Hey guys, I've been learning Portuguese for a few weeks, but it's easy as heck. Since it's not that difficult for me, I am going to learn a second language at the same time, but one that's more difficult so I don't get very bored. The only thing is, I can't decide and you all are going to do it for me.

FINNISH. Totally.

Lol, I wonder why you're interested in learning finnish... and how are you planning on learning it? (Doubt they teach it that much outside of Finland.) Apparently It's harder than most european languages.

Nyt perkele opiskelemaan siitä!

how many languages are you learning? i really think you should become fluent in the ones you're already working on before picking more languages up, but whatever.

japanese

I would choose the language that is more commonly spoken in your area.

None of them are spoken at all in my area as far as I know.

Quote from Index

how many languages are you learning? i really think you should become fluent in the ones you're already working on before picking more languages up, but whatever.

I'm learning one language actively right now (Vietnamese is on the back burner, so to speak), but there's no *real* reason not to learn more than one language at the same time.

According to this http://www.photius.com/rankings/languages2.html

Mandarin is most common, followed by Japanese in the world (relating to your list). If your learning of Cantonese can be translated to Mandarin, you should choose that, otherwise the latter looks like a better choice.

I learn languages solely because I think they're fun and interesting. Fluency isn't really that much of a goal for me, it just comes as I study. Also, I don't really care about how popular a language is, as long as it doesn't get to the point where there's no resources for it.

Popularity should be a factor you should consider in making up your mind since you have trouble deciding. Learning a language for personal interest is fine, but if it is also practical and be put into use, there is more of a reason to choose it. See them as bonuses.

Quote from Jombo

Any language can be useful though, it just depends on what you do with it. The more popular languages may actually be less practical since they could be running out of jobs for foreigners quicker. Jobs in Japan, for example, are incredibly tight, and Japanese is a popular foreign language. Popularity probably only needs to be a factor if it changes your interest in a language, like you think it's neat to know something only 2,000,000 other people in the world know about, like Esperanto.

True,all languages have its uses, but then again it depends on where you are (and what you mean by useful). You can learn Japanese in Japan, but if you arrive to some place like Germany, there is less of a chance of it being used.

If this is the case, some are more beneficial then others. At the end of the day, having people to talk to plays some significance. I assume that if you find joy out of learning languages, you will also find some satisfaction in communicating with others in the same tongue. Looking at fusion who is in the middle of nowhere, he can only travel in order to come into contact with people that speak such language. Since we don't know if he is ever going to travel or what countries intends to visit, general popularity can be a guide. He can choose the one that is most common or the rarest, nevertheless it doesn't change the fact that it is merely a guide. Additionally he should also look at where he intends to work/travel in the future and the advantages of a language.

I don't see the correlation between how learning a new language will decrease your chance of finding employment. I would assume that employers are more attracted to those who are bilingual (trilingual in this case).

This said, popularity is only a single factor and should be coupled with others. Whether or not you see it as important, it is there to help you decide. Another thing that can help is what culture you are interested in.

Quote from Hewitt

OR you could go and create your own language so that only YOU would know what it meant.

I actually do that already.

JAPANESE so we can talk

Quote from Hewitt

For serious? Wow. What did you use it for?

It usually starts out as a simulation of a certain linguistic property, but it's really just a hobby. It's really kind of fun if you know what you're doing with it.

Quote from Nero

JAPANESE so we can talk

I'm not going to learn a language just so I can talk to a person who I don't even know.

Cantonese is widely used in Australia.Japanese characters are similar to Mandarin ones.

voted for Japanese. Idk, you seem to like anime, and anime are mostly in Japan, so why not?


(and you can watch Ghibli movies with original audio, just saying.)

how do you go about learning a new language exactly? do you get a tutor or something, or just learn through resources like the internet?

curious about this because i'm thinking of trying to learn chinese.