How to choose the right language to learn

[@fragariasec]

I am from Germany. Learning French for years. 😊 With many interruptions, unfortunately. But I like it. ❤ I speak German, Russian and English 😊.

[@thomasgalgani]

Awesome! The interruptions are normal.

[@jeremiahreilly9739]

Choosing a foreign language to learn is very personal. Native English speaker here. Learned French first (poorly). A bit of Spanish. Next Ancient Greek. Then Latin. German followed. Moved to German speaking Switzerland. For 8 years German is my daily language. Learned modern Greek. Most recently Italian. Just spent 3 weeks in Italy using Italian as my daily language. In fact the holiday would have been impossible without knowing “survival” Italian. Absent another bona fide reason, I would recommend Italian to English speakers. Relatively easy grammar, pronunciation, vocabulary and a great place to visit. Just my 2¢.

[@thomasgalgani]

those are great languages to learn! I agree it is personal, most definitely.

[@christopherellis2663]

Why? When I was there, English was quite sufficient, though I could read Italian ( I have French, Castilian, and Romanian, plus a little Latin

[@jeremiahreilly9739]

@@christopherellis2663 Thanks. Of course, if you have French, Castilian and Roman plus a little Latin you can read Italian. The Italian-French overlap is 80%. You visited a different Italy than I visited. I am an atypical tourist (generally). Almost everywhere in Italy I visited no one spoke English. Like I wrote, choosing a foreign language is very personal. Io cerco la cucina casa linga.

[@1212MrAhmad]

Желаю тебе много успехов и удовольствия в изучении русского языка, Томас. Для меня лично, выучить русский было достаточно нетрудно, потому, что я из Польши, что и помогает и мешает одновременно. Теперь я учу персидский, но это уже другой уровень, язык не похож ни на что, что я до сих пор изучал - и это мне нравится.

[@thomasgalgani]

Спасибо! Это всё здорово

[@charliethechaste]

I am maintaining my Spanish and French while learning German.

[@thomasgalgani]

Excellent!

[@bhutchin1996]

I learned Portuguese to talk to Brazilian women and it was useful in my career too. Nowadays a lot more people learn it.

[@thomasgalgani]

awesome!

[@designergypro2940]

00:04 Choose a language based on personal interest, not external factors. 01:23 Learning a foreign language can change your life and brain forever. 02:39 Discover your motivation and ideal language 03:59 Language skills should provide tangible value to others for sustained learning. 05:16 Financial viability of using a language for a prolonged period is crucial. 06:28 Choose a language that has potential for making money and connects with your life 07:42 Setting a personal vision helps in language learning. 08:56 Four steps to choosing the right language

[@vincenzovinciullo4666]

Hello, this is Vincenzo and I am deaf because of my birth. I love European languages as a passion. I have a big problem with choosing one of them. I have a few knowledge of all European languages and I was so curious what they like. I was studying Czech for less than a week, then change to Slovak for less than a week, then change to German for less than one week, then changes the European languages over and over. I have not study one of them fully. I feel unhappy because I dont know which one I am trying to focus and learn one of them. I have a goal, my dream is about I would like to know Romance languages, Germanic and Slavic languages. I found Slavic languages are very difficult. I am studying Czech but now I have a feeling to change other language. that is my problem! I am trying to stick to one language at a time until I will know fluently. Now I am thinking about one of Romance languages. Spanish or Romanian or Portuguese or French..... I wish to learn all of them at the same time. I know it is impossible to learn them all at the same time. I wish to learn Germanic languages such as Swedish, Dutch, Norwegian or German. I wish to learn Slavic languages, such as Czech, Slovak, Croatian or Polish. I studied Polish last week and I gave it up because of its difficulty. Right NOW, I dont know which I want to learn one at a time. Maybe I am thinking to learn one of Romance language... Portuguese or Romanian or Spanish???? It is very very difficult for me to make a decision to choose one of them. I have very strong passion of the languages since I was younger. I dont know what I can do.. Do you have any idea about my situation? My mother language is English because I was born in Australia. Thank you for reading my interesting story. I hope to hear your helpful advice. Thank you!

[@thomasgalgani]

Hi Vincenzo, thank you for commenting and sharing some of your story. It's hard to say without knowing more about your situation, but I would just commit to the language that you enjoy reading and writing the most. Spanish would likely open up a wider range of opportunities, but again, it depends on where you'll be and what you'd like to do. It's definitely possible to learn multiple languages at once, but if you're worried about difficulty, just commit to one for about a year. It is difficult, but you can do it. Keep up the hard work!

[@rami-sep]

Great video. I’m trying to learn French. 2 of points u shared I don’t have it, that’s why I’m struggling

[@thomasgalgani]

thank you! French is beautiful. If you like it, I'd stick with it.

[@Hoppahoppa1]

Learning Russian for 6 months now. 1 - Beautiful and cool woman, love the culture and history, the biggest country in the world it has 11 time zones 2 - After the war, chaep land, high interest rate, allot of entrepreneur opportunities 3 - already have some friends in Russia that is helping me with learning the language 4 - Nizhny Novogorod Krasnodar region (south Russia) Sint Petersburg Kazan

[@thomasgalgani]

right on! keep it up

[@Vectivius]

are those cities places that you want to visit?

