Are you a language geek?
We’re proud to be language geeks here at EuroTalk, but we know we’re not the only ones! Here’s your opportunity to show us what you know… Can you get 100%? And more importantly, can you beat your friends? 😉
(By the way, if you want to cheat on any of the questions, the words we’ve used in the quiz are in our uTalk app – now available in 100 languages on iPad, iPhone and iPod touch.)
How do you choose which language to learn?
Everyone’s always talking about how useful it is to speak another language – and they’re right, for so many reasons. There’s lots of advice too on how to get started and how to stay motivated when it gets tough. But the first question any aspiring language learner should ask themselves is, ‘Which language do I want to learn?’
Sometimes this is easy, because you’re moving to another country, or you’ve met a new partner who speaks a particular language. Even if this means you end up learning a language most people would consider unusual, to you it has a purpose and that makes it anything but obscure.
But what if you’ve just decided you want to learn a language, because you’ve heard that people with a second language earn more, or that learning a language makes you cleverer, and don’t have a particular one in mind?
At EuroTalk, we offer nearly 140 different world languages. It’s a pretty daunting selection to be greeted with when you’ve just Googled ‘I want to learn a language’ and stumbled on to our homepage, or downloaded the uTalk app. And that doesn’t even come close to the total number of languages spoken in the world. So how is anyone meant to choose one to learn? Do you just close your eyes and point at one?
Well no, we don’t recommend that approach; you could end up with something really fun that way, but at the same time, learning a random language just for the sake of it, when there’s very little chance you’ll ever get a chance to speak it, seems a shame. Half the fun of learning a language is getting to share it with other people.
So here are our recommended criteria for choosing a language:
Number of speakers
Generally, a language with more speakers is going to be more useful to you, because you’re going to have more opportunities to speak it. According to Ethnologue, the top five most spoken languages in the world are Chinese, Spanish, English, Hindi and Arabic, with a total of 2.4 billion speakers between them, so knowing one of these languages is going to guarantee you lots of people to talk to.
On the other hand, it depends on your reasons for wanting to learn a language. If it’s to make friends all over the world, one of these five languages will stand you in good stead. But if it’s to improve your employment prospects, bear in mind that you might face more competition if you’ve chosen a popular language. I studied Spanish at university, which is in great demand with employers. But so did lots of other students. We’ve got five people who speak Spanish at EuroTalk – two of them are native speakers (there are less than twenty of us in total, to put that in context) so it’s rare for me to be called on to use my language skills. Something like Portuguese or Japanese, which are still in the top ten in Ethnologue’s list, might offer fewer opportunities but when one comes along, you’re probably not going to face as many rivals for the job.
Where it’s spoken
Another important factor. Firstly, you don’t want to learn a language that’s spoken in a country you never intend to go to, or in which you’ve no interest. Secondly, some languages, like French, Arabic or English, are spoken in many different countries. So if you’re going travelling and want a language you’ll be able to use in more than one place, one of these will be more useful to you. But if travel’s not top of your agenda, this might not be such a big consideration.
Similarity to other languages
Most world languages are organised in families, which means they come from the same root as the other languages in that family. This means often, although you may only speak one language, you can probably at least make yourself understood in another. Hindi and Urdu, for example, are mutually intelligible, as are Czech and Slovak. If you know Spanish, you can make a reasonably decent attempt at Portuguese or Italian, and although you might make a few mistakes, chances are you’ll be understood. I’m not suggesting you should go around speaking the wrong language at people, but if you do make an honest slip-up, or just can’t think of the right word, you’ll probably be ok. I’m fairly sure I spoke quite a bit of Spanish when I was in Italy earlier this year, but everyone seemed to understand what I was getting at.
Some languages, though, don’t have any close neighbours, or indeed any neighbours at all. Basque, for example, is what’s known as a language isolate, as is Korean. This means they don’t belong to a family, but stand alone, so if you’ve chosen one of these languages, it’s worth remembering that it won’t help you with any others.
Your interests
Partly, this is to do with your travel interests. If you’ve a particular interest in Russia, for example, we’d recommend you learn Russian. But even if you’re not particularly interested in travelling, there are other things to consider. Are you a fan of opera? Maybe give Italian a go. Anime? Japanese. Star Trek? Klingon.
Or maybe you’ve got a particular interest in endangered languages, in which case you might want to learn Cornish or Sardinian, not necessarily for the wealth of communication opportunities it offers, but to help save a valuable world language from extinction.
