Which language should I learn?

clairyfairy247
clairyfairy247 Posts: 425 Member
in Chit-Chat
Where I work (University of Oxford) staff and students can take part in part-time language courses (evening classes).

I love languages. I tend to be really good at picking them up. I'm willing to put in lots of effort to study and practice. I like to travel. I really like finding out all sorts of crazy things about a new culture.

Here's a little bit about the course:

OPAL is a fee-paying, late-afternoon/early-evening programme of courses in Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), French, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian and Spanish offering a Certificate of Achievement on successful completion. The programme lasts the whole academic year and will appeal to those who are looking for a small, stable class (average 12) of highly motivated and well-organised language learners, willing and able to put in substantial time and effort to making rapid progress in the target language.
Classes begin in Week 2 (week of 15th October) of Michaelmas Term and continue until the end of Hilary Term. In Trinity Term, following the examination, learners work on individual projects and contact with class tutors will be on an individual or group basis in workshops or short tutorials.

So here's my dilemma:

Spanish and Mandarin are the most widely spoken languages (aside from English) in the world so I suppose it would make sense to study one of those.
However, I’m quite taken with two languages – Italian and Japanese.

I have a bit of a love affair with Italy and it’s such a romantic and passionate language, and I would love to learn it!
On the other hand, my friend has been teaching me some Japanese and it’s such a wacky, cutting-edge culture (totally the opposite of Italy!) and I’m loving that as well.

Which do you think I should go for?

Thanks guys - I appreciate your advice! :) x

Replies

  • Martucha123
    Martucha123 Posts: 1,089 Member
    if you love Italian, then learn Italian
    once you master it, Spanish should be easy
  • sakisus
    sakisus Posts: 13
    If you are a practical person, I suggest you try to learn a language that you are most likely to use and it will help you on your resume.
    If you are adventurous just toss a coin.
    Which ever road you choose study as hard as you can!
    Only good can come out of learning a new language, good luck!
  • elcyclista
    elcyclista Posts: 393
    Nihongo wa ii desu
  • HeidiMightyRawr
    HeidiMightyRawr Posts: 3,343 Member
    Based on what info you gave, I'd go with Italian :)
  • Cathcandoo
    Cathcandoo Posts: 107 Member
    Personally, I would go with a language that you would actually use...where I live, just outside Toronto, Italian would be the #1 language to learn, Spanish would be great to learn for all those all inclusive trips we take and Mandarin has a huge population in the greater Toronto area...it just depends, are you planning a trip to japan? Then it would come in handy - do you get any foreign exchange students in the area and they could use a translator? Is there a lang that would further your career?

    Other than that - follow your heart - you can't go wrong learning something you love :)
  • whierd
    whierd Posts: 14,025 Member
    Java IMO
  • Kyrosh
    Kyrosh Posts: 238
    They don't even have Dutch? Pfff I'm disappointed now... :noway:
    But I would go for Italian if I were you, because I've seen that language on your profile for a while now, so go with what your heart tells you to do :heart:

    Good luck, or should I say: Buona fortuna
  • clairyfairy247
    clairyfairy247 Posts: 425 Member
    Thank you all :)

    I think I will go with Italian! I love it, it's easier to learn, I'm more likely to travel there!, it's the most beautiful language ever and they have lots of yummy food there ;)

    Plus its a good starter for other European languages

    I love Japanese too!! But its tricky to learn, I'm much less likely to travel there and the lessons are at an inconvenient time!

    Thank you all for your help - I'm off for some dinner (ironically spaghetti bolognese!)

