If you could wake up tomorrow and speak 5 languages fluently, what would they be?

Mine would probably Chinese, Arabic (Gulf dialect), Spanish, French and either Russian or Italian.

What would you choose and why?

Reply 1

Steezy

15

Spanish (covers the whole of South America apart from Brazil)
Portuguese (covers Brazil)
Chinese (would love to travel round China & know what I'm doing... Plus it might help when the Chinese take over the World)
Thai (would consider living there one day)
Maybe Japanese, or French, not sure about the last one.

Basically to cover places I'd like to travel to which don't already speak English.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 2

Bacon Eater 420

British English, American English, Canadian English, Australian English, New Zealand English

Reply 3

Fryschia

9

Does this include the languages I already speak fluently?

If not then:

Swedish, Chinese, French (I speak half fluently at the moment), Spanish and Finnish.

Reply 4

Chlorophile

20

Dog (the woofish dialect), Penguin, Spider (to get them to leave me alone), Slug (to get them to leave my plants alone), Tree (I'm sure they'd make great conversation partners when I'm lonely).

Reply 5

Sir Killalot

9

French, Spanish, German, Italian, Portuguese.

Reply 6

Observatory

20

Mandarin, Hindi, Russian, Japanese, French, in that order.

Don't think much of the Hispanosphere or Islamosphere. They're big but useless.

Reply 7

bonfire_heart

15

Well I already speak English and German, so I would probably go with
1. Russian, so I can get involved in lgbt activism
2. Spanish because it is becoming the 2. world language and is a huge plus on the U.S. job market
3. Italian because I have many friends in Italy
and of course (4) French because in my opinion it is the most beautiful language in the world. (I actually started studying it on my own time)
That would already make 6 in total
Why would you like to speak Arabic, if I may ask? :smile:

Reply 8

MidnightDream

16

French, Spanish, German and Mandarin because they're so useful but also Twi (Akan) so my parents can't talk about me in front of me anymore because I would understand what they're saying :smile:

Reply 9

KJane

15

In no particular order:

French
Spanish (Convenient, since so many people speak it.)
German
Chinese (Mandarin)
Japanese

Reply 10

xDave-

19

Japanese would be my main one, not sure about the rest. I suppose it makes sense to choose French, Spanish, German and Italian.

Reply 11

Steezy

15

Original post by Observatory

Mandarin, Hindi, Russian, Japanese, French, in that order.

Don't think much of the Hispanosphere or Islamosphere. They're big but useless.

The whole of South America is useless? In terms of the people or...?

Some of the most amazing nature & scenery exists in South America...

Reply 12

lilixxx1000

16

Probably Spanish, Mandarin, Russian, German and Italian. (I already speak French....and English obviously :P)

Reply 13

racheyroo

13

Mandarin
Italian
Russian
Polish
Spanish

Reply 14

ArsenalObsessed

3

Arabic (classical), Arabic (other dialects), French, Italian and Welsh.

Reply 15

tazza ma razza

19

Hindi / Punjabi
Spanish
Arabic
Mandarin
Malay / Thai / Japanese

i am near conversational in german so european languages are out!

Reply 16

Pete_91

11

Additionally to English: Arabic, Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, Russian and French/Farsi- covers the highest population of the world (and no. of countries) and is the most useful in terms of business and traveling.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 17

Frannoooooooo

OP

13

Original post by bonfire_heart

Well I already speak English and German, so I would probably go with
1. Russian, so I can get involved in lgbt activism
2. Spanish because it is becoming the 2. world language and is a huge plus on the U.S. job market
3. Italian because I have many friends in Italy
and of course (4) French because in my opinion it is the most beautiful language in the world. (I actually started studying it on my own time)
That would already make 6 in total
Why would you like to speak Arabic, if I may ask? :smile:

I'm pretty interested in going into business when I'm older. I know it isn't the most predominant language in the business world but I know it's useful - Places like Dubai want to make me learn it as well :biggrin:

Also, contrary to a lot of people, I actually think it sounds quite beautiful. Much like French, as you mentioned, but beautiful in a different kind of way. Although I don't believe in religion (and I hope no one tries to start a religious debate against me) I do find the culture and religious literature quite interesting and beautiful.