darkSpyro

I know this is Stuff and Nonsense but I need some actual advice. I plan on picking up a second language eventually, not only because it would look impressive on my resume, but because knowing an entirely different language just sounds very appealing. There are two languages that interest me, Spanish and Japanese. Spanish because I live in the U.S.A. and our Hispanic population is predicted to continue growing exponentially, so that would be helpful in not only day to day life but if I ever need to find a new job, since that would enable me to speak with many more clients than someone who only speaks one language or the other.

On the other hand, I have no interest in the Spanish language or any Hispanic culture, so I think it would be hard to keep myself motivated. The college I am going to does not offer any language courses, so I will have to learn entirely on my own time through books and online resources. I understand that is a very hard thing to do, so please do not tell me.

On the other hand, we have Japanese. Call me a weeb if you must, but I love Japan. If I could go anywhere in the world, it would be Japan. I feel like if I learned Japanese, I wouldn't have to force myself to stay motivated like I would learning Spanish, because I have a legitimate interest in the language. My whole life, I've loved anime, Japanese video games, and Japanese music. How great would it be to experience those things in their native language? Not to mention I could understand the titles of those vaporwave songs I always listen to.

Here is how I see the positive and negatives of learning these two languages:

Spanish
Pro: will be helpful in the workforce and possibly everyday life, is a very popular language in the U.S. and all over the world, easier to learn as a native English speaker
Con: I have no interest in the language other than the potential for it helping me find a job and being able to speak another language

Japanese
Pro: I am very interested in Japanese and it would be fun to learn, plus if I can get over my fear of planes I would love to go to Japan
Con: harder to learn, less useful in the U.S., plus it is only spoken in one country

Even without the potential pay raise for being bilingual (since bilingual people often earn more than people who only speak one language), I'll be fairly well off if I can make it in this field, the occupation I'm going for is expected to grow quite a bit in the next few years, so I shouldn't have too much trouble finding a job.

What do you guys think? Learning Spanish has it's benefits, but part of me is saying "if you're gonna work hard for something, it might as well be something that you love." And I would love to know Japanese.

Gosh, well it depends on the future of use of the Spanish language in American Culture. I doubt it's going to become America's language. I'd say it's more likely Hispanic people coming from Mexico and etc will likely learn and speak English, with it even being their stronger language if born and raised in the USA. I do see what you mean by learning Spanish for international clients, though. Japanese, like English, is a surprisingly complicated language and since you love it's culture, it'd be rewarding to learn it at the end, but also allows you to visit such a cool culture with out the concern of a language barrier.

Japanese, Chinese, or Spanish

The fact that you would need to learn it on your own means you would need to be seriously self-motivated. I don't know about you, but if I don't have a genuine interest in something, it's not going to get done. Hell, even when I do want to do something, half the time I still can't be arsed to actually do it.

I say go for learning Japanese. You'll be bilingual, and you'll be doing something you love.

Jokes aside, would there be a reason for you to not learn both? Choose one to learn first, them learn another one.

Japan. All the cool stuff comes from Japan.

...Seriously though, I'd rather learn Japanese than Spanish, although I know a little bit of both (more Spanish that Japanese). Japanese culture (anime, manga, etc.) seems to be becoming increasingly prominent elsewhere now, so maybe that would be more useful?

Spanish doesn't seem to be becoming anywhere near as prominent, unless you count that one song by Justin Beiber.

While I find Japanese to be a more interesting language, I'd go for the one that's easier to learn. The more languages you learn, the faster you can pick up other languages (having learnt a lot of German, I found it faster and faster to learn more and then get into other languages and interpret them in a jiffy). Also, if it's going to be a lot more useful I'd go for it.

Kitty's words also ring true though; you won't learn anything if you don't have the motivation to do it. You've got to knuckle down with it in order for the language to stick, and that's probably the hardest part.

Japanese

I'd say Japanese considering your avaliability. Spanish, even if you have interest, needs a LOT of speaking and culture support; even with so many videos and a lot of spanish channels on the TV, I didn't learn anything until I got classes with a teacher who slows down to explain the accents and sooo many culture-specific terms to you. From what I've seen, Japanese is more like English for a non-English speaker: you'll need that speaking support someday, but it's possible to learn reading and writing on your own just by contact with the language through videos/games/whatever.