Your commitment
You know yourself better than anyone. How motivated do you feel? Is this just a passing whim that you’re likely to give up the moment it gets difficult, or are you prepared to stick at it? The fact is, some languages are harder than others, and this is different for everyone, depending on your native language. For Europeans, Dutch is considered quite an easy language to learn, while Mandarin Chinese is very difficult. But someone living in Japan may find Chinese much easier to learn than any European language.
So if you’re living in Europe and intending to learn Mandarin, you’ll need to be pretty dedicated. And if you know you don’t have it in you, it might be better to try something else rather than face disappointment when it doesn’t work out. Nobody’s bad at all languages – you just need to find the right one for you.
If you’re still undecided, and in need of some inspiration, take our quiz – it’s not at all scientific, but might give you some ideas!
Or even better, why not try a few out? You can do this for free on our website, or by downloading uTalk for iOS.
If you have any other tips or suggestions for readers trying to choose a language, please share them in the comments.
Liz
Which language are you learning? The results!
We had a great response to our recent language learning survey; thank you to everyone who took the time to complete it. First things first: we’re delighted to announce that the winner of the iPad mini prize draw is Konstantia Sakellariou. Congratulations, Konstantia – your iPad is on its way!
We wanted also to share a few of our findings with you. Some of the results from the survey were as we expected, others were quite surprising. Here are just a few of the things you had to tell us. Thanks again for all your thoughtful responses, we’ll put them to good use.
Which language(s) are you learning (or would like to learn)?
The first question was pretty straightforward. A couple of people ticked every language on offer (over 100) – now that’s what we call ambition! – but most chose between 1 and 5. Here are the top ten most popular languages: 
Other popular choices included Greek, Swedish, Dutch, Brazilian Portuguese, Norwegian, Irish, Polish and Icelandic. We also got some requests for languages we don’t yet offer, like Guernésiais and Twi – we’ll do our best to add those languages to our list, so watch this space!
Why are you learning a language?
Next, we wanted to know why you’re learning a language. Nearly half of the respondents chose travel as a reason, and almost as many said they were learning a language just for fun. 36% of respondents said it was for family reasons or for a relationship, and 27% for work. The results were quite evenly split though, showing that there’s no one overwhelming reason – everyone has their own motivation. 
Among the other reasons, we had a range of answers, including an interest in the culture of the language, personal challenge and wanting to follow literature, film and music in other languages. Many people are living in another country, which was their main motivation for learning the local language. And one person said that their heart asked for the knowledge, which we loved 🙂
What prevents you from learning a language?
We were also interested to know what stops people from learning a language, so we asked you to rate the following reasons out of 5. The most common barrier to learning is a lack of time, followed by not having found the right method, and then the cost involved. 
Incidentally, if you’re facing any of these barriers, you may like to check out our recent posts, on finding time to learn a language and learning on a budget. And if you’re looking for resources, did you know you can try out the EuroTalk learning method for free? Either visit our website, or download our free app, uTalk for iOS, to give it a go. We believe learning a language should be fun, because our research shows we learn much better if we’re enjoying ourselves, and this in turn makes it a lot easier to overcome the obstacles that get in the way. See what you think! Other answers included not having an opportunity to use the language, a lack of motivation and difficulty finding resources for the particular language they wanted to learn (we may be able to help there – we’ve got 136 languages and counting…).
How have you used your language when travelling?
Finally, we asked how knowing another language has been useful when you’re travelling. There was no clear winner here, which just goes to show knowing a language is always useful! But the top response was that it gives you the ability to talk to locals in their own language; many people added that they felt more welcome as a result and that it gave them independence so they could make the most of their trip. There were lots of practical reasons too, with getting around and eating out narrowly beating shopping in the poll.
If you missed out on the survey this time, don’t worry – we’re planning another one soon, so keep an eye on the blog (you can subscribe by email above to get the latest updates), or follow us on Facebook or Twitter. And if you didn’t answer this survey but would still like to have your say on any of the questions, you’re very welcome to email us or add your thoughts in the comments below.
Liz
Data above based on 877 survey responses.
Goal! around the world [Infographic]
Sometimes one word is all you need… With the World Cup getting underway today, here’s how each national team says that all-important word, ‘goal’.
You can find this and lots more in our language learning app, uTalk – available to download and start learning right now from the App Store. So whether you’re watching the football at home or away, you’ll always be prepared.
(There are lots of non-football related words in there too, for those of us with other interests!)
