if you had the time, money, energy, patience and capability

[momophile]

what foreign language would you like to learn and why?
:shrug:

[Writer]

1. As many as I can... at least all the Romance languages.

Language is the most beautiful aspect of a culture.

[momophile]

2. languages are beautiful

and very interesting.
:hi:

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. The more unusual ones:

Gaelic, Basque, Finnish, Pashtun, Hungarian, that sort of thing.

[momophile]

6. if Finnish is anything like their last names

that would be cool.
:hi:

[TroubleMan]

8. On Finnish start here:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=VakjZqso8Ik

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

12. ...

:rofl:

[TroubleMan]

20. Oh there's more:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaU-Z-jUQXM

[Aristus]

15. Finnish is a linguistic mystery.

Finland borders on Sweden and Russia, but their language is completely un-related to either Swedish or Russian.

Finnish's closest lingual relative is Hungarian. And Hungary is nowhere near Finland.

It's a mystery...

[TroubleMan]

4. I would relearn Japanese, and I would learn Spanish - and then maybe French.

In 1996 I could hold a conversation in Japanese - not well - but I could do it. Now, I hardly remember any of it.

I know lots of Spanish, and listen to a lot of Spanish music (merengue, salsa, and bachata), but I don't fully understand it on a conversational level. I can read it okay, but when somebody speaks it to me I get lost.

[momophile]

9. I plan on taking some Spanish when my daughter starts

taking it in preschool - maybe next year. I know she will pass me quickly, but I'd like to at least try to keep up.
:hi:

[TroubleMan]

11. My daughter is 21 months, and we have her learning some Spanish words.

The daycare she goes to is run by a Latin American women and she helps them in Spanish and English. Down here in South Florida it's exceptionally useful to know Spanish, but it's also a gift that she can use for her whole life (assuming we can pull it off).

[momophile]

13. that's so wonderful

it's really common now for the little ones to learn Spanish. what an amazing idea! just think where we would all be if we had all learned another language as pre-schoolers and kept with it.

[driver8]

22. My daughter is in a Spanish immersion kindergarten. Her day is

taught 90% in Spanish and she is learning it quickly! My wife's sister speaks fluent Spanish and she was blown away by how much my daughter has learned since school started. My daughter will be fluent (reading, writing and speaking) by third grade.

I am planning on taking a "conversational Spanish" class at the local Community College.

I have to keep up with my daughter!!

[TroubleMan]

24. At that age they can pick up languages much more quickly than in later years.

Their brains are wired for learning language(s). I want to try that with my daughter if it's available.

[driver8]

27. When I was a kid, I lived in Panama with my family. (Father career military).

My Mom also worked so my sister and I had a nanny. The nanny spoke almost no English so she would speak to us in Spanish. My mother told me that when we left Panama, my sister and I could chat with our nanny in Spanish. I wish I could speak it, now. I remember that most of the television we watched was in Spanish, also.

Our daughter has informed us that she now wants to learn Chinese...

[fizzgig]

5. french

i think it's such a beautiful language

i would also brush up (a lot) on my spanish

[momophile]

10. I almost minored in French but I was just shy of the credits

now, ten years later, I can hardly remember a thing. such a shame.
:hi:

[GreenPartyVoter]

7. I tried teaching myself Irish once. I would give it another go, perhaps.

[zingaro]

14. Ancient Greek.

And I'd brush up on my Latin as well.

Because I would love to read original texts as opposed to translations. :)

[momophile]

21. one of my grandpas did that so that he could read

the Bible.

[Omphaloskepsis]

16. Icelandic..

Because I love Iceland and really want to go back. Damn you Iceland for being so expensive.

[momophile]

53. it would be so cool

to show up in a country and know the local language.
:hi:

[Tuesday Afternoon]

17. Greek, Latin, German, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese,French and

Russian...I think that would do it.

[momophile]

34. that's quite a list!

I'd just be happy learning one well.
:hi:

[sakabatou]

18. Nihongo da

Kakuii desu ne?

[KitchenWitch]

19. Thai, so I could know when my MIL is bad mouthing me.

[momophile]

35. I'd like to know another language so I could bad

mouth my MIL!
:hi:

[KitchenWitch]

58. I could learn Spanish for that!

:hi:

:D

[Mutley]

23. To start

I'd further perfect my knowledge of the English language. Then I'd start in on Gaelic.

Then Japanese.

And the Romance languages, of course.

