Random post but I'm looking to feed my curiosity. Does anyone here speak multiple languages? I myself do not currently, possibly thinking of learning French. Why French? It sounds beautiful honestly. Latin is another possible language worth learning( dead or not)
Good for you. Language and languages are my profession and avocation, actually; I've studied 23 languages, though I'm really fluent in just a few (and barely in my native English, some would say).
French is a good one to begin with because like English, much of our vocabulary is Romance, i.e., based on Latin, so a lot of French words you should have no trouble recognizing. That contrasts with a language like German which is genetically (that is, through its historical origins) much more closely related to English, but unlike English its word stock has stayed very Germanic, with the result that even though its grammar is much more like that of English than the Romance languages (though German grammar has remained more conservative and thus poses some problems for English speakers), the unfamiliar vocabulary and process of word formation can be a barrier to learning and comprehension.
And even among the Romance languages, French probably would not the be easiest for you since its writing system has retained an indication of sounds that were once there but have long disappeared but that you still have to spell right, and of course English is notorious for this too. I'm thinking that both Spanish and Italian, whose orthography (a fancy-dancy term for writing and spelling) more closely reflect the state of the modern spoken language, wouldn't be so tough in that respect, and again throw in the fact that these two also share a lot of common vocabulary with English, which of course had to borrow in a lot of its Latin terms, and borrow it sure did.
Speaking of Latin, that would be a good choice for you too as you mentioned, but be on guard for a kind of grammar that's devilishly difficult and so unlike what we do in English. Yet, you can't beat the value of learning Latin (and if you're brave enough, Classical Greek) for enhancing your English vocabulary; you'll be amazed how much a basic knowledge of Latin will help you figure out a lot of strange new words you might encounter.
And don't be too afraid of languages like Russian and Greek whose strange alphabet makes them look hard; mastering the writing system of such languages--since they do use alphabets--comes surprisingly easy. But unfortunately I can't say the same about some important languages of Asia like Chinese and Japanese whose writing systems are radically different from that of English, and that's on top of their almost completely different grammatical systems and vocabulary.
One slight exception to that is Korean, a very different language than English but one whose writing system is surprisingly easy to learn. The same goes for Hebrew, but I've always struggled with Arabic script (sorry, BrightEyes
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And no matter what language you choose to learn, except of course for "dead" languages like Latin and ancient Greek (or God help you, Sanskrit or Old English), there are really two main ways to go about it. One is the traditional method, which you get in most schools and emphasizes reading and writing largely through explicit grammar and vocabulary instruction along with translation. The other is often referred to as "immersion," where you live and interact with a community that speaks almost entirely in the target language (there I go again, "target language" meaning the tongue you want to learn or express yourself in). So yes, that type is quite sink or swim, but I can attest that it's very effective especially if your purpose is to acquire a working knowledge of the everyday spoken language and the ability to communicate in it. And as you might imagine, a strategy that balances these two main approaches is probably best for most people, though a lot depends on individuals and their purposes in learning the language.
Je vous souhaite bonne chance (wishing you good luck). Hey, gotta start somewhere. That'll be one whole Benjamin for my first lesson, please. PayPal and Bitcoin accepted.
