A hypothetical situation about languages...?

[Sammi]

Want to learn another language, but don't have the time, or don't have the resources, or are just too lazy (like Sam over here)? Well, you're in luck! That guy over there has an awesome magic spell that lets you learn a language in an instant! And for free, too! What luck! ...I guess. Why? I don't know, maybe you saved his dog or something. *shrugs*

Anyway, silly buildup aside,
If you could instantly become fluent in one language, which one would you choose?

For me, I'd probably go with German myself. Sure, I already know some of it, but it's a hypothetical situation, shhh. :p I just like the language and enjoyed learning it very much, and if I had a chance to become fluent, I'd take it. Japanese is a very close second, though, because I lived there four years on a US air base and I still only know a handful of words. It was a real shame I never got to take a formal class on it. And yes, won't deny that I'd probably import video games if I could understand what was going on in Japanese. Despite that, though, I'd probably still choose German. Maybe. Who knows?

 

[Captain Hobo.]

I don't really want to learn any other language, but if any Spanish.

 

[PlatinumDude]

I don't like to learn new languages, but if I had to choose, it'd be Tagalog because I'm Filipino, and I'm expected to speak that language.

 

[Charizard★]

Japanese. I'm already fluent in Gujarati, English and Spanish :D

 

[Eliminator Jr.]

Definitely Japanese. I went to Japan for a few days the year before last and it was an awesome place. The people were nice and everything, the only problem was I couldn't communicate and navigate my way around well. I wouldn't mind living there so knowing the language would come in handy. Also, there's some really good non-J-pop bands over there, like alternative math-rock sort of bands (not typical asian music, because that's not really my thing), and many either sing in Japanese or if they're instrumental have song titles in Japanese and I'd like to be able to understand them. Oh, and obviously for being able to play Pokémon games before they're released in English.

 

[Aquacorde]

I'd like to be fluent in German. It is a major European language, and part of my heritage or something. Or possibly Japanese, just so I could import games and actually know what is going on in them.

 

[WonderGirl]

I'm not sure, but probably Japanese. I also want to speak Italian, but since I already speak French and Portuguese fluently, Italian is pretty easy ^_^

 

[Idiot!]

English, of course. It's the hardest language to learn. Seriously.

 

[Zeffy]

Japanese. I'unno, it just makes watching animé (not dubbed nor subbed) easier, aaand for the fact that I like their language. :>

 

[Stellar]

Japanese, even though I'd prefer to learn Italian. Italian has Latin roots while Japanese doesn't, and therefore I'd expect it to be a lot easier to learn on my own.

 

[Rogue planet]

German because it's the most widely spoken language in Europe, apart from English. I expect I could talk with people in German in the nations surrounding Germany aswell, so I'd pick it just because it has a little more variety than just allowing me to communicate with others in Germany. I'd like to learn Norwegian or Danish, but I doubt either of them are used much anywhere other than the country of origin, so I wouldn't choose them.

Russian and French are also options I'd consider.

 

[Chatot Lover]

Awesome thread.

It's nice, how there are some people on this board, who would choose German, as it's my native language. (Although I find English a lot easier than German haha.)

Well, if I could instantly become fluent in a language, I would probably choose Japanese. I just love the sound of the words and I'd like to live there for some years to learn about the culture etc. Of course, it would also come in handy for watching anime/importing games.
If I had to pick a different one, I'd say Spanish.

 

[Esper]

I'm seeing a pattern in the responses here.

It would be tempting to pick something crazy like a dead language, just because I could, but I think I'll be unoriginal and say Japanese. I've studied it long enough that I think I could convince myself that I earned it even it was by magic.

Seriously, it's a hard language.

 

[Jack O'Neill]

I'd like to be fluent in Spanish again, for a start. Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, Tagalog, and Ilokano are close seconds.

 

[jujuju]

That's easy. Latin. It makes you seem a lot smarter than you really are. Impresses the ladies. It does it all. Won't really help you talk to people in foreign countries, but really I have gotten by pretty well so far with just English.

 

[Arcanine]

As long as I don't lose my very very poor understanding of English... I'd go with Japanese.
I like anime, would love to import some games from Japan, and would love to read some of the untranslated manga. I don't have a "real world use", but since I watch a good bit of anime it'd really help out.

 

[leogrecchi]

Probably i'd pick Japanese or Chinese, i'm still not sure
first one, for the same "otaku-like" reasons already stated above. Chinese, in the other hand, will probably be as much as important as English in the next ten years, and it seems to be very difficult

 

[poopnoodle]

korean or punjabi would be fun to know for the letter structure, but since i already know basic spanish and it's necessary to have some background in it for my job, i'd consider spanish. but fluency in sign language would be very useful (for my work life and personal life), so that would be my first choice.

 

[Melody]

Definitely Japanese. I do love the language, and I'd be able to better understand untranslated anime, manga, and such.

Not to mention, I'd actually have a use for the written side of it, because then I could write things in Japanese...which would be pretty cool in my opinion.

 

[Zebeedoo]

I'd chose japanese. So I could understand new PKMN game releases and import them instead of waiting months for them to come out here. D: And plus, Japanese is a pretty cool language.