[momophile]

36. Japanese would be cool to know

but I wouldn't want to have to write it - that seems so hard!
:hi:

[Flaxbee]

25. Initially, French and German

because I began to study French in jr. high and have never become fluent and that just feels like a personal failing (I think I'd need to live in France for a while to really have it all sink in) and German, because some of it just cracks me up ("funf" for the number five just causes me no end of merriment, I love to say it, along with fun stuff like farvegnugen from the old VW ads...) and I figure any language that can make me laugh would be fun to learn). Plus, my mom's German ancestors made harpsichords, and my dad's German ancestors were bakers in Bavaria. So - just family history, I guess.

[momophile]

39. I too started French in jr. high

and I even did a summer abroad in France in college and I still never was any good at it and it is a personal failing for me. I'm just not that good at learning languages.
:hi:

[Connonym]

26. Latin and Klingon :-P

because I'm a dork

[momophile]

40. Latin would be useful

Klingon would be useful in certain situations - like stuck at StarCon?
:hi:

[bluethruandthru]

28. Norwegian

So I can move there!

[momophile]

41. I like how the Scandinavian languages sound

then there is always moving there...
:hi:

[ElsewheresDaughter]

29. Mandarin Chinese

[momophile]

42. ooooohhhhh

I'm so scared of Chinese. but it would be useful and open a lot of doors.
:hi:

[_testify_]

30. Cantonese and/or Mandarin

I think it's so different from Latin-based language that it would really give me a mental workout.

[momophile]

44. you've got that right!

my sister was learning one of them - I can't remember which one. she was struggling with the pitches (who wouldn't?).

give it a try!
:hi:

[Crazy Dave]

31. It takes hard work and patience but not a lot of money

There's free online courses for nearly every language. We're currently studying Spanish and changing the language or subtitles on DVD's of movies we know well to help learn better.

[momophile]

45. I wish there would have been DVDs when I studied French

it would have made it easier, or at least more fun.

I'm looking forward to attempting Spanish with my daughter because of all the aids out there now.
:hi:

[Crazy Dave]

51. From this point on we're just learning how to be fluent....

...and to understand what people are saying versus proper sentence structure and those BS phrases they teach in lessons like "how fast can your turtle walk?".

[GirlinContempt]

32. Chinese languages

I already have some others under my belt, I think mandarin or something would be an actual challenge. The tones and stuff, eek.

[momophile]

46. that's great!

I regret not mastering any yet. but I don't think I'd ever attempt Mandarin.

are you going to try?
:hi:

[GirlinContempt]

56. I may, someday.

Not now, that's for sure :D

[kentauros]

33. Farsi

because I love Persia :D (mostly for storytelling... ;) )

I think rosettastone.com teaches it, too

[momophile]

47. I need to look up rosettastone.com - I've heard the commercials

enough.

how cool would it be to walk in a Persian restaurant and order in Farsi?!

go for it!
:hi:

[kentauros]

49. I think Houston has at least two Persian restaurants

so I could easily do such a thing :D
I regularly eat at a little Palestinian cafe so I hear Arabic often. My dental hygenist is even from Azerbaijan :)

[av8rdave]

37. I really should get conversational in Spanish

I travel to Mexico frequently, Venezuela occasionally, and there are a lot of Spanish speakers in my area.

[momophile]

50. Spanish makes the most sense for me too

plus it could open doors at work.

I'm going to try next year when my daughter starts taking it.
:hi:

[Rambis]

38. Gaelic

Scottish first then the Irish- I ove the sound of it and maybe I could talk to some of our relatives.

[momophile]

52. Gaelic is a popular answer

sounds like lots of people in the homeland would be proud.
:hi:

[Coyote_Bandit]

43. None

I have learned to focus my efforts on acquiring skills and information where I am most likely to succeed. In the past my efforts to learn languages, music theory and even math have been very difficult due to a learning disability. I wish I had better abilities in these areas but I don't. No need to set myself up for further frustration and failure. I admire and envy folks that can communicate in multiple languages.

[momophile]

48. that's why I put 'capability' in the OP

because I too struggle learning languages. actually, I suck at it. I haven't found a way to learn one fluently yet. I even lived in another country for over two years and never got it down. mostly I just learned the swear words. I know exactly how you feel.
:hi:

[Coyote_Bandit]

54. I have a friend that moved to another country

without being able to speak the language. Quit her job. Sold most of her stuff. After six weeks in an immersion program she was functional in the language. After a year she was working as a translator. She now translates about 30 regional and tribal dialects. She has no idea how much I envy her language abilities. I've tried. Really I have. I'm only semi fluent in swear words.

[skygazer]

55. Russian

There's something about Russian... it's such an expressive language.

[no name no slogan]

57. Catalán

or possibly a Roma (Gypsy) language, like Caló.