[Polar Bear]

I'm gonna do it...learn a 2nd language. It's on my bucket list and the time has arrived. Now I have to decide which one. I'm not a world traveler or anything. It's mainly just for my own edification. I'm open to suggestions, but I have a couple of thoughts along those lines...

I'd like to take advantage of my knowledge of Latin to learn a modern language. I suppose French, Italian or Spanish might be good. I do plan to travel around the US and Canada. Would any particular language benefit me in those travels?

Anyway, I'll leave it at that for now. Any thoughts?

[tomwed]

Originally Posted by Polar Bear

I do plan to travel around the US and Canada. Would any particular language benefit me in those travels? Any thoughts?

Sign Language?

[Ecuadog]

Spanish is the second most-used language in the US.

[jblum315]

I would say Spanish. Useful and easy to learn especially with your background in Latin. French very difficult and Italian not so useful in U.S and Canada.

[billethkid]

Spanish....potential mandatory second language someday.

[Barefoot]

Originally Posted by Polar Bear

I'm gonna do it...learn a 2nd language.
I do plan to travel around the US and Canada. Would any particular language benefit me in those travels?

French is Canada's second language.
It would be especially helpful if you are planning to spend time in Quebec.
I just returned from the Gaspe Peninsula, a beautiful place.
Even the people who worked in the Tourist Offices spoke only French!

[CWGUY]

I speak English and a little Spanish. I also do profanity and a little sarcasm too.

[Xcuse]

French would be useful if you plan to spend a lot of time in Quebec and/or New Brunswick (English & French are both official languages in N.B.),but French is difficult to learn as very little is pronounced as it is spelled. Spanish on the other hand has no silent letters or variations on how written letters are pronounced and would have a larger geographic area of usefulness.

[2BNTV]

Depends on where of most of your travels take you.

A friend of mine who speaks Spanish fluently says he also learned Japanese, as they are somewhat similar.

I'm no expert but wouldn't Portugese, be another language close to Spanish?

[Polar Bear]

I figured quite a few would recommend Spanish. (And thanks by-the-way.) But I have a question. And I have to be careful. I don't want to offend anybody and I will admit a certain degree of ignorance about something...

When you say to learn Spanish, I assume there are quite a few "variations" of the language. Spanish as spoken in Spain. Spanish as spoken in Mexico. Possibly Cuba. Other countries and regions. Am I mistaken? Is there a generally accepted "standard" Spanish language?

[Chi-Town]

Spanish is probably one of the easiest languages to learn. In high school the books were formal Spanish (Castilian). Probably the same now as it is the least colloquial. 400 million people speak Spanish as their first language which also makes it good to know.

[manaboutown]

Originally Posted by Polar Bear

I figured quite a few would recommend Spanish. (And thanks by-the-way.) But I have a question. And I have to be careful. I don't want to offend anybody and I will admit a certain degree of ignorance about something...

When you say to learn Spanish, I assume there are quite a few "variations" of the language. Spanish as spoken in Spain. Spanish as spoken in Mexico. Possibly Cuba. Other countries and regions. Am I mistaken? Is there a generally accepted "standard" Spanish language?

Go with learning Castillian Spanish which is what is primarily taught in academia. It will get you by anywhere. I learned Spanish in New Mexico while growing up - both in and out of school. It has gotten me by in Spain, in both France and Italy (where occasionally I had to use it when the person with whom I was dealing did not speak English) and all over Mexico and Central America. BTW, Costa Rican Spanish is different. While there one woman got a look of disgust on her face and told me I sounded like a Mexican! I took that as a compliment since I am not a native Spanish speaker. lol.

Once one learns the basics of Spanish or any other language it is helpful to spend some immersion time using the language exclusively for a few weeks. That can be done on an extended stay in a country where the language is spoken. Certain travel companies may specialize in such excursions. When a person starts to think in another language they have got it down. To stay in practice I mosty use Spanish with my gardners, cleaning ladies and other workers I encounter whenever I can. They seem to appreciate it.

[JerryLBell]

Originally Posted by manaboutown

BTW, Costa Rican Spanish is different..

When my wife and I were in Costa Rica, a guide on a birding trip suggested we might want to spend a couple of weeks doing an immersion learning of Spanish. He said that it was also best to do that in Costa Rica as, "We don't have an accent!" It cracked me up that he said that so seriously. Everybody who speaks a widely used language has an accent of some kind!

One other advantage of Spanish is that you can actually use it locally, especially if you like Mexican or Cuban food and go to authentic restaurants run by people from those countries. I don't know how often you'd get to practice French at any restaurants around TV. But then, my own taste in food tends to run more towards Mexican than French, so I could easily be wrong!

[HimandMe]

spanish will not benefit you in Canada but French will especially if in Quebec. The rest of Canada speaks English and the people are friendly and welcoming to everyone. For the long term here in t he US Spanish especially around Miami. Whatever you learn it can be fun and good for the brain.

[l2ridehd]

Learn Spanish and Mandarin and with English you can communicate with 2/3 of the world.