<p>For modern European languages:
French
Russian
German
Spanish
Italian</p>
<p>French or Russian, for sure. Maybe German or Spanish.</p>
<p>No way on Chinese. You can't read anything old unless you learn Classical Chinese.</p>
<p>Greek and Latin might be okay (I'd prefer Greek), but don't you want to be able to speak to real people?</p>
<p>I have no opinion about Arabic other than that it has somewhat Chinese' problem in that reading Arabic and spoken are different (one classical).</p>
<p>
That said, Japanese literature is very, very rewarding
Like manga? :D</p>
<p>
[quote]
greek or latin obviously...maybe chinese, but that's monumentaily more difficult, learning a whole new alphabet of characters.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>haha and Greek doesn't have a different alphabet?</p>
<p>I took 4 years of Latin - absolutely amazing language. Picked up a little ancient Greek along the way, and I definitely preferred the Latin. Tons of great literature as well, from the poetry of Catullus and Ovid to epics like Virgil's Aeneid... lots of interesting literary elements that you don't get in translation.</p>