So here you are, all excited to learn a language but you don’t know which one to choose. The answer to this question will depend a lot of your life, work, leisure pursuits and holiday plans.
Do you have a family connection to a foreign language? Either now or in the past? People like to talk to extended family members and it’s nice to not just rely on them to learn your language. Some people like to learn a historic language in their family’s past to honour their ancestors. Often when a daughter or son marries someone who speaks a foreign language, it can be good to learn this language to speak to your new family members.
Your holiday habits can help you choose a language
What about travelling and go on holiday to places where your language isn’t the dominant one? This opens up a wide variety of options and you can choose something like Spanish, which is spoken as an official language in 21 countries. Or do you have a favourite country, that you love going back to year after year? Italy is a very popular holiday destination in Europe and it would be useful to speak good Italian if you are there frequently. Are you very close to a country with a different language? This can help you decide on for example, French, if you live on the south coast of England.
Think about hobbies and interests when you choose which language to learn. Do you like Kpop? Then it’s Korean for you. Are you fascinated by ancient Chinese history? Then Mandarin would be a good choice. Manga graphic novels from Japan can help you decide on Japanese.
Some people also learn languages, just for the sake of it. The academic exercise is what they like and the mental challenge. This may in fact be a smart strategy as keeping your brain active is thought to reduce your chances of age-related brain ailments in later life. No everyone wants to speak a language either, they may just want to read it. If you love Goethe then you learn to read it in the original German.
There are lots of options for you to take when you decide which language to learn. Discover which one is right for you.