If you know how to read Russian, then you likely can read certain Greek words and know what they mean due to the Russian alphabet borrowing heavily from Greek.

Another funny thing, knowing German helped reading & pronouncing Old English stuff like Canterbury Tales less daunting task.

Learning a language takes discipline. I found it easy to learn French because I was studying it at school and at college. I have a lot of books and materials for teaching myself other languages, but I find it hard to discipline myself to learn regularly.

My screenwriting is different, perhaps because I am expending creative energy rather than trying to process and remember information.

I still really want to learn them all though, so I think I should be tougher on myself, or try different methods of learning.

I really enjoy your blog, John :) This was the first post I read when I found your blog and I was really excited to be reading a blog by someone who is passionate about both screenwriting and languages :)

Nice to meet you, John!

I have never used it, and the places that speak spanish are all pretty low on the list of where I’d like to visit. I’m just not a fan of the language.

Personally, I favor french/italian/german just because those are the languages most operas are in.

That said, learning a language, especially for US English speakers seems to work best for those who really like a language/culture/have a reason to pursue it. While I can see the point of learning a language for the value it has in the workforce, I’m still frustrated that kids who have the opportunity to be raised with bilingual literacy–Spanish speakers, both Cantonese and Mandarin speakers, the French-speaking Caribeños such as the Haitian Creole speakers, etc., are penalized in elementary school for having a non-English first language and emerging literacy in a first language which in turn often destroys access to literacy in a second language. All the while folks in the more elite high schools are doing semester-long exchanges to Spain.

I saw this happen again and again in the Boston Public Schools;nothing sadder than watching there’s nothing sadder than watching immigrant kids from Hong Kong and China being banned for speaking their home language and their parents demonized while “white” kids are being funneled into Mandarin classes to take advantage of future business opportunities.

It would be great to institutionalize second languages for native English speakers in the US—with the caveat that there are variants of native English that should be honored as well, perhaps—and in addition, allow those who have a first language other than English to achieve literacy in that language. It’s near impossible to gain true literacy with only social interactions. Being able to have bilingual education opportunities works for us all (and I supported two-way bilingual immersion programs once upon a time when I worked in Boston area public schools–several were very successful in developing language competency in the elementary curriculum in two languages, whether the native language was Spanish/English, Cantonese/English, Vietnamese/English, etc.

I’m in a multilingual environment here. The language I want the kids to try after the ones they learn in school will be Russian, which is very much the language of the future with Chinese (but a lot closer to us in Europe).

French doesn’t have as many native speakers, but there’s a lot more total speakers, which means it’ll be just as useful for traveling– with French and English you’re unlikely to go anywhere you can’t find someone to talk to. If you want to travel in Europe, especially. As romance languages, they’re both useful jumping of points for learning others.

I would say French, and French-Canadian, film and literature is influential enough to give French the edge– but I’m a Canadian, so it’s not even a contest for me.

I was just discussing this with my roommate last night. If you live in Los Angeles, both of these are great. There’s a lot of really good Mexican food in the city and Chinese food in the Pasadena area and it certainly helps to know the languages.

I think Spanish is more useful overall here because, unless you live in San Gabriel Valley, you’re just going to come across more people who prefer speaking in Spanish. Everyone from wait staff to G&E crew to your doctor is going to more quickly converse in Spanish than in English.

I also think the Spanish-language media is important too, as it gives you extra motivation to learn. Who doesn’t want to match Hispanic-America game shows?

As I’ve learned from one of my friends, Arabic fluency is very sought after in government work.

Honestly, making a “list” like this is silly. It’s like telling a kid to practice his guitar playing when he has shown no interest in guitars or the relevant types of music.

And guess what, not everybody needs to learn a foreign language. For the majority of people, particularly native English speakers, it is completely optional. The benefits are great, but it is not a necessity. You learn a second language for very personal reasons; the language you learn cannot be separated from this context. To make a list suggesting otherwise is silly.

In my opinion, however, everyone should learn Korean. Koreans make great movies, great food, and have the world’s 13th largest economy. And they don’t censor the internet.