Poll: Most beneficial language to learn...

[Arsen]

I took some Japanese classes in highschool and wasn't a fan of the language to be honest. Good culture, good history, excellent display of battle, but overall not a place I would like to venture to over anywhere in Europe. Love the culture, architecture, language, food, drinks, history, MUSIC, etc etc etc.

Thus Deustch it is...

 

[JimbobDa3rd]

i speak basic german (what i learned in school) and would prefer to know french but statistically mandrin chineese would be the best to know as the most people speek it

 

[BallPtPenTheif]

I picked German because I'd rather go to Berlin than Paris.

As for languages in general, Spanish over Latin any day. Sure, Latin gives you a core understanding of the mechanics of the language however you are learning a language that is impractical. Learning English and Spanish still grants you insight into the mechanics of language anyways since Latin is still at the root of them and you are learning a functonal dialogue.

Unless you are a Doctor or a Priest learning latin is a bit pretentious.

 

[meatloaf231]

Chinese, I'd say, but it's not on the list.

French is probably the most useful one up there, mainly because it shares roots with Spanish and Italian, so if you know French well enough, you could vaguely understand those two as well.

 

[neoman10]

latina!

 

[klc0100]

English and Mandarin and your set.

 

[Milford Cubicle]

Why would knowing German be beneficial in Spain, France, Portugal and Italy? I would've thought that knowing German would be useful in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

 

[soren7550]

I say German because most of Europe has a large grasp of the German language (could be because of the whole WWII thing.). Also, it's relatively easy to learn because of how close it is to English.

 

[ChromeAlchemist]

honestly man I can't choose any of those, I was obviously going to say japanese because you could get much out of it, from manga to import games, but since its not on the list I will have to go with the one country that is least likely to know english, so I pick Hebrew.

Just so you know, almost everybody in Israel knows English. They won't rip you off as much though if you know Hebrew.

lol, well I guess I am now enlightened to the ways and wonders of Israel. Is it also true that almost everyone has to spend at least two years in the army, which basically means almost everyone knows Krav Maga and could very easily kill you?

 

[kommando367]

no need to overeact dude i thought since it hasn't been metioned at the time there are people on this site that don't know that EDIT: i accidently hit reply instead qoute can someone tell me how to delete posts

 

[kommando367]

German and French, since you already know English. Than you can go anywhere in the Europe. Although I would say: learn Chinese.

there is no actual language called chinese as different areas of that country speak different languages anyway back on topic: i'm taking a spanish class next year becuase there is a lot of people speaking variants of that language so i'm pretty sure it the most beneficial for me

Well, excuuuuuuuse me Mr. Smarty McSmartpants. I should have had used the proper name of the language that is thought on courses as a "standard Chinese" and said "Mandarin", didn't I?

no need to overeact dude i thought since it hasn't been metioned at the time there are people on this site that don't know that

 

[RavingLibDem]

you should learn greek just to say you can also, if you go to greece and speak greek you get such an amazing welcome its worth learning a really fucking random alphabet...

 

[naftali1]

honestly man I can't choose any of those, I was obviously going to say japanese because you could get much out of it, from manga to import games, but since its not on the list I will have to go with the one country that is least likely to know english, so I pick Hebrew.

Just so you know, almost everybody in Israel knows English. They won't rip you off as much though if you know Hebrew.

lol, well I guess I am now enlightened to the ways and wonders of Israel. Is it also true that almost everyone has to spend at least two years in the army, which basically means almost everyone knows Krav Maga and could very easily kill you?

lol, if only. The military service depends. A lot of ultra orthodox Jews are able to get out of it. As for the rest of the people, it's 3 years of service for guys and 2 for girls. They all pretty much know the basics of krav maga but that doesn't mean they could kill you...I work with Israelis a lot and I've been able to beat a few in wrestling matches.