Now that I think about it, pot kinda calling the kettle black here, since brazilian portuguese is a lot of english translations while european portuguese is in-joke after in-joke.

Spanish. It more than doubles the amount of people you can talk to currently. Watching Japanese cartoons without subs doesn't do anything to advance your life and you'll never use the language anyways. Just the truth.

Come back to me when you learn...

...THREE languages!

Yeah the points about Spanish the other users have stated are very true. Perhaps it's best you go with Spanish and maybe Japanese down the line.

While Spanish is very helpful, if you don't have the drive to learn it, then you won't
I took 3 years of spanish classes and can't remember anything other then a few words and phrases here and there. Don't waste your time if you're not interested. I only took spanish because I needed 3 foreign language credits to graduate with honors and spanish was the only lamguage my school offered

Having studied both myself, and considering your desire to make your resume more appealing, Spanish is probably the way to go. Not only is it the easier one to learn (in my opinion), it'd be useful in many work spaces, although this does depend on what job you're interested in. Social worker, police officer, doctor etc are all jobs that would be worth knowing such a widely-spoken language in the US.

To those dissing on Japanese not having real world value, your actually mistaken. Knowing Japanese and English can help you a lot when visiting Japan, and if you want to live in Japan you can even get a job as a translator for those that only know english and want to visit Japan for vacation.


Also tons of nerdy anime stuff in Japan, not to mention Japanese exclusive games (including a certain game for the Nintendo switch) which you will now be able to understand because you are your own personal translator.

Quote: Bifrost

Now that I think about it, pot kinda calling the kettle black here, since brazilian portuguese is a lot of english translations while european portuguese is in-joke after in-joke.

[Insert in-joke only we will get]

Quote: KrystalLBX

To those dissing on Japanese not having real world value, your actually mistaken. Knowing Japanese and English can help you a lot when visiting Japan, and if you want to live in Japan you can even get a job as a translator for those that only know english and want to visit Japan for vacation.


Also tons of nerdy anime stuff in Japan, not to mention Japanese exclusive games (including a certain game for the Nintendo switch) which you will now be able to understand because you are your own personal translator.

Nice meme

Depends on where you live. In the US, Spanish is going to be far more useful.

In some parts of Texas and California (and everywhere in between), you can't even get a job unless you speak a good bit of Spanish.

Quote: ThroneOfMalefor

Quote: KrystalLBX

To those dissing on Japanese not having real world value, your actually mistaken. Knowing Japanese and English can help you a lot when visiting Japan, and if you want to live in Japan you can even get a job as a translator for those that only know english and want to visit Japan for vacation.


Also tons of nerdy anime stuff in Japan, not to mention Japanese exclusive games (including a certain game for the Nintendo switch) which you will now be able to understand because you are your own personal translator.

Nice meme

One, it's totally spelled maymay.
Two, I was being serious

Quote: Crash10

Quote: Bifrost

Now that I think about it, pot kinda calling the kettle black here, since brazilian portuguese is a lot of english translations while european portuguese is in-joke after in-joke.

[Insert in-joke only we will get]

vina

No seriously what does that mean, it's a goddamn hot dog, even the actual translation of salsicha makes more sense

Japanese isn't as helpful on jobs going foward since the country isn't doing so hot, so it's not like international jobs will have them frequently. Mandarin is a bit better, but it's not as easily avaliable to learn on the fly.

Quote: Bifrost

Quote: Crash10

Quote: Bifrost

Now that I think about it, pot kinda calling the kettle black here, since brazilian portuguese is a lot of english translations while european portuguese is in-joke after in-joke.

[Insert in-joke only we will get]

vina

No seriously what does that mean, it's a goddamn hot dog, even the actual translation of salsicha makes more sense

Japanese isn't as helpful on jobs going foward since the country isn't doing so hot, so it's not like international jobs will have them frequently. Mandarin is a bit better, but it's not as easily avaliable to learn on the fly.

According to my research, it seems like Curitiba had a lot of German people, and they called their wieners as "wienerwrust". Since no one knew how to pronounce that, they just called it "vina".

Also, it's good to remember that the Tokyo Olympic games are happening soon, which might give you more job opportunities if you know Japanese. Maybe.