Poll: Most beneficial language to learn...

[Mariena]

Dutch! Dutch! Definitely Dutch!

 

[Rajin Cajun]

How is German the most useful? It is one of the least spoken languages in the EU. If I was going for versatility it would be French not only for its prevalence in Europe but its worldwide use in former French Colonies. Russian is useful in order to buy nuclear weapons and other black market weaponry.

Germany, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Austria all speak it, I believe.

I'd go for German or French.

With Germany being the only real big one it isn't that useful especially since most Germanic Nations speak English perfectly fine. Again I stick by French and Russian that covers you for pretty much all of Europe.

 

[TMAN10112]

Over in america the best 2nd language to learn would definitly be spanish, since it is the most common language here other then english. I'm currently learning italian since I plan to go to italy one day, so for me it would be italian.

 

[ShadeOfRed]

French, if only because I've been forced to learn it in school since Kindergarten.

 

[Vlane]

Mandarin but from your list: French

 

[insertusernamehereagain]

I'd say: Mandarin (for when the chinese take over the world), Spanish (for when it takes over america), and latin {because it's awesome}

Please note: everything in () parentheses is a joke, everything in {} parentheses is fact.

 

[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.

 

[darkless]

Spanish.

or, if you want a more artsy reply: Music, the universal language.

Actually maths is the universal language its just harder to speak

 

[Hallow'sEve]

What about Russian?

 

[savandicus]

Learn japanese, it'll be the most useful when the world gets conquered by giant robots that all speak japanese.

 

[darkless]

Ok everyone you are all forgetting the fastest spreading language in the world...Klingon.

You learn some Klingon in the future you are sorted.

 

[Vivaldi]

English and Chinese.

I see SOMEONE has seen Firefly. Dont worry I am with you on that.

Where's Latin? Latin is the basis of a huge amount of languages, hence them being grouped into "The Romance Languages." Once you have latin down, it doesn't let you just easily learn every language, but it builds a strong basis for understanding them and getting a grasp on word structure more quickly.

I agree with this varbatim.

 

[D_987]

The widest spoken language after English is Spanish...

 

[Frizzle]

I'd say English, Spanish, and Mandarin are your best bets. Most of the business world speaks english. The rest of the business world speaks mandarin, and spanish is good for what's left. In the western hemisphere, spanish is almost as important as english now. If you're planning on going to a specific country, though, learn some basics from that place. Only because countries that speak the same language, often speak it differently (i.e. England/USA, and Mexico/spain).

 

[naftali1]

Wow, I can't believe I'm not the only one to say Hebrew. I picked it cause I'm planning on living in Israel for a few years a bit down the road.

 

[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.

 

[Arsen]

Cocaine + Guns + [Random Rant about Spanish/White Nation/etc Imperialism] = Not a place for me. Not trying to stereotype EVERY place in South America...but damnit, the worry is there.

Dude, that's a pretty ignorant view of an entire continent. Just because there are a few bad countries there, doesn't mean that the entire continent is like that.

I clearly stated that I know that not every country in South America is like this. However, third world countries are third world countries. Better be safe then sorry.

Edit - No flame war here, okay?

 

[Kaisharga]

Hallow'sEve is the man for touting Sign. It's the only language (well, languages, considering most countries have their own sign language) you can use while your mouth is full, whether it's with food or dental instruments!

 

[MrGFunk]

From the list I have made. I have heard that if I learn German I can practically go ANYWHERE in Europe (western portion of Europe anyway...). We have many here from Europe so I'd like to hear your opinions and views. Thank you.

PS - The Hebrew one is random and under the condition it could benefit me well in the long run.

This should be extended to the world as English will be everywhere in Europe and learning another language wouldn't be necessary for a European trip.

If it was the world, a toss-up between French (Africa) and Spanish (South America).

EDIT: as some astute poster said. Sign language. Great shout.

 

[Bored Tomatoe]

German, because it is spoken by a lot of Europe.