Don't think this means there aren't amazing ones. When I was in Israel a few years back, my medic got pissed at a kid and threw a rock at him with his foot. He hit the kid right between the eyes and left a pretty nice bruise.

 

[ChromeAlchemist]

honestly man I can't choose any of those, I was obviously going to say japanese because you could get much out of it, from manga to import games, but since its not on the list I will have to go with the one country that is least likely to know english, so I pick Hebrew.

Just so you know, almost everybody in Israel knows English. They won't rip you off as much though if you know Hebrew.

lol, well I guess I am now enlightened to the ways and wonders of Israel. Is it also true that almost everyone has to spend at least two years in the army, which basically means almost everyone knows Krav Maga and could very easily kill you?

lol, if only. The military service depends. A lot of ultra orthodox Jews are able to get out of it. As for the rest of the people, it's 3 years of service for guys and 2 for girls. They all pretty much know the basics of krav maga but that doesn't mean they could kill you...I work with Israelis a lot and I've been able to beat a few in wrestling matches.

Don't think this means there aren't amazing ones. When I was in Israel a few years back, my medic got pissed at a kid and threw a rock at him with his foot. He hit the kid right between the eyes and left a pretty nice bruise.

Ouch. Savage. I plan to learn Krav Maga come January actually, so I've just been doing a lot of research on it, and I remember an episode of human weapon left a lasting impression on me, it seems pretty brutal if used right though, a last resort if you will.

 

[naftali1]

honestly man I can't choose any of those, I was obviously going to say japanese because you could get much out of it, from manga to import games, but since its not on the list I will have to go with the one country that is least likely to know english, so I pick Hebrew.

Just so you know, almost everybody in Israel knows English. They won't rip you off as much though if you know Hebrew.

lol, well I guess I am now enlightened to the ways and wonders of Israel. Is it also true that almost everyone has to spend at least two years in the army, which basically means almost everyone knows Krav Maga and could very easily kill you?

lol, if only. The military service depends. A lot of ultra orthodox Jews are able to get out of it. As for the rest of the people, it's 3 years of service for guys and 2 for girls. They all pretty much know the basics of krav maga but that doesn't mean they could kill you...I work with Israelis a lot and I've been able to beat a few in wrestling matches.

Don't think this means there aren't amazing ones. When I was in Israel a few years back, my medic got pissed at a kid and threw a rock at him with his foot. He hit the kid right between the eyes and left a pretty nice bruise.

Ouch. Savage. I plan to learn Krav Maga come January actually, so I've just been doing a lot of research on it, and I remember an episode of human weapon left a lasting impression on me, it seems pretty brutal if used right though, a last resort if you will.

Brutal indeed. And probably fairly easy to learn compared to other martial arts cause it builds on natural reactions.

 

[Stringytank]

I'd say since you already know English:
Swahili- The lingua franca of Africa, great if you plan on spending some time there.
Mandarin- Most native speakers in the world(though English is more widely used)
Spanish- Extremely good business language (Interchangeable with Italian. The languages are similar, but Spanish is much more widely used.)

 

[RetiarySword]

Even though its not there, English. Its spoken across the world. Most countries have it as a second language anyway.

 

[Ruffythepirate]

Well, the only place they speak german is in Germany, and the only place they speak french is in France (and some african countries). If you wan't to get around in europe, learn english. Allthough, if you have to learn a second language learn spanish. With spanish you can get around in half of south america. You can also communicate with portugese and italian people if you know spanish. Learning chinese is, exscuse me, kind of retarded. Yes, the most spoken language in the world is Mandarin, but the only place they speak it is china. Besides that, if you learn to speak a southern version of it, you probably won't be able to understand a guy from northern chinese because of the different accents and dialects. On top of that, in China, a lot of people speak english... Actually, don't even bother learning a second language, you'll do fine with english no matter where you go.

 

[Azeban]

Well, I'm currently on vacation in Aruba. Here, the signs are the bus are in Spanish, English, German and Portuguese.

I expected the other three, but German?