    Addio!
  • elcyclista
    elcyclista Posts: 393
    Nannen desu
  • clairyfairy247
    clairyfairy247 Posts: 425 Member
    Nannen desu

    Do you mean Zannen desu? :)
  • elcyclista
    elcyclista Posts: 393
    Oops yes. Darn iPhone autocorrect. XD
  • clairyfairy247
    clairyfairy247 Posts: 425 Member
    Hahaha :)
  • lour441
    lour441 Posts: 543 Member
    C#
  • Netterz0087
    Netterz0087 Posts: 91 Member
    If you want a language that is practical and useful: Spanish
    If you want a language that you'll most likely be interested in: Italian

    I think Japanese would be more difficult than Italian and if you intend on visiting Japan one day, take that! But I think Italian is super sexy and that's on my list to learn lol

    I LOVE languages! I'm semi-fluent in German (completely useless to me right now) and I took a beginners Arabic (Loved the uniqueness of it!) and I want to take Russian next. I take languages that interest me, not necessarily useful. It's pretty cool though when someone needs something translated from German and you're the only one in the office that knows it ;)
  • DawnieB1977
    DawnieB1977 Posts: 4,248 Member
    I'm a bit biased as my BA is in French, and I also have an MA in Translation (French - English), so I'd go for French. It's spoken somewhere in every single continent, over about 45 countries. Plus it's a beautiful language.

    I studied a bit of Italian at uni too, and also loved that, and wish my Italian were better. As someone else mentioned, once you learn one latin based language, the rest are easier. I've also studied Spanish and Portuguese, not to a high level though, but I can understand quite a bit when I read in those languages.

    My sister lived in China for 4 years and picked up Mandarin quite quickly. She says it's not actually that hard, and their grammar is pretty simple. Obviously the hardest part is learning the characters.

    So, given your list I would probably opt for Italian (since I already speak French).
  • kelseyhere
    kelseyhere Posts: 1,123 Member
    be practical and learn spanish first, then italian will be easier later. i learned spanish and was able to pick up portugese much faster because i already had that latin base.
  • i_love_vinegar
    i_love_vinegar Posts: 2,092 Member
    I think Italian and Spanish are very easy languages to learn and can also be applied to learning other European languages.

    I lived in Japan last year and am living in Hong Kong and although I just began learning Cantonese, I can already put together sentences. Japanese is a great language for the following people:
    -Love anime, manga, videogames, jdramas, japanese music and idol groups.
    If you are not interested in those things, I would NOT recommend learning Japanese because unlike European languages and Mandarin, the grammar and what-not is SO difficult and complex that after a year chances are you will still be unable to properly form most sentences or understand things. I lived in Japan (hardly anyone speaks English outside Tokyo-area btw), took classes in Japanese, made Japanese friends, went to language exchanges, studied 8-12 hours per day on average, took classes, etc and STILL can hardly form sentences or even understand many things. The younger generation is also VERY xenophobic in comparison to the older generations, making it difficult for many foreigners (in my experience, tourist love the place, people who I've met living their long term hate the place and only stay due to obligations such as a work contract, family (wife, children), or schooling.
    In contrast, I've studied Cantonese for a grand total of around 5 hours and can already form some basic sentences! I lived in Chile for 6 months and left near-fluent. I think with Mandarin you can always find someone to chat with since "Where there are people, there are Chinese" -- and Spanish is used in a very large part of the world as well (Central, South America, Spain, U.S. etc).
    Anyway, I think you should learn whichever language you are most drawn to personally, even if that is Japanese.

    Good luck! :)

    PS: Japan is not as wacky as the media makes it seem btw. In fact, walk into any subway (even in Tokyo) and many will be near-complete silent. Same with buses, shinkansen, etc. Most people live very routine, depressing lives and self-expression is highly frowned upon. I personally believe that the high rates of depression, long hours at work, inability to express one's feelings without fear of being kicked out of the group etc etc. is responsible for the high rates of pedo/ebophilia as well as large market for rape/torture porn. Many salary men probably long for their youth (high school down to elementary school) when they were allowed to express themselves a bit more, have more fun etc...and the strong hierarchy would be reason for the rape/torture porn -- allowing men who otherwise feel like they are constantly forced to "respect the elder workers" to feel "in control." I've even see women reading similar magazines featuring little boys (remember, these can be found in most book shops, some convenience stores, and for sure sex shops where "censored" child porn is the first thing displayed in many of them). o_o

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