[DeGalbo]

I'm an 18 year old who just graduated high school. I like to believe i'm fairly good at getting girls (room for improvement).. So far summer has been very boring and i dont currently need to get a job so i've been thinking about learning italian as a language, i'm not just doing this to get more girls, i'm doing it because i've always wanted to learn italian and this feels like the best time and opportunity to do so. I'm thinking learning a language would definitly attract more girls and would be maybe a conversation starter or something to talk about.

So my real question is what do you all think?

And if you've learned a language what program did you use to learn it?

Thanks (this is my first time posting)

(I'm looking into buying rosetta stone version 4 TOTALe software)

[gringochileno]

I think there are lots of great reasons to learn a second language that have nothing to do with getting girls. However, speaking purely from that perspective this is how it works:

If you're gaming girls who only speak a foreign language then being fluent in it is an absolute game-changer and your results will skyrocket. If you're talking about regular girls who speak English then there is little if any benefit. Girls who speak both English and your second language are somewhere in between but in that case you want to be speaking mostly English so the conversation is on your "home turf" and she's the one struggling to say what she wants to say.

Also, Rosetta Stone is a pretty good way to learn a language if you don't have access to native speakers who you can talk to, but there's no way I would pay the highway robbery price they ask for it.

[DeGalbo]

yeah i'm not purely doing this just to attract more girls, i just know a lot of girls that think italian is a sexy language to be able to speak.

[tjf78]

I'm currently learning Spanish and joined LiveMocha. It is a site that connects you with Native Speakers from other countries. I believe that this is a great site and simple to use. You should also invest in a few books that teach you about Grammar Rules, the slang words, etc. Here is the site: http://www.livemocha.com/sihp and it is free. I feel like those Rosetta Stone programs are way too overpriced. Also, I know that it is hard in the US, try to find neighborhoods where Italian is the main language spoken. Learning by immersion is truly the best way to learn the language. Good luck.

[DeGalbo]

thanks for the advice i will check out the site.

[iknowexactly]

(06-23-2011 10:50 PM)DeGalbo Wrote:  

thanks for the advice i will check out the site.

Pimsleur was a genius at learning theory and his lessons rock

[Dash Global]

learn spanish and purthugues. then go to colombia and brasil and thank me later

[hoops330]

And if you reach fluency in Italian then the other Romance languages will be a cinch... By the way, they're not called Romance languages because they will help you swoop girls (although Portuguese and Italian sound beautiful). They derived from Latin/Roman language. I know a lot of people are saying no shit but there are also a lot that don't understand.

[Gunner]

I would try Spanish or Portuguese, Italian is just spoken in Italy while Español in parts of the US, Latin America(except Brasil) and España.
Portuguese=BRASIL.

[gringochileno]

The other thing about learning Italian is that as a European country, Italy has a very high percentage of English speakers especially among young people. People in Italy will certainly appreciate that you've demonstrated an interest in their language and culture, but the benefit is much more limited than if you were learning Spanish or Portuguese to visit South American countries where English proficiency is not the norm. That said, if you get a hard-on for Italian for whatever reason then by all means go for it. It's a beautiful language and will make it easier for you to pick up other Romance languages later on.

[el mechanico]

Being able to bust out another language is a panty dropper. I usually wait untill I dont want a girl to know what Im saying while on the phone and switch.I never mention Im bilingual before hand.
As cheesy as it sounds think of the guy that breaks out some french when the waiter comes to the table.

[DeGalbo]

yeah i really think learning italian would up my game in the states also because in high school we aren't even forced to learn a new language like a lot of other countries are forced to learn english. it would be a game changer to just randomly started speaking another language. and usually high schools around here teach only spanish and french.

[Arado]

Italian is a complete waste of time. Spanish is the way to go, maybe Chinese if you can handle it.

sharedtalk.com, and check out the skype forums. There are millions of people desperate to talk to a native English speaker and will happily in exchange give u conversation practice in their language.

[Vacancier Permanent]

If you pick up Portuguese and you're interested in Brasil, make sure you take Brazilian Portuguese and not Continental or European Portuguese as the 2 are vastly different. I speak fluent Brasilian Portuguese but when I'm with Portuguese folks, I barely understand what they're saying as they use different words/vocabulary and expressions and the accent is ugly to put it mildly as opposed to the more sensual and melodious brasilian version. Keep that in mind. Also, as far as courses are concerned, Pimsleur is the best and that's what helped me back in 2004-5 when I was starting Portuguese form scratch. It's expensive but worth every penny if you're serious about learning that lingo. So yeah, definitely do pick up a 2nd and a 3rd one and even a 4th one. The more languages you can speak, the more opportunities you will have in life.

(06-24-2011 03:25 PM)bars Wrote:  

I would try Spanish or Portuguese, Italian is just spoken in Italy while Español in parts of the US, Latin America(except Brasil) and España.
Portuguese=BRASIL.

[sir_seducer]

learn spanish ...its good....also french would help u.

[Yams]

(06-24-2011 05:31 PM)Vacancier Permanent Wrote:  

If you pick up Portuguese and you're interested in Brasil, make sure you take Brazilian Portuguese and not Continental or European Portuguese as the 2 are vastly different. I speak fluent Brasilian Portuguese but when I'm with Portuguese folks, I barely understand what they're saying as they use different words/vocabulary and expressions and the accent is ugly to put it mildly as opposed to the more sensual and melodious brasilian version. Keep that in mind. Also, as far as courses are concerned, Pimsleur is the best and that's what helped me back in 2004-5 when I was starting Portuguese form scratch. It's expensive but worth every penny if you're serious about learning that lingo. So yeah, definitely do pick up a 2nd and a 3rd one and even a 4th one. The more languages you can speak, the more opportunities you will have in life.

