have to master for chinese is the characters. There are so many but you can associate certain characters with others. Like for example 'person' in chinese is 人 and soil/ground is 土，well the character for 'sit' is 坐， which is basically much like two people seated on the ground. It's really quaint but that is just an example of course

[scarlet-dancer]

P.S if you intend to take Chinese, i suggest you watch chinese dramas with english subtitles! They really help if you want to follow the drama series. Movies help, too. It sparks an interest (: Also, listening to chinese songs are fun when you wanna learn chinese. I do that for french and by listening to french songs i have learned lots of french vocabulary ^^ language is all about familiarisation. As long as you use it often, be it visually reading, listening or speaking, your grasp of the language will definitely improve! Cheerios!

[sugar-n-spice]

If you want to learn Chinese get some sort of tutor; the pronunciation is the hardest thing.

[Formerly Helpful_C]

Don't 'choose' a language. Let a language choose you.

You will be a lot more determined.

[DonJuan]

Which ones do you already speak, OP?
If you don't already speak Spanish I think it's a must learn for any aspiring linguist whose native language is English. Easy pronounciation, near-perfectly phonetic orthography, straightforward grammar, and extremely widespread, giving you loads of travel and business opportunities. Plus it gives you access to a wealth of literature, films, and music from 'el mundo hipanohablante'. Not to mention the added bonus of getting Portuguese at about '80% off' so to speak, once you have mastered Spanish, unlocking the fantastic destination of Brazil if you choose to learn that variety. Italian will also come at 80% off if you speak French too, otherwise with just Spanish somewhere around 60%.

[im so academic]

(Original post by game of james)
I'm looking to start learning a new language but do not know which one to choose.
I was thinking maybe Chinese as it'll probably become more popular in the future, but people say it is quite hard?
Has anyone got any suggestions and good ways to learn?
Thanks

Forget Chinese. It will never get more popular in the future.

[fellowjoe]

(Original post by game of james)
I'm looking to start learning a new language but do not know which one to choose.
I was thinking maybe Chinese as it'll probably become more popular in the future, but people say it is quite hard?
Has anyone got any suggestions and good ways to learn?
Thanks

As a Chinese myself, i do agree that Mandarin is tough to master both in conversation and writing. But with sheer persistence and interest, why not? From the way i see it, more of those keen Westerners are having a good grasp of Mandarin nowadays. That said, Mandarin is quite important for business in the near future.


French is useful for diplomacy and business, Japanese and German more so for technology and Arabic for diplomacy.

It all depends on what you intend to use the language for.

[apolocreed]

(Original post by The Epicurean)
Realistically, a language with a similar latin based alphabet would be easiest to learn. If you were to base you choice upon future popularity, maybe a language such as Portuguese? Portuguese being the national language of Brazil which happens to be one of the BRIC nations, has a fast growing economy and population.

That said, Chinese is a great language and the culture is amazing. If you really have the will and enthusiasm, you will be able to learn the language

Indo-european is the word you're looking for

[sugar-n-spice]

(Original post by apolocreed)
Indo-european is the word you're looking for

Some Indo-European languages use Cyrillic script surely?

[dilburt]

spanish is probably the best language to learn...

[The Epicurean]

(Original post by apolocreed)
Indo-european is the word you're looking for

Not necessarily. The Latin alphabet is now used in a number of non Indo-European languages, for example Malaysian, Swahili and Somali (can be writen in Latin writing system)

I was stating that basically, by not having to learn a whole new writing system, all languages with a latin based alphabet are automatically easier.

Here is a more comprehensive list
http://www.omniglot.com/writing/langalph.htm

[Kolya]

Call me old-fashioned, but why not choose to learn the language of a culture that you're interested in?

[Bread Basket]

(Original post by fellowjoe)
As a Chinese myself, i do agree that Mandarin is tough to master both in conversation and writing. But with sheer persistence and interest, why not? From the way i see it, more of those keen Westerners are having a good grasp of Mandarin nowadays. That said, Mandarin is quite important for business in the near future.

Why is it tough for conversation? When you are speaking it's just words like any other language. I did the GCSE in it and I can safely say that it is easy to become conversationally fluent in Chinese but really hard to write it to the same standard.

[game of james]

(Original post by DonJuan)
Which ones do you already speak, OP?
If you don't already speak Spanish I think it's a must learn for any aspiring linguist whose native language is English. Easy pronounciation, near-perfectly phonetic orthography, straightforward grammar, and extremely widespread, giving you loads of travel and business opportunities. Plus it gives you access to a wealth of literature, films, and music from 'el mundo hipanohablante'. Not to mention the added bonus of getting Portuguese at about '80% off' so to speak, once you have mastered Spanish, unlocking the fantastic destination of Brazil if you choose to learn that variety. Italian will also come at 80% off if you speak French too, otherwise with just Spanish somewhere around 60%.

I speak French pretty fluently, I'd think I would only improve by going there to live for a bit.
I am actually leaning away from French 'like' languages. I was thinking German, I think it's quite easy to pronounce and it seems very similar to English to me.
Also I would love to have a good rant in German.