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

English as a Foreign Language is the most widely learned though more people speak Chinese

I think it is because English is the main SECOND language in the world

Late back to this, but I'd go for Arabic over Dutch.
I've worked with Dutch people who live in the Netherlands and work there and you'd never know their English wasn't native.

I contemplated learning an "Indian" language as we're in such a diverse area but I a. Didn't think I had the ability b. Was overwhelmed by which would be best
Polish would be my second choice based on where I live.

BSL should be taught in schools.

Thank you. I agree. Laughing at people and apologising for them is nasty. Did you have to learn English when you left Nice, @DiddlySquatted ? I bet you didn't always sound great.

This attitude is why so many English speakers are afraid to learn another language.

I'm fluent in French. I've heard people tell me they are too and they're not. It's not arrogance usually, it's a misunderstanding of what fluent means. I've also heard french people butchering English but I wouldn't laugh at them. I'd want to encourage them.

And no, actually, I don't find Allo Allo funny. But that's for all sorts of reasons.

BSL is often offered as an extra curricularactivity in schools, but realistically, there is no chance it would fir onto the curriculum. And it doesn't really increase the number of people you can communicate with, as most deaf people can read and write. It helps communicate with some people with moderate of severe learning difficulties

Why BSL in schools @SleepingStandingUp ? The number of people who use it is very tiny and there are so few BSL teachers that it's hard to find classes for the people who really want to learn it.

Exactly @JupiterJan and with modern technology so many people who are even severely or profoundly deaf don't use it as they have great oral language.

The 'Allo Allo reference is a good point (although the suggestion that people should laugh at people trying to speak a foreign language most certainly isn't ), in that there seems to be a reluctance often, on the part of us Brits, to bother to pronounce words properly. Somehow we seem to think it's enough to know (some) words, yet think that how we say them doesn't matter.

(And an approach that really wouldn't work if you were trying to speak Mandarin or any other tonal language!)

When I was in Italy last month, one of the best bits was being able to have conversations in Italian.

I probably made plenty of mistakes, but the people I talked to were really lovely & didn’t laugh at me for them.

No, they don't.

You laugh at people trying their best to communicate in a foreign language?

People are very much misunderstanding the point about some people.
Someone trying to speak or speaking not perfectly is absolutely normal and no one is perfect, it's great to keep trying.
Someone very, very confidently to a point of arrogance announcing they are fluent and then producing "Me travel into Berlin last year" equivalent in any language is a different matter.

This attitude is why so many English speakers are afraid to learn another language.
Trust me, many native English speakers have "good" laugh at ESL learners as well.

I speak fluent French. My mother is from Nice and I lived there until I was in my early teens so it always makes me laugh when I hear English people, who pride themselves on their French, speaking like Arthur Bostrom from Ello Ello.

Whereas native French speakers are so good at speaking English without a French accent? I'm a French teacher and have barely ever met a French speaker of English who didn't have a strong French accent (unless they were raised bilingual, obviously), even those who teach English!

I grew up in poverty in what we used to refer to as a third world country, I’m no longer in poverty, but I’m certainly not elite. I speak three languages fluently, I’m also very good at BSL. I also travel quite a bit, lots of places can be done on a budget. I once did Budapest for £120 for three nights (that was flights, hostel and all costs).

My father and family are English. I spent summers and long holidays in London plus I spoke to him nearly every day so I was clear and fluent in English when I moved to London at 14. I had a slight accent which I quickly lost.

in my job and career we are not talking about students or tourists ordered a beer. This is serious industrial technology which requires substantial funding and finance. This all comes from Paris.

When you are asking for large sums of money you need to come across as competent, controlled and professional. That doesn’t work with a less than complete command of the language. Nobody is going to make allowances and we have lost our case for funding over it. Made even harder since Brexit.

We now work closely with our US subsidiary and all meetings are is now conducted in English. It is the international language.

that there seems to be a reluctance often, on the part of us Brits, to bother to pronounce words properly.

Definitely. As an MFL teacher in British schools it's quite a hurdle. It's quite difficult to persuade kids that using a French accent to speak French isn't weird, embarrassing or showing off. Many claim they can't do it. Sometimes I get them to try speaking English in an exaggerated Allô Allô French accent (after amusing them by doing it myself), just to break the ice and show them that they can make those sounds if they try . Then I say 'Right. Now do that accent, but when you're saying French words'!

Trust me, many native English speakers have "good" laugh at ESL learners as well.

Yes and that's mean too.

We’re a multi language household, me and our children are fluent in Urdu, English, Swedish and BSL. I’m also improving my German. I used to be fluent in Balti, it’s my first language, but my Balti skills are no longer up to scratch. My husband speaks Swedish, English and German fluently, his Urdu is now pretty good.

The thing I would consider is the new language for career prospects etc, or is it purely a vanity project? If its a vanity prospect you can just purely focus on something you fancy. See if there are any clubs in your local area for speakers of the language you’re interested in, having paper skills or duolingo skills really don’t cut it when you speak with a native speaker.

So happy I found this thread as I've been thinking about this all week after I read an article in the Times about languages. It was saying that 75% of people think they should be compulsory in school - like they used to be.

The point of the article was about a new website to help share existing resources. I think it was aimed at parents/teachers not students. Will try to find it.

@DiddlySquatted most people aren't fortunate enough to grow up bilingual. You must surely be aware that, as a pp said, most french speakers have a heavy accent and make mistakes in English too. Your sneery attitude is horrible, just because you had the fortune to grow up bilingual.

This was it!

www.thelanguagesgateway.uk/explore/

It was saying that 75% of people think they should be compulsory in school - like they used to be.
Hold on, are languages not compulsory at UK schools?

They are in certain years. Key stage 3 for sure and possibly KS2.

No, but for those who do study a langauge they are taught very poorly due to a piss poor curriculum, the skills needed to achieve a good grade at GCSE are minimal.