Learning a language

[calgarydub]

I want to learn a new language that would be useful for the future, whether it be for business or personal use.

I have done a little bit of searching but still no clear answer, although lots of people say mandarin or Arabic.

I don't only want to learn to speak, but read and write as well, and I know that mandarin can be a challenge for a beginner, even to read something like the front page of a news paper.

French might be useful in Canada, but I prefer something else that actually interests me. I really like Japanese but would probably never use it.

Just wondering if anyone has been in a similar situation or some insight into this. Any suggestions on the best place to learn?

I know lots of bits and pieces of many languages (took a few uni language courses) but really want to be fluent in a second language.

Thanks in advance.

[derpderp]

Mandarin would be useful, but really hard to learn, especially the 1000s of written characters. I don't see why Arabic would be that useful, Hindi would be a better one to know, and plenty of Indians around Calgary to use it with. German is easy for native English speakers, but it doesn't have a huge amount of uses.

[adidas]

Spanish, French, German are all languages i am trying to learn.

You will have a hell of a time if you choose to do Arabic.

[davidI]

There are lots of different dialects in Arabic and it's not easy to learn. I started learning Arabic in Yemen and then found out that even the basic words I learned were not understood by those in Morocco & Egypt & Jordan.

I'd think about Spanish / Portugese as South America heats up. Mandarin would be cool too, if you want to live in China.

[poison]

Rosetta Stone

[kaput]

.

[freshprince1]

French is useless.

I would go with Mandarin or Spanish.

[Aguirre]

Originally posted by poison
Rosetta Stone

:werd:

:rofl:

[Integra10]

Originally posted by calgarydub
I want to learn a new language that would be useful for the future, whether it be for business or personal use.

I have done a little bit of searching but still no clear answer, although lots of people say mandarin or Arabic.

I don't only want to learn to speak, but read and write as well, and I know that mandarin can be a challenge for a beginner, even to read something like the front page of a news paper.

French might be useful in Canada, but I prefer something else that actually interests me. I really like Japanese but would probably never use it.

Just wondering if anyone has been in a similar situation or some insight into this. Any suggestions on the best place to learn?

I know lots of bits and pieces of many languages (took a few uni language courses) but really want to be fluent in a second language.

Thanks in advance.

I've wanted to learn a second language for a long time too. So badly my girlfriend has started trying to teach me Vietnamese haha. I think Spanish would be a very good language to learn. If you conquered Spanish you would have no problem learning French. Have you found any decent language schools?

[Pahnda]

Rosetta Stone is good if you want to be a parrot...

I learned Japanese purely out of interest and don't regret my decision. Even though I'm planning on working it in to law school studies (Study Japanese corporate law as well) and will hopefully end up doing multinational corporate law...

I think it's good you're thinking of practical aspects. I know way too many people that started studying a language and then after their classes or study period, it lingered and they just forgot 95% of what they learned the year before. However, absolutely don't choose a language only based on the practical implications of learning it, you'll probably just get frustrated with it.

[ryuen]

If you're a motivated self-learner, Rosetta Stone is nice. But the FSI courses are a good alternative, too. Best part is, they were released to the public domain not too long ago (ie. it's free).

http://fsi-language-courses.org/Content.php

[project240]

I've been attempting to learn Mandarin/Cantonese for the past 2 years and it has been a very frustrating experience. It's definitely tougher to learn the older you get, but helps if you surround yourself with the language.

Do your friends/family speak other languages?

[jwslam]

Speaking Chinese is a heck of a lot easier than writing.
Homonyms pwn even the best of Chinese.

If you're going with Chinese though, lots more people now use Mandarin over Cantonese. Lucky because in Cantonese, what you write is not what you say.

[TYMSMNY]

Mandarin or Arabic. :D

[max_boost]

Mandarin for sure.

[cycosis]

If you dont have experience learning a second language, id stay away from one that uses an entire new alphabet (arabic or mandarin). French is useful for many reasons, not only can you work in the gorvernment, but many people in Europe and Africa speak french.

German is a good one too as it is similar to many languages in western Europe and they are a huge contributor to the global economy and auto industry.

I know english, french, and im currently finishing my second year of german. Its tough but keep with it. Just pick one that you feel will have the most benefit.

[calgarydub]

Originally posted by cycosis
If you dont have experience learning a second language, id stay away from one that uses an entire new alphabet (arabic or mandarin). French is useful for many reasons, not only can you work in the gorvernment, but many people in Europe and Africa speak french.

German is a good one too as it is similar to many languages in western Europe and they are a huge contributor to the global economy and auto industry.

I know english, french, and im currently finishing my second year of german. Its tough but keep with it. Just pick one that you feel will have the most benefit.

I am not afraid of the new alphabet's, as that is usually what is taught first, well that and counting.

If you don't mind me asking, are you learning privately or on your own? At university/college? Or is there a school you go to?

How often do you use French? German is the most interesting to me out of any of the similar to english (spanish/italian/french/german).

If anyone has any suggestions on good schools or programs for learning beginners language please let me know!

Thank you