Title phrased for all y’all polyglots. As for me, three years of French in school and I don’t know the language so I’m not bilingual. I’ve started learning Greek because if all of the stars align we would retire there. Even if we don’t I’d love to travel there and set it up as a base of operations for visiting the rest of Europe. Mrs. Cad is similar in outlook but her choice is Italian. I think her logic also includes that learning any Romance language would be useful across most of Western Europe.
I can chatter in Spanish, but really need to improve my grammar.
I want both my wife and I to learn ASL, so we can communicate when the hearing aids aren’t in. Or if we’re in a noisy restaurant where it is difficult to have a normal conversation.
Spanish. Here in Texas, it’s by far the most useful foreign language.
Just started learning Italian last week, and am hoping to become fluent in it someday. I somehow found myself working for a small Italian company, visited them this year, and loved the people and culture there. I’d like to move there (maybe as a refugee/political asylum? otherwise immigration isn’t easy…).
At the same time, re-learning French again too (after like 8 years of it previously), just because I don’t want to lose it completely, and because I want to see how my brain handles switching between two Romance languages (or not). There are SO many cognates and similar constructions between the two, it’s really fascinating. We hiked up a mountain to the border between Italy and France, switching from one language to the other after a few steps. It’s cool how many countries can fit into Europe’s small landmass, and how different that feels from going across the States and still mostly speaking English.
I grew up in Taiwan and learned English as a second language after Mandarin. I love discovering new languages and cultures.
Wish I could learn languages.
I had 5 years of French in secondary school, and I can sort of read it but can’t follow a native conversation. If I approach a new language, I have to just brute-force memorize vocabulary and syntax: I don’t seem to be able to just ‘absorb’ it.
Maybe that’s the problem, but I don’t really think so. I have known people who could seem to soak up new languages quite effortlessly, and I think it’s a genetic talent one is born with (or, alas, not).
Just as some people have native talents for math or music, for example. I’m lucky enough to be fairly good at both of those…
I could go for Kazakh, to fill the biggest remaining gap in my knowledge of Turkic languages. Maybe branch out to Mongolian. I really want to learn Mańśi to go with the Hungarian I’m currently learning and Ket to go with the Navajo I was recently studying. But right now I’m mainly just brushing up on my Spanish.
I wish Duolingo would add more Finnish lessons so my daughter and I can go back to that together. “Au! Tanskalainen lelu!” (Ouch! The Danish toy!)
My whole life long I’ve been meaning to master ancient Greek one of these days and still have it bucket-listed.
I did immersion Portuguese and French many years ago, and took Spanish through intermediate level at night classes just because. I’d likely brush up if I were to again visit or live anyplace where those languages are spoken, but it’s unlikely that we will do any more traveling.
ASL. I know people I’d like to communicate with better.
This is awesome! Are you a linguist by profession, or is this your lifelong side passion?
I wish I had the mental discipline and willpower to study less common languages.
You absolutely can. You learned English, didn’t you? You just need to put in the time. It comes a lot easier for some than for others, but any human can do it. Languages are one of those things where the initial thirty to fifty hours are boring and unrewarding, and for people that have a harder time learning the abstract pieces that you can’t use yet, they’re hard to get through. But it can be done, and if you pick a language and start a thread here, I’m sure people will help you with techniques, motivations, and practice.
Both.
ETA: If I could have any job in the world, I would want to be working with an American Indian tribe to save their language from extinction. If the financing were there, I totally would do that.
Arabic. I like the sound of it, especially the Qur’an recitations. I’d like to be able to read it and understand it.
I have four semesters of German, and I remember some of it. I could actually speak Japanese when I was three and four years old (I translated for my mom). I remember little of it. 
I would like to learn Spanish, because that’s the language spoken by most immigrants here.
I’ve finished all the Indonesian lessons Duolingo had to offer. All that’s left are revision exercises which are extremly limited and repetitive.
When I was in Indonesia last summer I was able to communicate rather efficiently for basic interactions, and enjoyed it tremedously. From the reactions that I got, it seemed that Indonesians were rather surprised but very pleased to hear a “bule” speaking their language. I also took lots of notes of signage or things that I heard, and started writing a quadrilingual English - French - Indonesian - Javanese speaking guide.
Because the language I really wanted to learn was Javanese. I memorized a few expressions when I was there, but not enough have any meaningful communication with Javanese speakers. I’d love to speak it, though. I’m going back to Indonesia next summer, including back to Java, so that might be the opportunity.
I was also in Bali last summer and noticed a sign in a restaurant with some basic English expressions translated into Balinese, and I caught myself instinctively trying to memorize them. I really need to stop doing that, and focus on one only.
Spanish. Not only is it the most useful second language where I want to spend the rest of my life (California) but also the language of most of the places I would go if I had to leave.
I will add in that if I ever go to get a PhD in Special Education, my foreign language would be ASL. And even if I don’t that might be my third language. The problem really is getting someone to practice with, whether Greek or ASL.
Of course, but as a child from my parents. I could maybe, if I spent a lot of time and effort on it, get to a point by brute force memory study in another language where I can sort of follow conversations.
But I’m still fairly sure that multi-linguistic ability is strongly genetic. This may be one of those things that, if it comes rather naturally to you, you think: what’s so hard about it?
It’s probably rather like music. As a musician with a good natural ear, I have occasionally tried to play with people who don’t have that ability. And one thinks: come on, why can’t you get this? I mean, obviously the next chord is an IV, followed by a vi minor… how can you not hear that… etc.
But this is rather a hijack: there should probably be a different thread about which abilities are mostly genetic vs learned. I do envy people who can learn new languages easily!
No worries. I teach languages, so I see people who pick it up quickly and I see people who really struggle. The struggle is real, but I really think it’s a combination of innate ability, individual psychology, teaching & learning methods, time commitment, and motivation. Most of those are controllable!
To contribute to the thread, I’m probably going to stick with the languages I’m already learning, but I’d love to learn Chinese. I’ve dipped a toe into the waters now and again and it looks like something I could manage to read / understand, but I just don’t have much confidence that I could get my mouth to make the right sounds at speed.
I’m playing around with Welsh and Scots Gaelic on Duolingo. For reasons unknown, Welsh is coming to me more easily than Gaelic.
I’m also trying Latin; it seems a very mechanical language. I’m finding the use of American place names by Duolingo to be irritating. If I’m learning Latin I want Italian and Gaulish place-names, dammit!
I’m using the upper French ones as refresher drills. (I had a chance to take French classes through the workplace this year, but missed the fall sign-up date.)