So I am currently studying in Copenhagen, Denmark, but regardless I don’t usually feel compelled to learn another language. My courses are all in English, and about 98% of the population speaks fluent English, so there isn’t really much need to put out the effort. However, on my recent trip to Russia, these notions got somewhat turned upside down.
I’ve always been a bit embarrassed that I don’t speak multiple languages. I can understand a tiny bit of Spanish from my two years of high school under horrible teachers, but that will only get me so far. Russia is the opposite of Copenhagen, and literally no one speaks English. It was quite surprising that the youth weren’t learning. So, for a week I had the fortune of trying to communicate with people who could not speak English. In addition, the trip had people from several countries, and often nationalistic cliques would emerge: the Italians, Spanish, French, Germans, Dutch, etc.
I actually hopped between different groups quite frequently, and as a result was exposed to numerous languages. One time I remember sitting in a room and hearing three conversations going on at once…in French, Spanish and German. Granted, they all spoke English as well, but these were their native tongues and I can understand the appeal of communicating with them.
One of my friends in particular has it made. He is half-British, half-Danish and grew up in the Qatar as his parents work in the oil industry. He also studied Spanish and lived for two years in France, so he can speak these languages too. He’s 21. My 13 year old cousin, a few years ago, could speak German, Italian and English and was learning French. I was floored.
At this point in my life I’m 22, which is near the end of the “you learn easily stage” and I figure it’d be good to study some different languages. But then comes the question of which one. My work for Nike and the growing global market in China makes me want to learn Chinese, but that is very difficult especially considering the alphabet. Easier tasks would be Spanish, French or German who also have the similar Latin-based history and alphabet.
In addition, much of my heritage is Scandinavian based, and although they speak good English and I don’t know if I want to live in the area again, I feel like I might want to come back. Swedish girls really ARE that beautiful. The problem is that all of these countries are small and have different languages. I wouldn’t bother to learn Finish or Icelandic, and my friend suggested Norwegian, which he said crosses over with Danish and Swedish better than the other languages do.
But do you have any suggestions? What languages should I study. Personally, if I could learn a few more languages, they would probably be Spanish, Chinese, German and Norwegian. Even if I only had a basic understanding and not fluent, it’s better than nothing. I used to scoff at the idea of French, but I’ve come to the realization that it’s a pretty language and it is actually spoken in a number of former French colonies. I know that many people are learning Arabic, which is too much work (especially with the dialectic differences) but I wonder how many people know Russian. They certainly aren’t learning English much over there.
When it comes down to it, being able to know several languages is one of the best forms of job security. If you can speak multiple languages then you are far more employable, and it certainly would look and sit better for someone aspiring to be a upper-level business executive, which is where I think I may be heading towards.
What languages do you know, and which ones should I learn?
