Poll: Should I learn French or Italian?

[Aris Khandr]

I've heard good things about Rosetta Stone, but I admit I haven't tried it myself.

 

[Magnalian]

French is spoken in a lot more countries, so technically speaking it'd be more useful, but 5+ years of studying it compel me to say: fuck French. Pick Italian.

 

[Souplex]

Swearing at people in Italian is more fun.

 

[mikev7.0]

I would say learn Spanish instead, that way you have a much more used (and therefore easy to practice and apply) language and if you have a solid education in Spanish I've been told by teachers that it makes both French and Italian easy to learn.

 

[Canid117]

French is more widespread but Italy has a nicer climate.

 

[Worgen]

french, cursing it is is like wiping your ass with silk

 

[willsham45]

Will you actally use it for stuff other than holiday, do you plan on working in any of those countries for example, if so go for the one you would prefer to live in.

Personally I would think a language that is more usful is better. Personally I would choose neather and go for something like one of the asain languages or rushion...mostly because bigger areas, Or the other option German, but that is mostly because I am respecting the country more and more as a country run by compitent people rarther than the ideats running the UK.

As for which is best...Italian...they have better ice cream, pizza's, wine and weather oh and of cause the maffia that is always cool.

 

[Fiz_The_Toaster]

Italian.

With all the structures, towns, and food (oh god the food!) how can you not want to learn Italian.

Italian. A much cooler and sophisticated language. It rolls off the tongue and is one of the best sounding languages. Besides. Assassino! Recquiascat in pacce.

What he said, and I agree.

 

[Thedayrecker]

Italian.

Never really liked anything French (not that I have anything against the people. Some of my best friends are French), but Italy has such a rich history, and what better way to study it, than in it's own language.

Plus Italian sounds like singing.

 

[Mosesj]

Italian,
You get to sound like you freak out a lot

 

[cheese_wizington]

I'm a French student, so I had to represent.

Francais est super cool. But Italian is pretty damn awesome too. Honestly if I could transfer all of my French knowledge to Italian I would.

 

[Biodeamon]

i'd say french. sure italian's more romantic but french is much more useful due to the majority of people who speak it.

 

[RanD00M]

While both languages suck, french sucks the hardest, so Italian is the lesser of two evils I guess.

 

[viranimus]

Screw both and go with German. German is a root language for many other languages some of which are just as art centric countries as Italy or France, Places like Austria, Netherlands, Denmark, etc etc etc.

Plus its perhaps the easiest language for an english speaker to learn, arguably even easier than french.

 

[Ambi]

If you're into literature, French enables you to read those quotes in old books that were published when it was assumed that everyone knew French. That is good, n'est ce pas? But if there are more Italian immigrants where you live and you want to impress people, or you want to go to Italy, learn Italian.

You don't need to spend money learning languages. Get a phrase sheet from the internet, watch youtube videos, download the audio, and go to the library and check if they have books or CD's on learning the language you want (google Michel Thomas). You could fold the phrase sheet and carry it everywhere, and you could stick post it notes with words on the objects they represent in your room and start to address them with those words in your mind. Don't try to take in too much at once and be intimidated, you'll learn bits and pieces and your confidence will grow and you can refine your grammar skills and such by reading. It's easier to learn things when they're in an already familiar context. I used to read the translations of "do not cover" on the side of the heater as a kid and I still remember them, ne pas couvrire, nicht abdecken.

 

[Goofguy]

There are like four accents in French. its not that hard.

Dude, there are like four French accents in Quebec, let alone France and the rest of the French speaking world.

OP: While Italian sounds cooler, I'd recommend French for practicality's sake. As has been stated, it is spoken by more people in the world. Check out this Wikipedia page on the Francophonie, an international body dedicated to the organization and preservation of the French language and culture. Take a look at the member countries, it's quite a significant number:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francophonie

 

[dashiz94]

That depends, are you learning it just for the language or are you planning on using it in a practical sense in the future?

If for the language: Italian

If for practical use: French

Although I recommend taking a class on whatever language you choose. Rosetta is great, but you need the grammar background before using that product.

 

[Necator15]

I'm more partial to Italian (What I'm currently trying to learn)
I had to take a small bit of French and just didn't like it at all.

So I guess I'm recommending Italian.

Also, I'm going to recommend not using Rosetta Stone, as personally I don't think the benefit is enough to offset the cost. You can easily find similar things on Youtube or something for free. Just an opinion.