Which foreign language...?

Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:

I took French because I live in Canada in the summers.  Dumb idea.  Learning French and then going somewhere they speak Quebecois is like learning British English and then going to Oklahoma.  Remarkably different languages.  Only thing it did for me was help me read road signs in Quebec.

Heh. A bit like learning (high) German and then moving to rural Bavaria. I grew up close to Bavaria and there are areas there where I need subtitles to follow what the locals are saying.

In reply to BoxheadTim :

The Newfie accent can be like that.

I had to apologize and ask a customer to send an e-mail instead because I couldn't understand them. 

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

Every Spanish speaker thinks this until they go to Brazil. 

Languages taught in schools will never make you speak like a native because the textbook is "most correct form" which no one uses.

In reply to stroker :

I echo the sentiment that the choice should be whatever your student has an interest in. If a choice has to be made, Spanish would be most useful in the US.

Whatever they find interesting, or can make use of.

BoxheadTim said:

Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:

I took French because I live in Canada in the summers.  Dumb idea.  Learning French and then going somewhere they speak Quebecois is like learning British English and then going to Oklahoma.  Remarkably different languages.  Only thing it did for me was help me read road signs in Quebec.

Heh. A bit like learning (high) German and then moving to rural Bavaria. I grew up close to Bavaria and there are areas there where I need subtitles to follow what the locals are saying.

YES!  Y'all are weird.  Driving from Munchen to Rosenheim is like a different language, then cross the border to Austria and it's like people suddenly talk correctly, but wearing Lederhosen in public is considered normal.

Like try ordering a "Hoiwe" in Dusseldorf.  Only way you're getting half a beer is if the bartender is a transplant from Augsburg.... or really old.

Turbo_Rev said:

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

Every Spanish speaker thinks this until they go to Brazil. 

Even worse because my Spanish was learned in L.A.  I had a neighbor from Portugal that I could usually understand, but Brasil is the Quebecois of South America to my ears.

Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:

Spanish will let you fake Portuguese to an extent.  You can at least communicate between the two if you use context and similarly-rooted words.

Mandarin would be a great one to learn.  Hindi is highly represented, but Hindi-speaking areas typically have excellent English training.

The advice I would give to a high schooler is to go with the one that offers them the most support in learning it.  Foreign languages are Hard, and yet a certain amount of it is required for college application.  So I'd suggest taking the one that his friends are taking, that he has the most local native speakers to practice with, or that has the most content he's interested in that's available in that language.  Otherwise it simply becomes a bunch of boring rote memorization.

The honest truth is that HS language classes are not that great of a way to learn a language. They tend to be more of a filler material towards a diploma. If a good GPA is the end goal, then Spanish is the answer cause it is the easiest to ace and you will be able to order beer in Mexico.

If you are serious about a new language, look ahead to a country that you might want to live in in the future. Go ahead and take the HS class cause why not, but figure out how to do a semester abroad where you can immerse yourself in the language. That is how my daughter ended up learning Korean and living in Korea. Its actually kinda funny listening to her speak Korean cause she obviously is not.

Mormons are best known for it but other, church Missionary opportunities exist and most people that I have met who pursued this part of their faith come back bilingual and a lot growed up.

Turbo_Rev said:

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

Every Spanish speaker thinks this until they go to Brazil. 

Yup. At brewing school we had a couple Brazillian students, a couple Spaniards, and one Portuguese lab assistant. All speaking middle or upper-middle class, formally educated, versions of their native languages.

The Brazillians could understand almost everything the Spaniards were saying, but the Spaniards were frequently confused by the Brazillian.

The Brazillian and Portuguese enjoyed having someone in Berlin who shared their language, although frequent the Portuguese lab assistant would be kind of "WTF?" about pronunciation, sland, and phraseology used by the Brazillians.

Beer Baron 🍺 said:

Turbo_Rev said:

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

Every Spanish speaker thinks this until they go to Brazil. 

Yup. At brewing school we had a couple Brazillian students, a couple Spaniards, and one Portuguese lab assistant. All speaking middle or upper-middle class, formally educated, versions of their native languages.

The Brazillians could understand almost everything the Spaniards were saying, but the Spaniards were frequently confused by the Brazillian.

The Brazillian and Portuguese enjoyed having someone in Berlin who shared their language, although frequent the Portuguese lab assistant would be kind of "WTF?" about pronunciation, sland, and phraseology used by the Brazillians.

Brazil used to be one of my break destinations way back when I was doodlebuging in Nigeria on a 7 week-on 4 week-off schedule.  I assure you that a Spanish speaker can get along just fine in Brazil if they are there to spend $$$ and have a goo time.

As a person who speaks Spanish, I agree about Portuguese being frustrating because it is so close but yet so different. However, if the two parties are willing to work at it, it is not a huge problem.

If you are looking for easy language adoption starting with Spanish, I would look over to Italian. At least at a reading level, I find it quite easy. Sadly, at 65 my ears are done picking up new languages.