I have had weird reactions like that…WITH FREAKING MANDARIN!!! I understand if your learning a certain dialect of Danish or Tok Pisin that you would get weird reactions, but it’s Mandarin! A billion people speak it! If people thought that was weird then they will think every language I learn is weird.
Or Dutch.
I do notice languages like Japanese, German, and French, you’ll get instant appraise when you say you’re learning them, but I get nothing but weird looks when I say I’m learning Russian (However, I get nothing but compliments from the Russians and Ukrainians in my area). Looks like it’s the same with Swedish. I can only imagine how it is with Arabic.
Well I never had a soul to begin with, I am a ginger. Not that money is the only reason I am learning
Really??? I’m a daywalker. Like Kyle Broflovski
Arabic is awesome. Arabs are always blown away to see westerners learn their language. I am best friends with the people at the coffee shop because i could order my coffee in arabic.
Romnik, that’s what I’m learning now. I was so excited to learn all these different languages but you really need consistent effort for years to be fluent. I don’t think it takes a decade to learn chinese… the long road is pretty much the same for all languages, it’s just the beginning takes a long time where as a european language you are already starting part way there.
Definitely :). There is a huge temptation to want to tackle so many languages at once, which is fine depending on what the ultimate goal is, but many do want to take it to an advanced level (at least I do).
Ah yes, for Chinese, I meant in terms of future employment or having an “economic” reason. It requires an extremely high level, and looking at my progress in German (roughly 2 hrs a day, 3 years, heavy input, occasional output), I still have such a long road to go before I am able to really write official documents, discuss things formally and express myself clearly in almost all topics etc. (So I was basically saying about reaching a C1/C2 level using a part time study approach).
Yea, the FSI has Chinese and other asian languages as taking more than double the time it would take to learn German (900 hours vs 2200 hours on average).
But you make a great point. A B2 level is extremely rewarding for making friends, enjoying authentic content, travel, all that good stuff… But to be professionally competent to where a company in China would hire you… you really need to be at that C 1 level which does take a long time, you just need years of speaking it in real situations.
From a straight cost benefit perspective, you are much better off learning German than Chinese: it’s one of the most beneficial 2nd languages to have in terms of employment.
The problem with german is it’s one of those languages that isn’t too tough to learn, but crazy hard to master all the grammar. Getting the cases and genders to a native level is ridiculous.
Also, one of the best parts of learning Chinese or Japanese is that everyone automatically assumes you are a genius if you are a westerner. The characters make it seem to the uniformed that it is an impossibly difficult task. The last girl I dated kept bringing it up, mentioning that I was so smart because I was learning Japanese, even though anyone can do it if they wanted to.
I would love to want to learn Dutch, you know?
Perhaps, if you had said to her that you are also learning russian, korean, german and so forth. Maybe, she would have an orgasm. LoooooL
Awesome. Language learning is the new sexy?
Yeah, I agree! 
Obviously like you mentioned, a B2 level is brilliant, and I am enjoying every step of my German journey :). But if I was to have chosen German simply in the hopes of making more money in the future, this is one big investment lol.
And like you mentioned for Chinese, the Polyglot Vladmir Skultety, who now works as a Chinese interpreter, was living in China for over 5 years and has now studied Chinese for over a decade, said there was an awful phase where he was extremely fluent, but it was still cheaper to hire 2 native Chinese speakers than one westerner, since he wasn’t yet amazingly “native-like”. So that was one thing that really got me thinking about the level you really need, since you are competing with other native speakers.
I definitely think 2017 is the age of the nerd, so that includes language learners.
i agree those german declinations are really difficult to get right when speaking spontaneously,
The age of meatheads is over, the age of language learners has come.
Why don’t they make this a movie?
Dutch and Danish are languages I have never wanted to learn
I was shocked to see someone in this learning Dutch.