Which language should I learn???

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Cobraboy

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Im currently debating if I want to learn a second language or not. I plan to become an Aeronautical Engineer, airlines, airforce, navy, army which ever. The airlines, airforce, navy and army here in New Zealand are fairly small and dont pay all that well. So I was thinking of eventually heading overseas, and for that I will need to learn another language (I do know that getting into a defence force in another country is probably unlikely) But I dont know where I want to go. I found myself saying "I wouldnt mind living here" when I was in Hong Kong or Singapore. I also wouldnt mind somewhere in Europe; France, Italy, Spain. The same with America (however much I detest America - no offence).

What language do you think I should learn, even If I dont use it in a job??
 
in school we learn either Japanese or italian. i chose italian because it is a hell of a lot easier. go with spanish!!! My heritage is portuguese and peruvian, so after i learn italian spanish will be a cinch. :D
 
Japanese. Even if you rarely use it, you'll never get bad service at a Japanese restaurant or sushi bar again.
 
Come on, kia...use a search engine.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=learning+Japanese&btnG=Google+Search

Get some cassettes or CD's, and lots of books. I recommend:

• Any decent textbook for learning Japanese grammar
• Random House's Japnese-English/English-Japanese dictionary
• Kanji & Kana
• The Modern Reader's Japanese-English Character Dictionary
• Someone who really knows English and Japanese well
• The ability to draw small, complex characters
• The ability to accept the fact you will make ass of yourself a few times and laugh about it.
 
Oh, get a Japanese font (MS Mincho works well for the PC) ...or it's going to be an uphill battle.

If you have Office 97 or 2000, then it's included/can load it in.

I think www.microsoft.com 's site may have it somewhere, it's about 15megs, though!
 
Any of Asian languages are going to be tough if your first language is English. For example you can say the letter "A" in like 7 different ways, and each has a different meaning. Like the word "stop" in vietnamese sounds just like "stomach" to an untrained ear, only difference is that the "O" in the word is longer. (spelled phonetically boo-ng vs. boO-ng), see what I mean? And a lot of it is said "backwards" the way Spanish is.

Spanish is much easier than most of the rest.

If you know any French, then you could probably learn Hmong pretty easily. Hmong are the 'mountian people' of Laos. Lao is similar to Thai. Vietnamese is similar to Manderian Chinese.
 
You should probably learn to speak English first.

But, I'd like to learn German. Seems like a very cool language. Everything German is cool, actually. And I'm sure living in Germany would be a plus.
 
I was gonig to be a generic ass (like Klos) and suggest you learn English first, but your initial post is quite well formed. *shock and amazement*

I learned Spanish in high school ... or rather, attempted to learn. No scratch that, I attempted no such thing. I was enroled in Spanish classes for two years.

Personally, I would look at destinations on Earth that I would like to visit, and learn their native language. Personally, everywhere I want to go speaks English so I have no issues there. I would like to spend a brief amount of time in China, though not interacting with the natives. Maybe I should learn a little Chinese ...
 
Yes, I should've named it What Foreign or Second Language should I learn.

I've been to China before (Shenzhen + Guangzhou, Guangdong Province), and I can say I definately felt the communism, Surly looking guards with sub-machine guns. I can say I wouldnt enjoy living there. I only know 1 word of chinese (mandorin I think) , xie xie (share, share) Thank you.
 
Originally posted by pupik
Oh, get a Japanese font (MS Mincho works well for the PC) ...or it's going to be an uphill battle.

If you have Office 97 or 2000, then it's included/can load it in.

I think www.microsoft.com 's site may have it somewhere, it's about 15megs, though!
Click to expand...

you need a Japanese language pack for that. If you have WinXP, if you install the Japanese language addon you will be able to type/read japanese, and also run japanese programs. Handy for a Japanese/english guy like me.

I think its a very 1337 feature of XP.
 
Originally posted by Klostrophobic
You should probably learn to speak English first.

But, I'd like to learn German. Seems like a very cool language. Everything German is cool, actually. And I'm sure living in Germany would be a plus.
Click to expand...

God, another victim of the German our-country-kicks-ass propaganda...

German is the ugliest language ever.
 
Some German diplomat was with Powell recently, thanking us for our post-ww2 assistance. I wonder if theirs a "don't tee off US tourists" campaign in Germany.

I love power!

Now may be a good time for butt kissing. Depends on whether germans give a flying crap.
 
I know almost fluent German. Good language to know
 
i'm currently learning German (easy to conjugate, hard to pronounce sometimes) via internet / phone / tv. it's kind of difficult without an actual teacher, but it's still a relatively easy language. there aren't any of those annoying feminine / masculine nouns (although, there are the articles: der, das, die, den...), which are sort of a pain in the butt, since there's no formula to learn (memorization). fortunately for you (more precisely, your situation), Germany is one of the most warlike nations on the planet (it was worse than the middle east until 15 years ago).


if you're looking for a country that needs air defense, learn swahili ;) .
 

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