# Pick a language and an instrument **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 14, 2016, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-a-language-and-an-instrument/771935 "2016-11-14T04:00:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-a-language-and-an-instrument/771935/21 "2016-11-15T23:55:51Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > [Duolingo](https://www.duolingo.com/courses) has courses in all of those except Finnish (more’s the pity - I’m interested in that one, too). Thanks. My wife is teaching herself Polish through Rosetta Stone and Pimsleur, and was happy to find another option. She tried Babbel, but didn’t like it. ---
**Author:** ![Santelia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Santelia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santelia)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-a-language-and-an-instrument/771935/22 "2016-11-16T16:03:14Z")
Persian and Violin ---
**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-a-language-and-an-instrument/771935/23 "2016-11-16T17:14:05Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Spanish - I recall my High School vocabulary, but would enjoy being fluent and engaging more in the Spanish-speaking communities I am exposed to. > > Guitar - yeah, I play, but would enjoy expanding my capabilities. Playing jazz or more Jeff Beck-like, or maybe a sorta-flamenco style like Gabrielle of Rodrigo and Gabrielle. It’s all good. > > And, as I think about it, Spanish and Guitar go together nicely. Rodrigo y Gabriela - Gabriela is awesome (an overused word, but suitable here, I think). Anyone who is not familiar with her style should go to Youtube and find her lesson on how to play rhythm. Check out that down/down/up triplet action. Yowza! Here it is: [Rodrigo Y Gabriella Guitar Lesson](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkGKQvc_PbM) ---
**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-a-language-and-an-instrument/771935/24 "2016-11-16T17:17:45Z")
Answering the OP for myself: Mandarin and [Erhu](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhic2cE57iM). ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-a-language-and-an-instrument/771935/25 "2016-11-20T08:20:27Z")
I always pick something I would never learn on my own for these. So Japanese almost certainly. And probably guitar, since the chord shapes thing just eludes me, and working on half steps fries my brain. Japanese just seems too hard to learn, but I like a lot of Japanese things (though not a lot of anime, really.) And guitar is just much more portable than playing piano, while being common. I’m pretty sure I could learn any one note instrument. Okay, I might have trouble with brass due to headaches, but still. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-a-language-and-an-instrument/771935/26 "2016-11-20T12:54:38Z")
At the top of my list: Irish Gaelic and the Irish harp. Second place instrument: the guitar. Second place language: Hungarian. I took French, Spanish, and Swedish in high school, and would like to brush up on them. My German is also very rusty. I’ve been exposed to lots of other languages (Czech, Polish, Ukrainian, Finnish, Latvian, Lithuanian, Estonian, NT Greek, Classical Latin, Italian) but at present don’t see the advantage of learning them. If I had nothing else to do, I would just for the hell of it, but my Russian keeps me busy. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-a-language-and-an-instrument/771935/27 "2016-11-20T16:37:30Z")
French horn. Gotta be the French horn. Why? Because, hey, it’s a _French horn!_ ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-a-language-and-an-instrument/771935/28 "2016-11-20T16:49:22Z")
> [@NoCoolUserName](#): > > Rodrigo y Gabriela - Gabriela is awesome (an overused word, but suitable here, I think). Anyone who is not familiar with her style should go to Youtube and find her lesson on how to play rhythm. Check out that down/down/up triplet action. Yowza! > > Here it is: [Rodrigo Y Gabriella Guitar Lesson](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkGKQvc_PbM) :smack: Sorry. “Rodrigo and Gabrielle” :smack: Yes, that kind of rhythm work. She is really wonderful. I am trying to play that except on a steel string and also on a solidbody electric. Catching the strings _just_ right is a nuanced thing. ETA: damn, gotta try those triplets. When she drops them into her standard strum, she sounds like the drums on Hot for Teacher. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-a-language-and-an-instrument/771935/29 "2016-11-20T19:52:30Z")
Piano. Russian. Piano is the most versatile of instrument, anything can be played on the piano and sound good. I already speak English and enough Spanish and barely enough French, which will get me around in any country in the world except the ones where Russian is spoken. I love the former Soviet republics, and would like to spend some time seeing Russia. Nobody there speaks anything but Russian. In Armenia, I stayed in a budget-priced old Soviet-style hotel, with a grand piano in the lobby. Any guest was welcome to play it, or it could be set on autoplay. Lovely to sit in my room and hear the Russian tourists in the lobby playing the piano. ---
