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So assuming you had all of the free time you wanted, are there any languages you would want to learn fluently? I have three that are at the top of my list,


1. German - Hey, I spent 2 years in high school and 2 years in college learning it so I might as well get back to it and learn it fluently damn it! Es ist nur logisch!


2. Classical Latin - Yeah I know this is an odd pick but I want to be able to read Caesar's Commentaries and the Gallic War in the original prose. Plus I want to know what my agents and armies are saying in TW: Rome 2 when I give them orders.


3. Japanese - I've always been fascinated by Japanese history and culture and I would be able to watch all of my Kurosawa films sans subtitles!

Russian, Chinese, Polish and Italian.

The first two because they would allow me a better perspective into those parts of the world. The second two because those are the roots of my parents.

Latin here too. But all dead Mediterranean languages are interesting to me. From Summer to Egyptian to Phoenician.

Modern languages, Japanese and Russian. The first because it's cool, and the later because RRRRusia I guess. No idea, but I like cold weather.

Maybe by speaking Russian you can woo one of those stereotypical hot Russian babes?

Oh, and please mention only real human languages so no Klingon, High Valerian, Huttese, etc.

hmmm... I haven't considered that! What sort of babe would I be able to bag by speaking Phoenician? None whatsoever, but Russian...

All of them.




The Jedi Master

Japanese

I would like to watch Twilight Samurai, After the Rain, Harakiri etc. without subtitles. Most importantly, catch the real essence of the conversations. I understand a bit of Japanese and can catch how some phrases are translated "roughly"

I think I'd like to learn to speak....



...mmm....oh.

Apache.

To be able to fly the Mig-31 Firefox you'll only need to think in Russian.

I need to get back to this (and other learning aids I've purchased)...



Wife thought it was a really cool nerdy project I came up with for us to learn how to read and write in another language (like I've really mastered English...lol). We even made flash cards and bought Russian tea cup holders and glasses! Then the family budget went to crap and I realized we're likely not going to Norway/Russia for our 30th, so I lost interest.

I was starting to feel it again recently until SimHQ destroyed my Soviet/Cold War Music board thread! Bad server my ass! Those Imperialist Capitalistic Pigs!

Language was my weak point at school. I failed miserably at French and German.Mind you I didn't do that well in English. I think I did better with Latin,although at the time I did wonder what use I could put it to

On-topic... Italian,maybe German again just to learn those really long words that the Germans seem so keen on.

*edit* Oh yeah and Russian so I can understand what's said in all those Russian dash-cam videos.

Reading "Red Storm Rising", "Doghouse" and "Beagle" communicating via satellite, pronouncing all those crazy long names of cities and towns in Iceland. Would the US military really learn how to pronounce them properly and in their entirety as in the book, or would they come up with an easier shortened form?

Cherokee, as far as i know the only Native American language with a deep written heritage. The Eastern Band, here in Western N.C.have overcome many hardships.

I am fairly fluent in Russian, speak limited Spanish. My current choices -- which I'm not gonna do because I'm too old to start that -- would be fluent Spanish and Arabic.

From a purely practical standpoint - Spanish. I live in California. It is unbelievable how many jobs want you to be bilingual in English and Spanish here.

But from a curiosity standpoint I'd say French. I think it sounds gay when men speak it, but when a WOMAN speaks French I find it to be beautiful sounding. I guess maybe there'd be a practical interest there too (being able to speak with a French speaking woman).

I live on the other coast and I see the same needs for being able to speak Spanish. If I were still in the job market, it would be number one on my list, just for practical reasons.

I took four years of French in high school. That was 31 years ago, and although I've lost a lot of it I think I could survive in a French location and get by. I'm sure it would all come back if I studied again.

I would really love to learn German. My wife is half German and we visit her mother who IS German in Pennsylvania...it would be handy. However, my wife was brought up in an English household, and even though she picked up some from her mother and took a year or two in high school...she knows very little German. More than me, but not a whole lot more...lol.

Before I went to Slovakia for a month this summer I learned a few key words and phrases through Google Translate, and was surprised that I got by. Pivo Prosim (beer please) was a big one that worked every night. The people were very friendly and helpful (especially after a few pivos) so it made it easy to learn a bit more and have a good time. BTW, I fell in love with Slovakia.

I wouldn't even attempt it.

I was raised by native German speakers who had English as a second language....

....and never managed to learn to speak German.

Sure, a few words and phrases, but it's nothing close to even conversational.

I am super monolingual.