<p>What is the Easiest Second Language to Learn? I have to take a year of a language and I am looking for the easiest. I was thinking American Sign Language.</p>
<p>Mandarin, Sanskrit, or Arabic.</p>
<p>It's highly dependent on what your native tongue is. For example, those who learned Chinese first will find Vietnamese easier than Italian, most likely.</p>
<p>For English speakers, it helps that two things be similar: a) the vocab, and b) the grammar (which are the elements of language). You might look into French, Spanish, or Italian. German would also be an option, though it really depends on what kind of person you are. Some find German easy, some hard (though English is a Germanic language).</p>
<p>ASL is completely different. It isn't just learning a bunch of hand movements for different words. There's a whole grammar to it. That, combined with the fact that it has a completely different mode of communication (not sonic or written, but signed), would make ASL challenging, methinks.</p>
<p>I would stick with a Romance language. I personally would go for Spanish.</p>
1 Like
<p>Spanish is pretty easy.</p>
<p>ASL is really hard. Seriously. You're better off with a written language. </p>
<p>I agree with everyone who said Spanish is a good choice.</p>
<p>Esperanto.</p>
<p>Rather than go with what's easy, go with what's available. Esperanto won't get you very far in life.</p>
<p>Here is a great, credible website to answer your question:</p>
<p>My school has darn near every language possible.</p>
<p>German. </p>
<p>I took a 3 month course and within a few weeks was able to understand alot simply because it looks so much like English.</p>
<p>german spanish french italian.
go with one of those. that's why they offer them in high school.</p>
<p>i learned german because i wanted to learn danish. and i have a head start because the languages are similar. haha</p>
<p>Actually...lol...Esperanto would be the best choice. However, you might have trouble finding a course on that. If the only language you know is Enlgish (which I will assume), I'd go with learning Spanish. If you get down to the Latin...you have a lot of cognates, and it's probably the most useful in the States depending on where you live.</p>
<p>Also, Mexican and especially Puerto Rican Spanish is becoming very lazy and susceptible to English influence...good for your ease of learning, bad for their culture.</p>
<p>Also...I don't know what you're taking a year of foreign language for, but most four year universities will want at least two years of foreign language. Just a precaution.</p>
<p>Depends on what languages you already know.</p>
1 Like
<p>kyledavid80:
"It's highly dependent on what your native tongue is. For example, those who learned Chinese first will find Vietnamese easier than Italian, most likely."</p>
<p>how would chinese make learning Vietnamese easier than Italian? Vietnamese, unlike other asian languages, uses the latin alphabet just like European languages</p>
<p>oh well i was looking up 'vietnamese language' on wikipedia and i guess it does say that a lot of vietnamese words are borrowed from chinese. However, i know Vietnamese fluently and when I listen to Chinese music I find that there are no cognates because I can't recognize anything.</p>
<p>example:
Chinese: 邏之彼嗇私豐
Vietnamese: Trăm năm trong cõi người ta, Chữ tài chữ mệnh khéo là ghét nhau.</p>
<p>Vietnamese and Chinese is nothing like Spanish and Italian though, when I went to Italy, I could pick up a lot of things they were saying with the Spanish that I learned in school</p>
<p>अवश्य हिन्दी.</p>
<p>Hindi would be a good choice.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Mandarin
[/quote]
pahahaha no way.</p>
<p>But, as Kyledavid said, it really depends on what language you currently know. So, OP, which languages do you know?</p>
<p>I just know American English. I only need 1 year of it, and wekll dont want to take it but have to. I think all languages but English should be abolished, and English taken as the world's language. I refuse to learn Spanish as I will not help the Hispanics take over america. </p>
<p>Thats why I was thinking of ASL.</p>
<p>There is no relationship between ASL and English. Seriously, none whatsoever. I speak/sign both languages.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I refuse to learn Spanish as I will not help the Hispanics take over america.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>HAHA. </p>
<p>Seriously though, you seem to want to learn ASL, so go for it. If you really want to learn it, you will put in the time required.</p>
<p>Spanish is very similar to English.</p>