I'm considering learning a different language to mastery. I was wondering, in your opinion, what language would be most important to learn in today's world, and why? I have considerable skill in the Spanish language already (bilingual), so that one is out. Thank you for reading.
127444
Having English and Spanish down, you're pretty good.  I would recommend Chinese because it is obviously an up and coming nation that will have a huge global influence on everything from politics to trade to just about everything.  If not Chinese, I would look into Arabic for similar reasons (spanning a variety of countries).  Either will make you incredibly marketable!
226189
by the look of your avatar, you don't exactly like in the middle of kansas, miss nyc chick. you couldn't be in a better place to learn spanish, yet people on the post are telling you to take classes for a language spoken by the largest growing minority...... ummmmmm...... think about that. go stand on 125th street(that's pronounced "a hun-twunnie fiff stree" for non new yorkers) and see how quickly you will learn spanish. the point is, submerge yourself with spanish on purpose. lee las periodicas, y mira las noticias en la manana mientras esta haciendo desayuno, todo!! ya kno
642828
Hi!  Besides the obvious fact that learning Spanish as a second language opens up a huge door in communicating with many more people in the world, I found that learning Spanish as a second language was easy, fun, and gave me a ton of confidence.  When I travel to parts of the world that speak Spanish, I get a lot more respect from the people who live there because I have chosen to learn to speak a language other than my native English.  Speaking Spanish -- or any second language, for that matter -- makes you feel part of another community other than your own.  Also, there is a certain aspect of speaking another language that makes you think differently.  Each language carries with it is own culture, and in that its own way of thought.  That might be difficult to understand, but once you have a mastery of a language, you will learn what I mean by this.  I wish you luck!!
667126
I am learning Italian and I think that it's not so hard. If you know spanish (which is mixed in with italian) And if you have a person to practice with so that you both can help eachother. That makes it easier. As for it being just out right easy or hard I would say that it depends on how much effort you put into really learning. Anyone can learn a new language though, You are worth as many people as languages you know.
367930
I'd have to go with everyone else and say Spanish (although, I'm hardly a business person, so I don't know how useful Mandarin would be). However, there is one language that no one else mentioned that I would really like to learn: Sign Language. Other useful languages could be French (If you live in the northeast or New Orleans area) and Italian. One of the nice things about Spanish, Italian, and French is that once you are competent with one of these languages, the other two are much easier to read because they are all Latin based.
156923
I believe that English was the language used when our country was founded and should continue to stay our "official" language. I think if we start by adding Spanish as an official language it is unfair to all of the other immigrants who reside here. we cannot possibly cater to all. products and packaging being printed in other languages is the decision of the manufacturer, not law makers. If we are going to print documents in Spanish, shouldn't it be printed in every language for everyone? Could you imagine a group of Americans in Mexico or even Germany and demanding that they do everything in English because we can't understand the language? Of course not. It's a ludicrous idea. All of our ancestors came from many places all over the globe. When they arrived, they had to learn the language and follow the rules already in progress. they didn't demand we cater to their disabilities. So why is it different now? This is a land who welcomes all with open arms. Stop trying to force them behind Miss Liberty's back.
272727
I would take Spanish. It will be much more helpful in travel, especially if you want to travel to Mexico, Central America, South America, or Spain. It is a fairly easy language to pick up on as the conjugations of verbs generally follow a pattern and it is easy to pronounce once you learn the vowel sounds.
30285
English is the offical language... but this being a free country they do not require you to learn it... it would go against certin rights if they required it... but I do agree with you that everyone should need to know at least the basics... I hate being asked "ah spanish?"\n\nGets very nerve racking....
478140
If I should limit myself to only one language it would be probably Arabic, it is very challenging. And of course, to improve my Spanish.\nHave a nice time!
373392
G'day Dave,\n\nThank you for your question.\n\nYou might want to look at enrolling in adult education classes for the languages.\n\nHowever, the BBC offers good language resources in both German and Spanish.\n\nI attach sources for your reference.\n\nRegards
241632
Living Language is a good company to use. I have Spanish and Japanese learning course. They are very easy to use and to understand. Here is there web site to check out.\n\nhttp://www.randomhouse.com/livinglanguage/
666276
u can learn portughese!! it's pretty similar to spanish!! // italian sounds good too/ FRENCH  it's like HARD GURL!! so stick to those 2!!:)
109899
I grew up speaking English and I have at various times tried to learn Spanish, Italian, Latin, German, and Hebrew.  In my opinion, Spanish was the easiest and German was the hardest.
28848
Spanish:\nAs a 40 something Engineer, I have found that I should have learned Spanish instead of German. Why because many of the operators in the plants that I have worked are Mexican Americans.
175061
I've been learning Japanese for two years now and have a Jpanaese girlfriend and I still can't string a sentence together.  It's hard but not impossible, but unless your really good at learning languages I'd go for Spanish, which is a beautiful language anyway.
388518
The question is whether those who live here and didn't have expensive ESL education, making them bilingual in Spanish and English, should be expected or required to have any knowledge of that language.\n\nMany would like to be bilingual, but when I went through the LAUSD I could choose French, German or Spanish as my language (I chose French).  Now the program cuts are so severe, our children are only offered Spanish, if that, and many aren't interested in learning Spanish.
437509
What a weird thing to say! This person that told you about the "basics of Spanish" doesn't make sense to me =( \n\nI guess the 'basics' of a language could be the 500 most used words plus all grammar (however you might define grammar..). Then the rest of the words would be easier to learn. The thing with language is that it's hard to say what is the most important thing to know. If you look at vocabulary and grammar, just one out of these two won't get you very far. I guess for tourists it's most important to know some basic sentence structures with some loose words to fill in ("Do you know where the [toilet/hotel/museum/restaurant] is?"). Still, that doesn't mean you know a language. I guess for Italians it would be like that, though. If they knew the basic differences between their own language and the Spanish language, they would probably find Spanish quite easy. This doesn't go for English and Spanish, though. English is a Germanic language, Spanish is a a Romanic language. They are too different.\n\nSo.. unless Spanish has some secret code to it, I don't know what the person was thinking.