What language should I learn first?

I'm interested in learning languages, but I cannot pick one to stick with first. I have the resources to learn Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and German. I want to learn every one of them, but I cannot pick one to study first. I realize that learning a language takes a lot of time and hard work, so I want to devote my time to one.

I want to learn Italian, because I'm mostly likely going to study abroad there in college, and someday maybe live there.

I've studied Spanish and it's O.K., but it's a useful language to know. I live in the USA

Portuguese is nice to know because I'd like to visit Brazil someday

My ancestors are of German descent, and I'd also like to visit Germany someday. That's why I picked German.

(I'm already taking French as a high school class)

Any of your experience, advice, or input would be great!

Thanks! Grazie! Gracias! Obrigado! Danke!

If you want to study Italian, the answer is easy.

Anyway, you are American. We don't know your State, but some of them are becoming bilingual in Spanish and English. We don't know which kind of studies you want to choose in Italy, but you can study also in Spain.

why are u learning French? makes you sound like a loser.

If you intend to study in Italy, then I think Italian is the obvious choice. You have to get your Italian in a University-level, which might take time.

I will go with Italian if you are pretty sure you want to go and study in Italy. Once you have mastered Italian, you can go on and easily study Spanish.

Once you know Spanish, Portuguese will be easier to learn. German you can still learn once you have mastered Italian.

You should learn Spanish if you live in an area where there are Spanish speakers. It will increase your chances of actually doing something with your languages. Plus, some schools would probably be glad to have a teacher that speaks both French and Spanish if you need a back-up job
for awhile.

I speak French, but I probably use Spanish more. I can manage a conversation in German, but rarely use it.

As for the Romance languages: I recommend you to learn WELL one Romance language, whichever you choose, before beginning to learn the other one. Also, don't learn two Romance languages in parallel. I'm studying German and I find so disturbing the English false friends that I can't imagine being an English speaker and learning Spanish and Italian at the same time, unless you want to end up learning a Spanish-Italian hybrid language.

I learned French and Spanish at the same time and I didn't find it confusing. I think these two languages are far enough apart. Spanish and Portuguese are very close, but they sound different. Anyway, if someone is young enough, or experienced enough, why not. I've yet to meet anyone who speaks all of the Scandinavian languages, but probably such a person exists.

Try to learn German and Dutch at the same time. I still have problems not mixing my native thing in German. Very annoying. Do Iberians also have this when learning another Iberian Romance language?

How come you think different than me K.? You and me are the same person, remember!

<<I've yet to meet anyone who speaks all of the Scandinavian languages, but probably such a person exists.>>

Does this include the small regional languages and the very different ones like Icelandic and Faroese? I know Scandinavian often exclude the latter two because they're too far removed to be confusable.

I already took a Spanish class, and I haven't mixed it up with French which I'm currently taking. I didn't find Spanish to be my liking. I'm not sure if it was the class or teacher. I think I will end up learning Italian first, especially if I will eventually live there.

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Fuck Spanish, why feel forced to learn Spanish just because your country is being invaded by illegal Mexicans, most of which you probably wouldn't want to converse with anyway - you wouldn't talk to bums in English, so why learn Spanish?

I'm sick of these communists who spout BS about how we should all learn the language of the race that makes up the biggest proportion of illegal immigrants in our countries.

<<Fuck Spanish, why feel forced to learn Spanish just because your country is being invaded by illegal Mexicans, most of which you probably wouldn't want to converse with anyway - you wouldn't talk to bums in English, so why learn Spanish?>>



Dear Guestuser,


First, you are VERY lucky to have a lot of illegal Mexicans in your country.

For example, in France there are a lot of illegal radical Arabics and smelly radical Blacks. Remember that almost all blacks from Africa are also muslims. So, there are a lot of problems with them, that you don't have and even you don't imagine.


Secondly, if you don't have a lot of Latinos in your country, you wouldn't have Jennifer Lopez, Cameron Diaz, Jessica Alba or Christina Aguilera.

So, imagine that a pretty Latin girl lives next door and she only speaks Spanish...


Finally, Spanish is probably the second most important language in USA, but also in the World. So, if you are bilingual you can have a better job, travel to a lot of countries or at least to be a teacher.