Choosing to learn another language is one of the best decisions a person can make. It gives you the ability to learn about a different culture and make new friends. But with around 6,500 languages out there, how do you know which one to pick? Personally, I know that I want to learn Spanish, Portuguese, and possibly ASL. However, I’ve had a tough time deciding another language to learn. Here are some languages that I have considered learning in the future. Keep in mind that I won’t learn all of them, but videos are included in case you want to get a taste of one or more of the languages. 

Thai

In my previous blog post, I mentioned that I wanted to learn Thai. There are aspects of the language that are fascinating to me. I find the alphabet to be very beautiful. Although no spaces are used between words, the letters come together like a piece of unique writing. There are five tones in Thai. Even so, the pronunciation is pretty, the grammar is simple, and the words are fun to say. While it’s not a commonly spoken language in the U.S. and the world, Thai is still a language I’m thinking about learning for my own curiosity.

Tagalog

Like Thai, Tagalog is a fun language to speak. Unlike Thai, Tagalog consists of the Latin alphabet. It is also the fourth most spoken non-English language in the U.S., with around 1.6 million speakers. I would learn the language to better understand Filipino culture and make Filipino friends. However, one of the hardest parts about learning Tagalog would be finding resources. Some aspects of the language, such as the conjugations, markers, and affixes will be hard for me to understand without proper explanations. The word order will also take some time to get used to, as it is different from English.  Then again, I haven’t committed the language as of now. Many Filipinos speak English. However, Tagalog is a language I would learn not only for its usefulness in America, but also for the love of Filipino culture. 

Persian

Persian is a language that has a rich history, with a beautiful alphabet. It is considered to be a critical language, as there’s a lack of people with Persian language skills. Learning the language would definitely make me a useful asset in the workforce. However, finding resources would be the biggest challenge of learning Persian. I have tried to find a good English/Persian dictionary with Persian pronunciations to learn on my own, but it is a big challenge. If it weren’t for that, I’d pick up Persian in a heartbeat. It would be interesting to learn about Iranian culture. Although it is also spoken in Afghanistan (known as Dari) and Tajikistan (known as Tajik).

Swahili

As an African-American, learning an African language would be a great way to keep in touch with my heritage. Swahili is a language that has its beauty without being colonial. The pronunciation is simple and the conjugations are not too hard to understand. There are a few resources for learning the language, but it’s quite difficult to find resources with Swahili pronunciation. Swahili is spoken in several African countries, such as Tanzania and Kenya. Strangely enough, I used to talk about wanting to go to Tanzania when I was younger. That may be another reason why I might learn the language.

Afrikaans

In contrast to Swahili, Afrikaans is a language with Dutch influences. However, unlike English, it doesn’t contain gender in nouns, and there are also no conjugations by person. It would take some getting used to, but Afrikaans is that simple. It is mainly spoken in South Africa, and while it’s not commonly spoken throughout the globe, it is the fourth most spoken Germanic language in the world. I might would learn this language due to its simplicity and pronunciation. This is another language I would learn just for my own curiosity.

Japanese

I have done projects on Japan and Japanese people before, so I have been interested in Japanese culture for a minute. Japanese seems like a cool language to learn, with the pronunciations not being too hard. However, memorizing Kanji and learning a different word order (Subject-Object-Verb) would be some challenges of learning the language. Nevertheless, I would love to visit Japan someday, and I might choose to pick up the language anyway. Though if I learn it, it won’t be because of anime or manga.

Chinese

As the most spoken language in the world, knowing Chinese would mean having over one billion potential friends. Not to mention, many international students in the U.S. are Chinese. Chinese culture seems super cool and I love Chinese food! However, learning the characters and the pronunciation will be tricky, especially with the tones. There are four tones and tens of thousands of characters, but you could learn a few thousand of them and be functional. I would love to visit China, Taiwan, and Singapore someday, so Chinese is definitely a language I am thinking about learning. 

Korean

Korean culture is gaining more traction, especially with the rise of K-Pop. Korea is also home to brands such as Samsung and Hyundai. What I like about the language is that the alphabet only has 24 letters, so it would be easy to learn the script. However, I have heard that the pronunciation is hard. I don’t find the pronunciation to be that difficult, but then again, I’ve only had a small taste of Korean. And while I’m not a diehard fan of K-Pop, there are a few K-Pop songs that I enjoy. Plus there are several Korean singers that I love, such as Lena Park and So Hyang, both of whom I will talk about in a future blog post.  

Italian

Ahh. Italian. When I think about Italy, I think about the delicious cuisine. That aside, Italian culture is beautiful and has a lot of history. Considering that Italian is a Romance language, the language wouldn’t be too hard to pick up after Spanish, especially due to its proximity to each other in terms of grammar, vocabulary, and word order. There are around 700,000 Italian speakers in the U.S., so I would also learn the language to be able to converse with Italians. Italy seems like a nice place to visit, and I would love to visit the gorgeous cities someday!

Turkish

Despite its word order being subject-object-verb (the word order in English is subject-verb-object), Turkish is a language that would be interesting to learn. Like Persian, Swahili, Japanese, Chinese, and Korean, it is also a critical language. Few people learn Turkish, so this language would make me stand out from the pack. Even past that, I like the words in Turkish, including one of my favorite phrases from any language, “Görüşmek üzere.” That phrase is used when leaving someone, and it translates to “See you soon!” 

Vietnamese

In the past, I have strongly considered learning Vietnamese. I would love to visit Vietnam someday, and Vietnamese has around 1.4 million speakers in the U.S. There are easy aspects of the language, such as simple grammar, no gender, and no articles. However, there are six tones and the pronunciation is really tricky to master. On the plus side, it consists of the Latin alphabet, making it easy to read. I don’t know if I could master Vietnamese pronunciation, but it is still an interesting language to me. 

There are more languages that I have considered learning, but I think I’ll cap this list right here. I love languages and would learn them all if I could, but I plan on only learning five languages. If you’ve made it this far, I would like to thank you for doing so. New articles will be coming soon, so stay tuned for more content. Görüşmek üzere!

Want to know why you should learn a different language? Read my “Why You Should Learn Another Language” article here: https://blog.connectionsacademy.com/learn-another-language/