How to Decide Which Foreign Language to Learn

Learning a foreign language provides many benefits and it has been truthfully said that leaming another language in the English-speaking world is rarely something that is even taken into consideration. In other cases, people find it necessary to learn a particular language due to emigrating to another country or other reasons. For those who simply want to broaden their horizons by leaming another language, but do not know which one to start learning, there are some considerations to take into account.

Learning another language requires a great deal of time, willpower, and dedication. For English speakers, choosing another Indo-European language will generally be far easier than getting started with something completely different such as a Semitic, Turkic, or Asian language. 

Spanish

For many people, especially in the United States, Spanish is one of the more obvious first choices. Spanish is a major second language in many regions of the USA. In addition to this, it is also the language of most of South and Central America and Spain itself. Spanish is also a relatively easy language to leam for English speakers. Its spelling and pronunciation are very regular and easy to get to grips with. Its grammar is easier than many other languages as well. Good knowledge of Spanish can be your passport to many other places in the world. In fact, Spanish is more widely spoken as a first language than English!

French

Until recently, French has long been mandatory in education in the United Kingdom. It is still a very important and popular language. French is a major world language holding a similar status in terms of importance to Spanish. 

German

German is not only almost universal in Germany and Austria itself, but it is also widely spoken in Switzerland and used as a second language by many people in other Central and Eastern European languages. Unlike Spanish and French, however, native German speakers are generally far more likely to have a reasonable command of English. German looks more daunting to learn than it really is. Since it is one of the closest living relatives to English, learning German is certainly one of the easier choices.

Russian

Russian is another major European language spoken by more than 250 million people including those who speak it fluently as a second language. It also covers a vast geographical range consisting of many countries other than Russia itself. Russian is almost universal in Russia and is also widely spoken in many Central Asian and Eastern European countries.  Leaming Russian rarely provides the level of benefits afforded by learning one of the languages mentioned above, however, unless you have specific business or travel interests in which the language is necessary.

Those considering something more challenging, there are certainly challenges to be faced! The above examples are ideal for those who want to leam an important world language that is not one of the more complicated.

Ultimately, the most important language in the world is the one where your business is or where you are located. For those simply interested in learning a foreign language solely for the challenge, those requirements are not of so much concern.

Other major languages that cover extremely large geographical ranges include Arabic, Chinese, Portuguese, Dutch, and Italian. If you are looking for something more obscure, looking at a map of Europe, for example, will be very insightful. If you are eager to learn any foreign language you can enroll in various foreign language schools in Dubai.