{"id":199,"date":"2015-06-03T12:43:00","date_gmt":"2015-06-03T16:43:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/llrc\/?p=199"},"modified":"2026-01-27T20:33:01","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T01:33:01","slug":"how-to-choose-a-language-to-study","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/llrc\/2015\/how-to-choose-a-language-to-study\/","title":{"rendered":"How to choose which language to study"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n How to choose which language to study\n <\/h1>\n \n \n <\/header>\n\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n

How to choose a language<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There are a lot of languages in the world that you can choose to study; 6,909 according to research by Ethnologue in 2009. Some of them, like Mandarin Chinese and Spanish, are widely spoken and widely taught. Some of them, like Naasioi (a language of eastern Papua New Guinea) are spoken only by a limited number of speakers in a limited geographic area. But if you\u2019re reading this article, the question on your mind is probably: \u201cwhich language should I study?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A lot of people answer this question by choosing the language they think will help them \u201cget a job\u201d. And that\u2019s fine. Maybe there is<\/em> a clear link between certain languages and certain career paths. But learning a language is not only about getting a job. Learning a language can also be stimulating, challenging, and fun\u2026seriously! And, the unexpected thing about learning a language is that having the ability to speak it may open doors to careers that you never even knew existed when you first started out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, where to begin?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Personal Interest Inventory<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A good place to start is to take a bit of a personal interest inventory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For instance, are there particular languages that you already feel attracted to? If you love K-Pop, manga or anime, then maybe Korean or Japanese are the languages for you. Have you been binge-watching a Mexican TV series? No judgment here, but maybe Spanish is a direction you want to take! Or maybe…remember that time a year ago when you downloaded that \u201cLearn German\u201d app onto your phone…are you still interested?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It may not seem like much, but don\u2019t ignore these feelings<\/strong>. They aren\u2019t nothing. They are clues to the language that you are genuinely interested in learning and this interest is genuinely important!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, consider any personal connections you might have to a language. Maybe you have grandparents who come from \u201cthe old country\u201d and you\u2019d like to stay connected to your heritage. Or maybe you have a<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cspecial someone\u201d whose family speaks a different language at home. Extra points if you make an effort to learn it too! In the same way as interests, these personal connections too can prove critical in encouraging you to continue your learning even when things get tough\u2026and they will get tough. But if you have a \u201creal\u201d reason for learning – an interest or a personal connection or both – then it can serve as the reminder and motivator you need to keep going!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Language Skills Inventory<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Next, take a look at the language skills that you already have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Did you study French in high school? A lot of Canadians do, and that\u2019s great! And maybe you want to continue studying it in university. Good to know. Or maybe you studied French in high school but, to be honest, you didn\u2019t totally love it. And that\u2019s okay too. But you don\u2019t need to think about all those classes as wasted time\u2026because a Romance language like French shares many similarities with other languages like Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian. Having this shared foundation makes learning one of these other languages easier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And how about those of you who learned English as your second or even third language? If this sounds like you then, guess what, you already have a head start! Believe it or not, native speakers of many languages, and this is true of English too, don\u2019t know the grammatical structures of their own languages! <\/strong>Sure, they know the right way to use the language and they can tell when something is wrong, but they may not be able to explain exactly why. If you learned English as a second language, then you will already know how to talk about \u201clearning a language\u201d and this will put you in a great position to understand, describe, and explain why things work the way they do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which jobs need which languages?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Of course, if you\u2019re thinking about learning a language to help you get a job, you may want to spend some time researching connections between certain languages and the careers you\u2019re interested in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s no easy way to do this, but here are some thoughts:<\/p>\n\n\n\n