hey-ai.com

I decided to put the thread in this board as it deals with discussions of multiple languages.

To start out with, I came across this site about language comparisons for ease of learning other languages and the usefulness of learning of them for a variety of reasons for an English speaker.
anonym.to/?http://how-to-learn...languages/ index.html
Of course that link underrates Mandarin in terms of total GDP but I'm not getting into too much details about it here.

Lingua franca is what the UN describes as languages to communicate the rest of the world as Wikipedia describes it, "a language systematically used to communicate between persons not sharing a mother tongue, in particular when it is a third language, distinct from both persons' mother tongues".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lingua_franca
Lingua Franca of languages in the UN are English, Chinese(Mandarin), Spanish, Arabic, French, and Russian.

About chic factor, it is attractive and fashionable; stylish. Some people use it to show off their knowledge and communication of other languages that is considered chic factor.
As a Chinaman, I have used English when I'm in China and a slight bonus when speaking German in front of others.
In Canada, I would say speaking German as a Chinaman makes you seem sophisticated as I made people around me widen their eyes in amazement. In Germany, the chic factor seems to be English as I had Germans love to speak English with me to show off in front of other Germans. I did talk to one German girl in Berlin who speaks Mandarin to me who recently came back from living in Taiwan for a few years as her other female friends shocked in amazement for speaking Mandarin to me. When I was in Russia, I knew some Russian as very few foreigners would take the time to learn their difficult Slavic language and that was cool I can communicate somewhat with them.


Does people here learn other languages for the chic factor and have you use it for this reason in front of others in your home country? or for potential economic reasons? or to expatriate someday? All feedbacks about learning other languages for any reasons are welcome.

Ooh, cool website there, Jake. :]

Well, since I'm a foreign language major I think I might have something to say here XD
Personally, languages are just interesting. They're pretty easy for me (I learned how to say "have fun" in three languages in five minutes) and they're different. Few people list 'language' as a hobby but for me it is.

I've seen the chic factor at work in high school and I've been guilty of it myself in a way. Except it was a personal definition of 'chic' haha. I learn the languages that interest me, not the ones that will be of most use or anything like that. It's why I took French for four years and now I'm majoring in it. It's why I'm planning on taking Chinese next year despite being terrified of learning a new alphabet. And..will probably learn Korean, Japanese and Thai at some point in my life ^^

I've used my random Japanese knowledge (I know a teensy bit off anime and dramas) to try to get closer to some people I was friends with last semester and they seemed impressed at the time but who knows because now they're completely indifferent to me. And I learn little phrases all the time to either just say for fun or to use on someone for a purpose. Like when I learned "Have fun" in Indonesian, Tagalog and Vietnamese and how to say "Have a safe trip" in Thai because my friends were leaving for Spring Break.

I'm also interested in learning them because I'm thinking of being an English teacher abroad after I graduate and get some money. Particularly interested right now in China and Thailand.

But mostly, I learn them because they're beautiful and fun and easy for me. And everyone likes having something they're good at. :]

the first language i learnt was french and that was because i had to for school i only did it for three years and now i know not a lick of it

the language i really want to learn and am learning is japanese beacuse i love the language and the culture and i want to live in japan one day
i then started to think about to learn korean as i liked the language after listening to some kdramas and would also like to live in korea

i am also learning italian with my college i took it because i wanted to learn a language properly since i am self learning japanese which i know is really stupid
but still

learning these langauges for me is not a 'oh look at me i speak a really hard language blah blah blah'
i just really like the languages and i really want to travel.

there's a chic factor in speaking other languages for sure, but unfortunately it doesn't last that long! but they come in very handy while traveling.

and it's not a chic factor, I noticed when Europeans are speaking in English, they also try to "act" like anglophones, which in turn veils the their true personalities. but when I talk to them in their own languages, they quickly become friendly and very honest, easier to find out the real personalities that way. some of them are shy just because they don't speak much in English, you know.