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 Language Learning Forum : Advice Center |  | |
| AccentClipper Bilingual Triglot Newbie United States Joined 4566 days ago 13 posts - 15 votes Speaks: French*, English*, Portuguese Studies: Persian | Message 1 of 27 19 November 2011 at 12:42am | IP Logged |
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Hello to all, I'm new to these forums.
I've recently decided that I wanted to learn another language. French and English are my primary languages, and I spent a few years on learning Portuguese and have been maintaining it since then. I've narrowed it down to five languages: Spanish, Persian, Arabic, Swahili, Turkish, and German. Here are my reasons: Spanish - An important Romance language, and I do have some interest in it. However, I also want to kind of learn something OTHER than a Romance language, since I already know two. Persian - An exotic and intriguing language, it seems. The poetry and literature is particularly supposed to be fascinating and it also sounds cool to me. But how many reliable resources are there? Arabic - Also exotic and intriguing, as well as important. However, I feel daunted by the fact that learning MSA and the dialects is like learning up to ten languages depending on how many dialects you're interested in (or so I've heard). Swahili - Seems exotic, and I've always been interested in East Africa. However, how many reliable resources are there? Turkish - An interesting Middle Eastern language, I think, sounds cool and seems to be different. German - I'm especially interested in German literature, but I'd say my overall interest in German is less than in Persian, Arabic, Swahili, and Turkish. I'm interested in each of these languages one way or the other. If there are any languages you recommend, it would be appreciated, but I'm 70% decided that it'll be one of these languages. Thanks, in advance. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Humdereel Octoglot Groupie United States Joined 4789 days ago 90 posts - 349 votes  Speaks: English, Spanish*, Arabic (Levantine), Arabic (Egyptian), Arabic (Written), Turkish, Persian, Urdu Studies: Russian | Message 2 of 27 19 November 2011 at 1:25am | IP Logged |
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Since you already know two Romance languages, then I don't see a problem with saving Spanish for later.
I would highly recommend Persian, Arabic, and Turkish, though I have minimal experience with German and no experience with Swahili. Persian indeed has a rich and highly fascinating literature. I've loved reading through some of the works of Ferdowsi, Rumi, and Hafiz, and there is no doubt that Persian is worth learning solely for the poetry and literature. I also have a few Iranian friends and one Afghan friend, and the spoken language is also beautiful, IMO. Arabic like learning up to ten languages? That's an exaggeration, so I wouldn't worry. While learning MSA and a dialect side by side could feel like learning two languages, I wouldn't say it would go beyond that. The situation of Arabic is often either understated or overstated. Some assume the major dialects (Egyptian, Levantine, Gulf, etc.) are comparable to American, Australian, and British English. That's an understatement. Others assume it's like Spanish to French to Romanian, or even completely different languages. That's an overstatement (though comparing them to Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese, isn't too far-fetched, this anaology still has some flaws). I built a strong foundation in MSA, and then moved onto the Egyptian dialect, and must say that it wasn't difficult to pick up. Some of this I got by exposing myself to the dialect here at home, but it became especially accessible when I spent some months in Egypt. From there, going from Egyptian to Levantine to Hijazi to Iraqi was not at all difficult. The main issue is between MSA, the Mashriq (Middle Eastern) dialects, and the Maghrebi dialects. Otherwise, Arabic is indeed, IMO, a fascinating language in literature and in spoken forms. Turkish, in my opinion, is underrated. Sure, it's spoken mainly in Turkey, but Turkey is one fascinating country; and that it's also spoken by minorities in other areas. Plus, Turkish helps greatly with nearby Turkic languages such as Azeri and Turkmen. All I can say is to look into some materials for learning these languages and narrow it down further. 5 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Mooby Senior Member Scotland Joined 5916 days ago 707 posts - 1219 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Polish | Message 3 of 27 19 November 2011 at 7:35am | IP Logged |
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I would go for Turkish.
There's enough learning material available and plenty of books, great music, poetry etc. to keep maintaining it with interest. You would avoid the dialect dilemma with Arabic, yet still have an introduction to near East culture and history (from the Hittites to the Ottomans). German would be my second choice. Ask yourself: Which one do I really want to spend the rest of my life with? 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| KSAKSA Groupie Australia Joined 4956 days ago 65 posts - 99 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Arabic (Gulf) | Message 5 of 27 19 November 2011 at 10:14am | IP Logged |
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Arabic. It is a beautiful langugage and I agree with Humdereel's comments re dialects.
Ultimately though, no one can make this decision for you - you gotta go with your heart and determine which language/culture/potential travel would appeal to you on a long term basis. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |
| WentworthsGal Senior Member United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4699 days ago 191 posts - 246 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Swedish, Spanish | Message 6 of 27 19 November 2011 at 11:36am | IP Logged |
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I love Turkish and found it quite a logical language to learn. So I would choose that or go for Swedish - I'm a bit biased as I'm currently studying it and loving it loads :o) there are quite a lot of resources for it too which is great. Plus it's a great stepping stone to the other Scandi languages.
All that being said, I suggest choosing a language which you like the sound of most :o) 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| asies Bilingual Tetraglot Newbie India Joined 4572 days ago 36 posts - 44 votes Speaks: English, Hindi*, Nepali*, Urdu Studies: Spanish | Message 7 of 27 19 November 2011 at 4:15pm | IP Logged |
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Start with the easiest language(i personally believe that nothing is easy and nothing
is impossible anyway) which resembles more with your native language or the other languages that you know and reach the Advance level and then start with the others. Because the hardest language or the language which doesn't resemble to the languages that you know already will take longer time and you might not be able to reach to the advance level that soon. Languages like Chinese,Japanese,Arabic, Korean they take lot of time according to the FSI standards they have calculated approx.2200hrs extensive study to reach the proficiency(and what exactly that proficiency is? has anyone ever explained that yet? nope) for a native English speaker however that's their opinion about these courses, how accurate these figures are nobody knows that. It depends from person to person as well so in my opinion start with something with which you are more comfortable with, I am from New Delhi and i was born and raised here, we speak hinglish 60% of the time in our daily life and when required use 100% English as well. I have been self studying English from last 3-4years to improve my knowledge of it and to get better grasp of it to gain the similar grasp of it as a native speaker does, and believe me i am not bragging i am pretty good but still sometimes when i interact with different types of native speakers, i come across with lot of new things and i still feel i haven't mastered this language yet. As i told you in the beginning that i already had hinglish background raised among anglo-indians, frequent use of English but still, i don't think i can compare myself with a native English speaker. It being the easiest language to me and after so many years of regular self-study there is still lot of room left to learn, learning never ends, you could reach to the advance level if you dedicate yourself but mastering it, well that takes years and years of practice and if required you will be required to live among them. I hope i successfully conveyed my message, what i am trying to make you understand. Thanks...happy learning!! 3 persons have voted this message useful | |
| AccentClipper Bilingual Triglot Newbie United States Joined 4566 days ago 13 posts - 15 votes Speaks: French*, English*, Portuguese Studies: Persian | Message 8 of 27 19 November 2011 at 9:46pm | IP Logged |
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After further investigation, I've narrowed it down to Persian, Arabic, Turkish.
Spanish interests me, but not as much as learning a non-Romance language does. Swahili and German also captivate me, but I find myself more drawn to the Middle Eastern Languages. Overall, it seems like it's a tight battle between Turkish and Arabic, since Persian doesn't seem to have as many resources. Other than that, it is definitely between these three languages. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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