Please do share the infographic with friends and tell us how you’ll be shouting ‘Goal!’ this World Cup 🙂
Embed This Image On Your Site (copy code below):
10 reasons to visit… Lisbon
Having just come back from Lisbon and having loved every minute of it, I had to continue the ‘10 reasons to visit‘ series with this fantastic city! Here are my thoughts on why you should visit…
1. Cork
I had no idea this was a big Portuguese commodity but apparently Portugal produces well over half the worldwide supply of cork. Presumably because we use less and less cork in bottle stopper production, the Portuguese have become extremely inventive in finding other products to make from the strange bark, and shops in the centre of Lisbon are stuffed full of cork purses, hats, sandals, bags and jewellery – even the odd umbrella!
2. Hills
Some people might disagree with me on this one, but I like a city with hills, and Lisbon is mostly hills. Pretty steep hills. The reason this is good is that it provides lots of great viewpoints, and the view is worth puffing up a hill for. From the top of the Parque Eduardo VII or the Aguas Livres Aqueduct, the view is particularly good, showing a great sweep of pale red rooftops descending into the river estuary. I was staying right at the top of perhaps the steepest hill in town, and climbing up it several times a day made me feel less guilty about having the extra odd pastéis, but if you get fed up with them there’s always the funicular railway to drag you up or down the hill.
3. Pastéis de nata
I really regret not buying a crate of these to bring back. This is definitely the best pastry I’ve ever tasted, and you can get it in every other shop. Gooey, custardy filling inside flaky pastry, slightly burnt like a creme caramel on top. Yum yum yum.
4. Friendly people
I’ve rarely been anywhere where I was made to feel so welcome. Everyone we chatted to had time to talk to us, and everyone was smiley and helpful (a far-cry from London!) Since I work in languages, I always feel guilty not trying to speak the local language a bit so I took uTalk Portuguese with me and managed to get by fairly successfully – but not having practised at all my pronunciation was somewhat questionable. And yet, instead of the scornful expressions you encounter in some places, in Lisbon everyone was patient and happy to listen to me mangling their language. Also, a lot of people addressed me in English before I could even try out my Portuguese – something which impressed me and put me to shame at the same time.
5. Belém
At the far side of the city, the little district of Belem is definitely worth seeing. Its main street is crammed full of bakeries (more pastéis) and small, good-value restaurants selling great seafood dishes. There’s a great big expanse of green park and a long promenade along the seafront, past the impressive statue to Portuguese exploration and the famous Belém Tower. If you’re looking for somewhere to take a book and chill out for an afternoon I recommend Belém!
6. The tram
Lisbon has a set of extremely iconic yellow trams, crammed full of people as they make their rickety way along the streets. Rising very tall off the ground but being very short, they look like little shuffling animals sneaking through the streets. If you’re more of an underground person, the metro has some beautifully decorated stops too – I particularly enjoyed the caricatures at the entrance to the Aeroporto stop.
7. Bacalhau
Aka salted cod. This traditional dish is served for Christmas dinner in some households, and is definitely worth ordering if you get the chance. Historically a fishing nation, the fish and seafood dishes are diverse, imaginative and delicious. I recommend Bacalhau à Gomes de Sá, a mixture of bacalhau, eggs and olives.
8. Cobbled streets
Again, maybe not an actual reason to go to Lisbon, but it’s something really nice when you get there – the streets are all paved with small cubes of white flint which reflect the light so much that it makes you squint. So smooth in places that you slide along them, these cobbles give the roads a charming, uneven surface and make you wonder how long it took to lay all these stones down in the first place.
9. The Elevator of Carmo
I didn’t actually go on this elevator as it seemed a bit of a waste of money, but you can walk along the platform for free and you get another great view over the bustling main street below. The elevator accommodates for the split-level in the street (another consequence of the hilliness) and is built in a fantastic, dark, neo-Gothic style- really imposing.
10. Bairro Alto
The trendy district of Lisbon: we found that it was quite sleepy in the morning and afternoon, but from about 9 at night all the doors open up to reveal tiny, one-room bars selling cheap beer in plastic cups. Everyone meshes together on the streets drinking and chatting, moving from one bar to the next until the dawn creeps in. The whole atmosphere was really friendly and I can’t wait to go back!
Are there any other fans or residents of Lisbon who’d like to share their own reasons to visit? And remember you can send us your own contributions for places to feature in our ’10 reasons to visit’ series 🙂
Nat