**Author:** ![peedin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peedin/32/14095_2.png) [@peedin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peedin)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2016, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-a-language-and-an-instrument/771935/30 "2016-11-21T15:28:13Z")
Language: French because it’s pretty and I want to spend a lot of time in France when I retire. Swedish because I’m Swedish and I wouldn’t mind living there. Instrument: piano. I took lessons as a kid a remember a leetle bit. Can I trade an instrument for paining watercolors? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2016, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-a-language-and-an-instrument/771935/31 "2016-11-23T04:43:31Z")
Add the theremin to my list of instruments (I can already play the fife, the trombone, and Scottish bagpipes): [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/lY7sXKGZl2w/maxresdefault.jpg "KATICA ILLÉNYI - Once Upon a Time in the West - Theremin") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lY7sXKGZl2w) ---
**Author:** ![stillownedbysetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@stillownedbysetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stillownedbysetters)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2016, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-a-language-and-an-instrument/771935/32 "2016-11-23T09:03:31Z")
I have at least basic competency in most musical instruments, but have never learned to play the drums. I would love to learn. I would like to learn Arabic or Farsi. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2016, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-a-language-and-an-instrument/771935/33 "2016-11-23T15:50:43Z")
About two years ago I started taking fiddle lessons and… it was difficult. I switched to mandolin at the beginning of this year and I feel like I’m making better progress, if I’ll never be Bill Monroe. As for language - I did take 5 years of Spanish in school but have forgotten more than I remembered, so it would be nice to be fluent. Next week I have an interview for a multinational company based in the Netherlands so knowing some Dutch would be a nice icebreaker. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2016, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-a-language-and-an-instrument/771935/34 "2016-11-23T17:06:05Z")
Steel drum Jamaican Patois ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2016, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-a-language-and-an-instrument/771935/35 "2016-11-23T18:09:15Z")
Harmonica and Spanish. It’s much easier to travel with a Harmonica then anything else and I’m interested in moving to Chile some day. ---
**Author:** ![Tapiotar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3be4f8/32.png) [@Tapiotar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapiotar)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2016, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-a-language-and-an-instrument/771935/36 "2016-11-25T01:01:39Z")
A Finnish start up, Word Dive, offers some more language learning options. Including Finnish. > **[WordDive - a fun way of learning languages online](https://www.worddive.com/en/)** > > Learn a language online with the award winning WordDive. It adapts to your specific needs and your individual learning speed. Try it for free! ---
**Author:** ![vedicgyan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/898d66/32.png) [@vedicgyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vedicgyan)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2016, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-a-language-and-an-instrument/771935/37 "2016-11-26T06:04:18Z")
Guitar. Cos it seems to turn the girls on even if you are absolutely average at it. 😛 And Spanish because then I could travel a large number of countries across the globe without being hassled too much by the drivers, guides and the like. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2016, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-a-language-and-an-instrument/771935/38 "2016-11-26T07:32:13Z")
> [@vedicgyan](#): > > Guitar. Cos it seems to turn the girls on even if you are absolutely average at it. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8V\_hCqO6UQs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8V_hCqO6UQs)😃 ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2016, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-a-language-and-an-instrument/771935/39 "2016-11-26T12:22:41Z")
Japanese, as my son, who is majoring in Japanese language, may end up living there someday and then I can go visit him and won’t be dependent on him translating for me. I’d love to be able to play the piano REALLY well, but I’d also like to play something small and portable so I could jam with other people, so violin maybe? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-a-language-and-an-instrument/771935.md?page=1)