which languages to learn and why?

[JupiterJan]

AIBU to say everybody should be able to speak a few words of Mandarin and Hindi? AS these are two of the 3 most spoken languages in the world.

I want to learn another language now, partly for fun, but also for possibly travel and career opportunities. Should it be one of these? Or is there another language you would recommend, and why?

I am expecting people to say no to everyone learning a bit of Mandarin and Hindi, but I am interested in why we don't as it seems logical that we should

AIBU to say everybody should be able to speak a few words of Mandarin and Hindi? AS these are two of the 3 most spoken languages in the world.

Language teacher here. Speaking a few words of any language isn't very useful though, is it? Also, when choosing a language, it makes more sense to choose one that is likely to be useful to you, not base it on the number of people in the world who speak it.

Deciding which languages to teach in schools is very different from someone deciding as an adult which language tp learn. If you are choosing one for travel and career opportunities, then you shpuld try to decide which countries you actually want to travel to or work in, and learn an appropriate language.

Lots of people find learning languages very difficult, and any language with a different alphabet and little similarity to your own language has an additional level of difficulty. Most Brits pick a European language because it's more familiar, they are more likely to visit nearby countries, the alphabet is the same, and they will have learned one at school. It's probably also easier to find UK-based classes and resources for them.

They are only the most spoken as China and india have huge populations though. So they are most spoken only in those countries.

You are better off with German or Spanish from a business and travel perspective

I think if you’re choosing to learn a new language it’s logical to choose one that you’ll use. Do you know lots of Mandarin and Hindi speakers? Are you likely to use these languages during your upcoming travels?

I chose to learn languages that were useful to me. Linked to travel, friends and students I teach.

This is an interesting question. I have just committed to a language degree to learn French and German. I chose these two languages because (a) I knew a little French from school, and (b), it is more likely that I may visit either/both of these countries in the near future and this could enhance and apply my language learning experience.

However, if I have the time and the aptitude, I would like to become much more of a polyglot and learning Mandarin and /or Hindi makes sense due to the significance of the languages in terms of number of speakers and potential influence, but also because they are fascinating, diverse from English in terms of the scripts used and the cultures embedded (and language links intrinsically with culture).

I would like to learn Japanese as well, again due to the cultural associations and the challenge of its complexity.

I would like to learn Old English, which I know is not a living language, but learning the language would give me deeper insights into modern English.

Indeed, I do not think there is a language I would not like to learn.

I would suggest Spanish. It's widely spoken outside Spain and is easy to learn (no silent letters, unlike English).

I agree with pp. I teach French, German anc Spanish. Spanish is the easiest of the three, especially at beginner level. German is great, but there are aspects of the grammar which are pretty hard! French isn't really any harder than Spanish except for the pronunciation.

I have nothing against learning non-European languages - I'm currently teaching myself a bit of Japanese for fun. It won't ever be any use to me though, and it's very difficult in some ways, but very fascinating and fun for me!

As others have said, it really depends on what you want to do with your language.
My one tip would be that it is more fun to speak a language where not everyone speaks English, so for example if I wanted to know a new language, Spanish combined with South America could be fun. It's often fun to speak a language in places where it 8s the minority language of the country, so for example I've found people are a lot more tolerant of half arsed French in French-speaking Belgium and Switzerland than they are in France (although it varies, rural France is better than urban, everywhere is better than Paris.) Südtirol is a fun place to speak German too, although I would imagine the rest of Italy is fun too.
In terms of the difficulty of learning languages I would like one that doesn't have all of English's spelling oddness and irregular verbs, no genders for stuff just people, and no adjective declension. Does that exist?

I speak pretty good conversational French, and "holiday" Spanish.

I have been learning a bit of Dutch (just dabbling in Duolingo) as I work in an industry dominated by the Dutch. Also? the Netherlands is our nearest neighbour - overnight ferry from an hour away. We do a trip over every couple of years.

If you want it for career then you need to look at what goes in your field.
In some fields you may never encounter need to speak Mandarin or Hindi.

