# What new language do you want to learn? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 25, 2009, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-language-do-you-want-to-learn/518877 "2009-11-25T04:45:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Livardo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/43a26b/32.png) [@Livardo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Livardo)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-language-do-you-want-to-learn/518877/1 "2009-11-25T04:45:48Z")
Well? I already speak Spanish and English and being Canadian I’d like to learn French. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-language-do-you-want-to-learn/518877/2 "2009-11-25T04:57:25Z")
Kind of a random group of languages, dude. Dutch? No offense to any Dutch Dopers, but it’s not really high on any list of languages I’d want to learn, not least because every Dutch person I’ve ever met spoke beautiful English. Not much point. Right now I’m studying Russian. Last year I took Farsi, but it didn’t fit into my schedule this year, and I’m interested in Central Asia, so I switched to Russian. I enjoy it quite a bit. It helps that I already speak another Slavic language, so I’m doing really well in it, quite effortlessly. Besides Russian, I really do want to learn Farsi. I’d also like to learn Arabic and French. And improve my Spanish. ---
**Author:** ![Livardo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/43a26b/32.png) [@Livardo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Livardo)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-language-do-you-want-to-learn/518877/3 "2009-11-25T05:00:49Z")
any way I can edit the poll? ---
**Author:** ![Palo\_Verde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/65b543/32.png) [@Palo\_Verde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palo_Verde)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-language-do-you-want-to-learn/518877/4 "2009-11-25T05:42:09Z")
My husband is a native speaker of German, and we spend significant time in Germany and Switzerland, so it would be a huge advantage for me to speak German. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-language-do-you-want-to-learn/518877/5 "2009-11-25T06:29:43Z")
I’m still working on my French. Hopefully some day I’ll be able to graduate from speaking it like a Spanish cow to sounding like a French cow. Polls aren’t editable, AFAIK ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-language-do-you-want-to-learn/518877/6 "2009-11-25T06:51:02Z")
Russian. I’m here struggling with it even now. ---
**Author:** ![Lobot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ce7236/32.png) [@Lobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobot)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-language-do-you-want-to-learn/518877/7 "2009-11-25T07:26:15Z")
Russian. My father speaks it, as does most of my father’s side of the family. I like the fact that there’s already three votes for Russian, yet it isn’t an option in the poll itself. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![torie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@torie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/torie)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-language-do-you-want-to-learn/518877/8 "2009-11-25T08:38:31Z")
My grandmother speaks French and Flemish. Flemish is an interesting language, and I would love to learn it, but it’s not on the poll. So I picked French. I’d also love to brush up on my German. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-language-do-you-want-to-learn/518877/9 "2009-11-25T09:18:46Z")
Flemish is essentially Dutch. I chose Italian. Already studied French and Japanese, so any further study would only slow senescence. German seems too difficult for the time I want to invest, and Spanish is very common and seems like a too easy choice around here. Not interested in the others, really. ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-language-do-you-want-to-learn/518877/10 "2009-11-25T10:10:16Z")
Arabic here; I just gotta find a good dictionary 'cos the vocab section at the back of the book I’m using stinks. ---
**Author:** ![SecondJudith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@SecondJudith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SecondJudith)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-language-do-you-want-to-learn/518877/11 "2009-11-25T10:29:59Z")
That’s a very odd selection – nothing from the Middle East or Africa at all? I’m working gently on Arabic. It’s a Semitic language like Hebrew (which I speak already), so there are a few links, but in some ways that just makes it more confusing. I’d also like to learn Persian, but that will be much, MUCH later! ---
**Author:** ![Spectralist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Spectralist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectralist)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-language-do-you-want-to-learn/518877/12 "2009-11-25T10:51:43Z")
Japanese, I tried taking it in highschool but the teacher was more interested in regaling us with tales of his time in Japan or showing us movies that had something vaguely to do with Japan, like Lost in Translation or The Last Samurai, than in teaching us the language and I quickly stopped showing up for class. ---
**Author:** ![TorpedoTed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/da6949/32.png) [@TorpedoTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TorpedoTed)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-language-do-you-want-to-learn/518877/13 "2009-11-25T11:31:53Z")
I already speak German, and am currently working on Danish (in most respects a far easier language than German, though rather a bit difficult to find decent resources for in these parts). Of those on the list, I’d probably choose Dutch, which is definitely on my “get-to-eventually” list, though I’ve often wondered if I shouldn’t perhaps attempt something like French or Portuguese first, as it would probably benefit my linguistic abilities on the whole a bit more to learn something outside of the Germanic family. But I’m not sure that certain spark of interest is really there for those two in this particular moment, and I don’t think one should attempt to start a language if one doesn’t plan to “finish” it, so to speak. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-language-do-you-want-to-learn/518877/14 "2009-11-25T12:21:38Z")
> [@torie](#): > > My grandmother speaks French and Flemish. Flemish is an interesting language, and I would love to learn it, but it’s not on the poll. So I picked French. I’d also love to brush up on my German. Like **Thelurkinghorror** said, Flemish IS Dutch. Flemish and Dutch participate together in spelling bees. Now, there are a couple word usage differences, very comparable to the differences between English and American English. But otherwise, the difference is largely one of accent. I know Dutch, English, and I can get by in French and German. I guess I would just like to be better in both languages. I really feel awkward when I have to speak either, and the French and German border start just 50 miles from where I live. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-language-do-you-want-to-learn/518877/15 "2009-11-25T13:12:36Z")
1. You said “new languages” but I can’t help but notice all of those languages have been around a long time. 😛 2. You have no category for “other”. For example, I’d like to learn Cherokee, but there’s no option for that. 3. I picked Spanish, 'cause it’s definitely a language I’d find useful and would like to learn. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-language-do-you-want-to-learn/518877/16 "2009-11-25T13:16:58Z")
And of course you left out a kazillion languages . . . plus “Other.” My language-learning always precedes my travels. So the next could be either Hebrew, Egyptian, Greek or Icelandic. ---
**Author:** ![ErinPuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dbc845/32.png) [@ErinPuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ErinPuff)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-language-do-you-want-to-learn/518877/17 "2009-11-25T13:20:17Z")
I have to start learning German ASAP for grad school - we have to pass one language proficiency for the Master’s (did that already, with French) and another one for the PhD, and one of them has to be German. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-language-do-you-want-to-learn/518877/18 "2009-11-25T13:35:32Z")
Latin. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-language-do-you-want-to-learn/518877/19 "2009-11-25T13:58:30Z")
Japanese occupies my attention right now. I’d like to resume taking French as well. Beyond that? Good question. For sheer obscurity, maybe Lojban. (I actually have a book on it; I wanted something that was less well known than Esperanto for a story…) ---
**Author:** ![Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/4bbf92/32.png) [@Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heart_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-language-do-you-want-to-learn/518877/20 "2009-11-25T14:19:37Z")
I took a term of Mandarin earlier this year, and that was really fun, so I’d like to continue that. I’d also like to learn Arabic and ASL. And Hindi. But whenever I take on a new language, I feel guilty for not doing more to maintain the other languages I’ve learned, and resolve to start practicing them regularly. So at some point, I’ll have to put a cap on it. Trying to learn/improve/maintain more than, say, five languages at once would break me. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-language-do-you-want-to-learn/518877.md?page=2)