(06-24-2011 03:25 PM)bars Wrote:  

I would try Spanish or Portuguese, Italian is just spoken in Italy while Español in parts of the US, Latin America(except Brasil) and España.
Portuguese=BRASIL.

I work along side Brazilians at my job and they tell me that its so difficult to understand a person speaking Continental Portuguese that they would rather dump their mother tongues and speak English to each other.

[Sonsowey]

Dude if you wanna learn Italian do it

[Geronimo]

Spanish vs Portuguese? What would be the better one to learn? I am guessing Spanish.

[gringochileno]

(06-25-2011 06:19 PM)Geronimo Wrote:  

Spanish vs Portuguese? What would be the better one to learn? I am guessing Spanish.

Well that depends on where you want to travel. For Brazil, learn Portuguese. For everywhere else in Latin America (plus Spanish speakers in the US) learn Spanish. One thing worth noting is that Brazilians seem to be able to understand spoken Spanish pretty easily but spoken Portuguese is not always as clear to native Spanish speakers.

[flashbang]

As a genuine polyglot, I can tell you that not only are girls a great motivation to learn languages. The best way to learn a language is to be super friendly and to speak to people constantly whenever you get the chance.

When I was living in Barcelona I learnt Spanish in a couple of months just playing basketball, and doing other daily activities, and was highly fluent by the time I left after 10 months. Knowledge of Italian helped(as would Portugese). Speaking to people in their language not only destroys approach anxiety over time but also makes you a powerful language person.

Start now. Go live in the country whose language you want to learn and fail fail fail at the language until you've got it. When you're gaming a chick stick to English though as having sub-par language skills in the chick's language can backfire.

I've got full confidence in the ability of most of this forum's dudes to learn a language given the right motivation. Make it happen today!

[Vicious]

Starting with what I know I'd advice anyone to not bother with the Scandinavian languages. The application is too small and the languages themselves are quite intricate with regard too what you are getting. Anyone above 4th grade in Scandinavia can speak workable conversational english which even further dimnishes the usefulness of the local languages. If you encounter any Scandinavian adult unable to speak english then they are most likely white trash and should be avoided.

The languages I'd consider most useful for recruiting talent (white male perspective):

1. Brazilian Portugese
2. Russian
3. Cantonese/Mandarin (The chinese are currently going through a sexual revolution)
4. Spanish
5. German

The thing you have to understand about Russian and EE is that Russians aren't well-liked in the area because of the communist occupation as well as the Russian state's current bullying. So you have to show a bit humility and apologise when using it in the baltic or southeast Europe. To demonstrate you know their history.

Languages I'd pick from a business perspective:
1. Cantonese/Mandarin
2. German
3. Spanish
4. Farsi
5. Russian

Averaging these two lists sees chinese come out on top followed by Spanish/Russian/German in 2nd place. If we would consider ease of learning as well then Spanish and German would come out way ahead.

[dk902]

I'm 100% with Vicious on the Scandinavian languages, I was in Sweden last year and I started in conversational Swedish and ditched it after 5 minutes as all chicks speak it. So they're completely obsolete unless you live there...the odd phrase does go down a treat however.

My first advice would be that learning a language has to be strategic and is like making a business decision. It certainly would be fun to learn Italian, I am learning currently, but that's because I think it will give me a niche in my job...and most importantly I speak it every day at work with my colleague who's Italian so I get to practice it.

If the language you learn has no practical application and you can't meet girls on the regular to use it, it won't be the best use of your time. It's like a boxer who never gets in the ring. Incidentally I met an Italian girl here in the UK last night and it went down a storm...however they're few and far between.

Ultimately languages can be fun to learn, however like with any skill (as with game) it takes hours and hours of repetition and practice to master it and become competent. So you also need to take this into consideration. Unless you intend to move to Italy I wouldn't learn it. You can never fail with Spanish, German is good for business if you live in Europe. French is a somewhat diminishing language but still holds weight. As other guys have mentioned, Mandarin is the up and coming one, I am considering learning it myself. Brazil will surely be a big player in years to come on the world stage, so learning Portuguese could be a good move.

Once you learn one language and learn the skill of how to learn a language the others become a lot easy. For example I speak Spanish and French and Italian comes very easily, as the concepts are similar. The same would apply to German and Dutch etc etc.

[Entropy4]

FYI: Learning Spanish first makes sense in a number of ways. It's one of the easiest languages for an English speaker to pick up. It's useful in about 20-25 different countries. And once you learn it, learning Portuguese and Italian become much easier, and French becomes somewhat easier. If you moved to a Spanish-speaking country and took lessons every day, you could have it down in 2-3 months if you kept at it.

Languages like Russian and German are going to take you more like 5-6 months minimum.

[The Duke]

Spanish and Russian are good choices. Learning Russia will make it easier to pickup other Slavic languages (Polish, Ukrainian, Serbian, Bulgarian, etc).

[Timoteo]

Fellas...try http://www.herrington.com for Rosetta Stone at reduced prices. I picked up Brazilian Portuguese and Italian Level 1 for $200-something dollars each last year. They have the higher levels for the same exhorbitant prices ($400+), but if half that is within your budget, you might be able to score what you want. I have Pimsleur CDs for Spanish, and that set is much less expensive than Rosetta Stone. I wanted to step up my language game - it's my greatest regret that I didn't start learning another language when I was in my teens...