[@vectoranvil]

MONGOLIAN. You can't tell me otherwise.

[@LynxWatcher]

Appreciate this video! Clarified a few things in my mind :-)

[@thomasgalgani]

Glad to hear it!

[@aSnailCyclopsNamedSteve]

repost part 1a2 It's great that you love speakers of that target language so much and see so many possibilities for money there, but is that why you chose that language in the first place?

[@samvel8381]

Thank you so much for the video, I'm in the plateau of choice between several languages, really don't have any personal reasons to learn one just to boost my career as a future translator( have a dream of working in international organisations). Now I speak Russian and Armenian and near to fluency in English. Can't really choose between French, Spanish and German. 😅

[@thomasgalgani]

Thanks for the comment! I'm so glad you found it helpful. I would say it really depends on where you want to live and also what field(s) you'd be translating or interpreting for, but those are all beautiful languages regardless.

[@happyhabitpodcast]

Nice one Thomas !

[@thomasgalgani]

thank you!

[@aSnailCyclopsNamedSteve]

repost part 1a Until you are fluent, how do you know what job opportunities are possible in the target culture? How do you know you even want to speak with anyone in that culture? It's great that you love Russians so much and see so many possibilities for money there, but is that why you chose Russian in the first place?

[@aSnailCyclopsNamedSteve]

repost part 1a1 Until you are fluent, how do you know what job opportunities are possible in the target culture? How do you know you even want to speak with anyone in that culture?

[@thomasgalgani]

To your 1st question: by doing some research and paying attention to what is happening in the world. You'll naturally discover more as you get further along, but there's plenty you can research and consider to start. To your 2nd question: that's one of the reasons behind "step 3" that I cover in the video.

[@aSnailCyclopsNamedSteve]

repost part 2 Colloquial language is different from technical language and from literary language. So, just because you can speak to people on the street does not mean that you can do anything more with the language, and vice versa. People rarely speak using semicolons.

[@aSnailCyclopsNamedSteve]

repost part 3 If your dream location is Springfield, Mo, USA, what does that have to do with your target language if you are a native English speaker? Not everyone who speaks Russian wants to live there. And if you want to really profit from working with Kazaks, learn their language, not Russian. This is similar to wanting to experience real Native American culture, but only in English.

[@aSnailCyclopsNamedSteve]

repost part 1b Money is not the strongest motivation; love is. Not all job requirements require speaking. If you are analysing texts, looking for specific information, there is no need to talk.

[@thomasgalgani]

Love is great motivation, but motivation isn't all the video is about. Also, love falls under the passionate "dreamer" category that I go over in the first step.

[@aSnailCyclopsNamedSteve]

repost part 1b1 Money is not the strongest motivation; love is.

[@aSnailCyclopsNamedSteve]

Repost 1b2 Not all job requirements require speaking. If you are analysing texts, looking for specific information, there is no need to talk.

[@efebayndr888]

Where you from?

[@thomasgalgani]

Sacramento

[@aSnailCyclopsNamedSteve]

repost 12 - forget it

[@aSnailCyclopsNamedSteve]

repost part 1 You have not thought this through. Until you are fluent, how do you know what job opportunities are possible in the target culture? How do you know you even want to speak with anyone in that culture? It's great that you love Russians so much and see so many possibilities for money there, but is that why you chose Russian in the first place? Money is not the strongest motivation; love is. Not all job requirements require speaking. If you are analysing texts, looking for specific information, there is no need to talk.

[@thomasgalgani]

Thank you for posting so many comments. I address your first points above. I'm not sure why you're fixated on talking vs. not talking in the language, as there is a myriad of professional opportunities in all modalities. Being productive and using the language in either written or spoken forms are all valid.

[@aSnailCyclopsNamedSteve]

@@thomasgalgani Just one comment many times, i.e., in many pieces, most of which have apparently disappeared for no apparent reason. So, of course, one piece out of context makes no sense. As to talking. One of the mistakes teachers make is to make language learning uncomfortable and unpleasant. One of those ways is by pushing students to speak before they are ready to do so. Talking requires recall, which is the stage after immediate recognition. So, that means the student has to drill endlessly to reach that level, which is a boring way to learn a language. If you cannot recognise words immediately, then you can say anything you like, but you likely will not understand any of the responses. End of dialogue. Single word questions and answers are communication, but not really fluency. And no one is going to pay you money for such proficiency. Since YT apparently does not want a fuller answer, colour me gone.

[@naturallanguageacquisition]

For me languages are tools so the motivating factors are to do with what I can do with each language. Who can I talk with? What can I read? What audience can I write for? While some people can learn languages for their own sake I speculate most people need some practical application. As you say, for some people being able to make money will be such a practical application. Your point about contacting a native or heritage speaker ties into being interested in the culture. If you have no interest in the culture, media, history and people then you won't spend much time immersing yourself in that language. Great video!

[@thomasgalgani]

Thank you! Definitely - identifying a personal demand and ways to regularly practice it are critical.

[@aSnailCyclopsNamedSteve]

After 10 tries to post and repost a simple text - bye