I've been wondering this too. I speak English and 3 European languages more or less fluently, which means I can read and guess most of the rest of the Latin & Germanic languages. It's time for a non-European language. Arabic is a maybe for ease, but then very few people speak standard Arabic. Korean is a maybe from a business point of view, but I don't want to look like a BTS fan! Mandarin is out for me because my pronunciation is awful in all languages. Russian was an option until recently. I hadn't considered Hindi, but that's maybe a good one. Turkish world be good for holidays at least. A Slavik language would complete the European set.

I'd want to learn one that I would use in the UK as I don't get the opportunity to travel. So BSL would probably be the 1st one I'd pick. I know and have met many more people who are deaf than those who exclusively speak hindi or mandarin.

Surely it depends where you are interested in travelling to and what you think you will use it for?

If you don't plan to spend a lot of time in countries where Mandarin and Hindi are spoken then these languages won't be of much use to you.

For me French and Spanish have been the most useful.

I use Duolingo.

I already speak reasonable french, but I'm also learning Arabic as its useful for work.

It's better to learn useful languages.

I started to learn Spanish about 15 years ago, one of the things Spanish teaches said was "hey this is one of the most widely spoken languages so is really useful". But apart from some traveling in Spayand South America, I found it pretty pointless from a career point of view.

I now live in Switzerland and speak German to B2 level. Within Europe I would say German is much more useful from a career point of view. It is the most widely spoken language in Europe, and the countries it is spoken in are wealth, hence career opportunities.

I've been learning Mandarin for over 10 years now - at a very slow snail's pace! It's hard, because you not only have to learn the vocabulary but you also have to be able to read (and hopefully write) the characters.

Add to that the fact that it's a tonal language, and it does add to the complexity. There are four tones for each vowel, and so the 'same' word is pronounced differently - e.g. the word 'ma' depending on how you pronounce it could be 'horse' or 'mother' (or many other meanings!)

But as I have already learnt French, German and Spanish (albeit to very different levels) I wanted the challenge of something different.

So it's up to you - how easy/difficult do you want the language to be, and how much are you considering being able to use it anywhere.

I don’t speak either of those, though have a small bit of Gujerati from communicating with a friend’s granny, but much enjoyed learning Arabic when living in the ME (was living in the UAE but had a Lebanese teacher). It’s a lovely language.

YABVU.
I say that as someone currently learning what I think is one of the most expressive and beautiful languages in the world, but which also has a fair few strict rules and complications!

I have always wanted to learn Italian because I love the country & think it’s a romantic language. It would also be good to be able to understand opera without surtitles.
I am also looking into learning BSL with DF as his hearing has deteriorated over the last few years & I could use at on the till at work too.

My criterion would be that there's less point learning a language if the people who speak who you are likely to meet it will almost certainly speak and understand more English than you'll learn of theirs. Which is most of them, as English is the lingua franca. I doubt you'll meet many hindi speakers who don't have some English.

The big exception is BSL, who may be unable to understand or speak English.

(Spoken English re bsl I meant? I assume most can read or write it)

Learning a language is hard and takes a lot of commitment.

If you are doing it for fun, I'd choose the language you feel most drawn to. It helps if there is a lot of media to consume in that language that you would enjoy. Watching/listening/reading as much as you can helps.

For me, this language is French, but whatever makes your heart sing!

I think “A few words in…” is almost useless. You say hello and how are you in Hindi and then what?

Learn what interests you or what is likely to provide opportunities for practice. I’m trying to learn DH’s native language, DH mine. And the bilingual six year old is doing Duolingo for the language they do at school.

I think the best language to learn is the one which will be most useful for the individual.

I learned French and German at school because they were the only languages on offer.

The French has come in handy a couple of times on holiday in North Africa and Canada. German is less widely spoken outside Germany but I did use it once when I needed to go to a pharmacy in one of the Stans (I forget which one) and it was the only language which both myself and the pharmacist spoke a little of.

I'm currently learning Spanish because myself and DP are planning to move to Costa Rica in a few years. We've been on holiday to Central and South America a few times in the past and it would have been nice to have been able to speak some Spanish then.

I am really intrigued by which industry is dominated by the Dutch. My best guesses are flower bulbs or professional darts.

@Ducksinthebath sustainable energy, niche bits of financing, everything argitech, quite a few bits of normal tech, high level engineering, everything with computer chips, machines that make croissant, everything with water managing, beer...

Can you tell I'm a Dutch engineer?