If you live in the Western Hemisphere then learning German and French is pointless (unless in the case of French you want to visit Montreal/Quebec). Spanish would definitely be the best language to learn in the Western Hemisphere. The other benefit is that Latin Americans are probably the nicest and most forgiving of those learning to speak Spanish. They are often very enthusiastic to help when you don't understand something.
Of course, if you live in Europe then Spanish is still nice considering that you can visit Spain and be understood everywhere. French might be worth it if you live in Europe too as you can obviously travel to French-speaking areas live parts of Belgium and Switzerland and of course France. I would still say that earning Spanish should be a consideration because it opens up the entirety of South and Central America as well as most of the Caribbean.
As for African French? Yes, you may be understood but good luck understanding much of African accent. I remember trying to listen in on a conversation between two Africans (this was many years ago and I could understand a fair amount of French at the time). I could pick out the occasional tu and not much else, their accents were sooooo thick!
I will say that as far as Latin-based languages go Spanish is by far the easiest and straightforward language to learn. It is phonetic and sound values don't really change. Even the diphthongs can be said as individual vowels and the sound of the word will be correct. It is extremely easy to read as well once you have the alphabet down. I would say you can be reading Spanish fluently aloud and in mind within two weeks of practicing the sound values of the alphabet.
As others have pointed out too, once you have learned Spanish you can learn Portuguese easy and even Italian without much struggle. I still remember being surprised that after one college semester of Spanish (and a lot of study time on my own) I could watch the Godfather II and understand a lot of the Italian that was being spoken.
In my opinion unless you are absolutely in love with philosophy, particularly German philosophy then there is no reason to learn German. The only other reason I could imagine learning it is if you wanted to work in business in Germany one day, otherwise why bother?
Of course, if you live in Europe then Spanish is still nice considering that you can visit Spain and be understood everywhere. French might be worth it if you live in Europe too as you can obviously travel to French-speaking areas live parts of Belgium and Switzerland and of course France. I would still say that earning Spanish should be a consideration because it opens up the entirety of South and Central America as well as most of the Caribbean.
As for African French? Yes, you may be understood but good luck understanding much of African accent. I remember trying to listen in on a conversation between two Africans (this was many years ago and I could understand a fair amount of French at the time). I could pick out the occasional tu and not much else, their accents were sooooo thick!
I will say that as far as Latin-based languages go Spanish is by far the easiest and straightforward language to learn. It is phonetic and sound values don't really change. Even the diphthongs can be said as individual vowels and the sound of the word will be correct. It is extremely easy to read as well once you have the alphabet down. I would say you can be reading Spanish fluently aloud and in mind within two weeks of practicing the sound values of the alphabet.
As others have pointed out too, once you have learned Spanish you can learn Portuguese easy and even Italian without much struggle. I still remember being surprised that after one college semester of Spanish (and a lot of study time on my own) I could watch the Godfather II and understand a lot of the Italian that was being spoken.
In my opinion unless you are absolutely in love with philosophy, particularly German philosophy then there is no reason to learn German. The only other reason I could imagine learning it is if you wanted to work in business in Germany one day, otherwise why bother?
But wine was the great assassin of both tradition and propriety...
-Brandon Sanderson, The Way of Kings
-Brandon Sanderson, The Way of Kings
OK linguaphiles and intelligentsia of RAFO, which language should I learn?
- 20/12/2009 05:25:54 PM
1014 Views
If you learn Spanish, it won't be that hard to learn Portugese and Italian *NM*
- 20/12/2009 08:18:11 PM
336 Views
Um, where do you live?
- 21/12/2009 01:18:05 AM
773 Views
I vote German. It's the closest that I I come to "speaking" another language.
- 21/12/2009 03:15:42 AM
684 Views
I'd suggest Spanish.
- 21/12/2009 07:30:26 AM
678 Views
*NM*
I'm neither of those things in your title, but I'll put in another vote for Spanish.
- 21/12/2009 02:08:09 PM
647 Views
We all have our own prejudices for suggesting languages. Of the three, I suggest French.
- 21/12/2009 02:32:45 PM
813 Views