If you are learning a new language...

[meat]

So if your next project is to learn a new language, and you have a choice, which language would you choose and why?

This is just me being curious. For myself I've always been interested in finding similarities - what I call bridges - in vocabulary or idioms among different languages, and wondering if way back in history there had been cultural exchanges, and where and how it happened. But when it comes to wanting to learn a language, I tend to get lured by simpler reasons such as "It's cool". So my list has Irish (not the accent, the Irish language), Tibetan, Persian or Arabic, and something European that wavers back and forth depending on what I've heard lately. But might be German because Germany seem to have a strong history of natural science illustration.

[Patrick Gaumond]

Ever since i started listening to old bossa nova I've always wanted to learn Portuguese, such a beautiful language :)

Besides that though I've always wanted to learn all the languages that make up english, like latin and the others that ive forgotten at the moment lol

[Lyraina]

I would love to learn Japanese - both because I am very interested in the culture and think it's a beautiful language, and because I have family there. I've already tried three times or so to learn it, but without further application I always forget everything again. "It's cool" is obviously playing a role here too, as I'm attracted by everything exotic and different ;)
What you call bridges fascinates me too, not only English words in Japanese which can be quite funny, but also between related languages like English and German. Also, it makes me really happy to hear someone who speaks English use a German word :D
But I also really enjoy finding differences in idioms or metaphors, especially since it makes me aware of the *literal* meanings of those things, which we often use without thinking.
English is such a beautiful language. I hope one day I'll be able to speak and write it really fluently. Fun fact: Sometimes I catch myself using a phrase, which I then have to look up to see if it's real and if it really means what I think it does. Yay for passive language learning!

[meat]

Beardley Y'know everyone who's learned Latin (it was available in my high school) said it's useful when they started to learn another western European language.

Lyraina Your written English sure reads fluent enough for a native speaker! And you're the first person who said English is a beautiful language, I thought it's just mediocre. If you like anime you can learn Japanese by watching Japanese anime or TV drama with German/English subtitles. I picked up what little phrase/words I know by doing that.

[KurtJeremy]

i have been trying to learn some languages recently , but mainly focusing on japanese. "its cool " is one of the reason im trying to learn it , but also its quite fun at least for me.
im a real movie fanatic and i want to watch and understand foreign films without the aid of subtitles.

[Psychotime]

Slowly but surely learning Japanese, mostly to be able to read it well enough. Kanji is killer.

English is such a beautiful language.

As a native speaker, the more I learn about the structure and consistency of other languages, the more I start to think that my native language wasn't designed very well.

[Doolio]

one more in for japanese:) (for more or less obvious reasons for me, lol:) )

I agree with you on english. BUT, the pros of english language basically grow from it's cons, I would say.
What do I mean? Well, if we ask linguists (and really, if we simply get in touch with several representative languages), they will say that the more west you go, the languages "lack more stuff". (grammatically, morphologically, phonetically etc). This excludes japan/china, as they are pretty specific by themselves.

Which means that, for example, in english, you are less expressive than in, say, russian. By "less expressive" I mean mostly less versatile and less concrete. the most prominent example is, maybe, the lack of cases. Also, english is full of "naked conductor ran through the trolley" stuff, which, although funny, reveal some holes which have to be filled with intonation or context to pinpoint the meaning, and not "linguistically".

But it goes both ways. from a practical standpoint, english seems to be VERY easy to practically learn and also to mold as needed. It's weakness in structure and consistency becomes it's main strength, similar to open source programs. On the other hand, it seems that native english speakers have some struggle with more complex languages, as they need large amounts of time and energy to comprehend a lot of stuff, being never exposed to them (like imagining a new color, if we are to use a dumb example:) ).
Also, this seem to go for phonetic base too, as I saw many english speakers struggle with different r's and stuff like that. Not all, of course, but it's noticeable. While, for example, I have no problem with pronouncing english, spanish, french, german, russian or japanese "r", nor do I know anyone who does and is living here in Serbia or in the neighbourhood:)

But, there's a reason we all speak english lol and it shows that there are various aspects which make a language "good".

[Tien]

Does everyone want to learn japanese ?
It's really interesting how you can make bridges indeed between languages, but yeah, back in history was a big culture (the indo-europeans), they moved from Asia to Europe, so that's how we got mostly the same base (maybe you already know that haha). Once in europe, the Indo-european language got mixed with the local cultures. (hum... that's how little I know about the subject, but it's very interesting !)

Well, actually I'm trying to learn vietnamese for quite the same reasons as Lyraina, i tried a few times but without anyone to speak with, I tend to forget quickly... what a shame. But I would like to get a fluent spanish, english and learn Arabic, Icelandic (duh, that would be like speaking a lord of the Ring's language hahaha) and chinese.

By the way, if someone is interested in French, feel free to contact me I'll be glad to help you =)

[Bookend]

I'm currently living in a foreign country, so I am learning a new language. And it's pretty fun, but really tough. I'm an undercover agent, so I won't be giving away any actual information about the country or the language.

But, if I was to learn another language besides that, it'd be Mandarin. I learned a tiny bit for a job once, and it was pretty cool and interesting. It's a challenge, and I like challenges. Additionally, it opens a doorway to all of the different Asian languages, and I'm pretty sure that Mandarin likely rivals English in terms of spoken languages globally, so it'd be pretty neat to be fluent in it.

I also love the sound of Japanese and German.

But, I think in general, I quite like and admire all different languages. That's just the direction I'd go in. To start.

Life's a journey full of learning, haha, I plan to pack as much into it as possible.

[neopatogen]

Omg do many people here who like Japanese! One more here, I've been learning it occasionally for almost a year until I came to Hungary and decided to learn Hungarian instead. Although I don't find it Hungarian that much fun and don't actually study much :) It's mostly because there's few famous Hungarian literature and movies.
I still like Japanese and might continue learning it some time later.
Another thing I decided long time ago is that I'd start learning Chinese when I retire :D
Just, I love hyerofliphs so much. Writing them is such a joy. Japanese seems easier to me than Chinese because their kanji are simpler and they also have a phonetic alphabet, also the pronounciation is rather familiar to me due to watching anime, and there's a lot of pop culture stuff to read and watch in it, that was the reason why I chose Japanese first to try.