This post sets out to answer the question, what is the best language to learn? It will answer it clearly and objectively and I hope to open your mind when it comes to language learning.
Polish is the best language in the world to learn. I write this seriously as a professional linguist.
CW and the best language to learn
English is both a European language and a universal language.
Conventional wisdom programs most American to think you should learn Spanish for example. In Europe the mantra might be to study the German or French language.
Wrong. The best language to learn is not German or French or Spanish etc. Ignore conventional wisdom and the herd mentality.
Best language to learn
The best language to learn is not the answer you might think. Lets say you are a native English speaker, therefore, lets rule out English. If you are not a native speaker of English, of course the answer is English, do not waste your time learning French for example. Great language mind you but not the best language to learn. To learn German or French it is only useful if you are really into those cultures.
The best language to learn if you live in Europe:
- The Polish language – You can not even compare languages for both usefulness and uniqueness.
- Chinese (no explanation necessary, but in 100 years or so everyone will look like future people from south park.)
The best language to learn if you live in the USA:
- Your ethnic roots, Polish or Italian or Greek, for example.
- Chinese
This goes against conventional wisdom but is very important to understand my rational.
Why is Polish the best language to learn
Why do I recommend Polish as the most useful language? The whole world speaks English. This is the universal language for business. I have traveled the world to pretty remote place and never had a problem with English. Thank you MTV and Hollywood.
Therefore, why learn another universal European language like French or German or even Spanish, if it does not get you anywhere that English can not already do.
People that speak English as a native language and Polish as a second earn 38% more in the UK than those in IT and finance than those who know English alone. This is according to a EU based think tank. The reason are obvious, with the millions of Poles working in the UK there is a great demand on all level for this language.
Further, KPMG has asserted that Poland is one of the best places to develop and invest a business.
John Markman and Jim Jubak from MSN money, two top US investment managers as well as Templeton”s Mark Mobius recommends to explore emerging markets as this is where the real opportunities are in the future.
Go to Egypt or Greece for vacation, everyone is learning Polish or Russian as a foreign language, not Spanish for example. Go to the Austrian Alps skiing and signs are in Polish in the hotels. Forget Croatia in the summer it is a Polish tourist colony.
For there being so few Polish people they have had such a huge impact on history from the beginning in 966 to bringing down communism to disproportional number of Nobel prize winners. There is not way this nation is not the future. It is a great language to learn if you can get past the crazy grammar.
You say well I will double the number of people I can speak to if I learn Spanish. In my mind it serves no point unless you are passionate about this language. Why? I have traveled through South America and the Caribbeans and never had a problem with English. I am also from the US where large parts of the population is Spanish.
But I have never used Spanish. I study Spanish now because I like it, but not because it is useful. In fact, I have a Spanish website and really love this language, but it is not my first choice or the best choice if you were going to learn one more language. But to compare it is one of the easiest languages to learn.
Do not learn Spanish because you think it is some golden ticket, it is not.
Here is my rational, Polish is the top language because with Polish you will be an amazingly different. No other language can compare.
Polish is a unique language. It also the hardest language to learn. However, it will make you unique as is Ukrainian, Norwegian or even Romanian. It is also very useful as Polish people are everywhere, especially the UK, Brazil (1 million) Australia, US Poles are pretty much everywhere.
Polish people love to explore the world, not only for work, but like Wojciech Cejrowski, they are passionate all things cultural. I have been in the most remote places and met Polish speaking people, from South American jungles to Mississippi (now that is really remote).
Warsaw Opera house 1938 - Best language to learn for literature and rich culture.
Many businesses are outsourcing to Poland. Investment opportunities are in the new and emerging markets. Poland will be a net recipient of globalization for at least the next 15 years.
Poles are progressive. Do you think you can study French for a few years and be accepted by the French? No way. But Poland is a very progressive country and if you learn Polish, Poles will be more open then the French.
The best combination of languages to learn is – one universal language and one unique language
How do I know this and can go against conventional wisdom with confidence? I am an American and have been teaching languages in Europe for many years. My friends that have studied English and French or English and German get yawns from people on their CV when looking for a job or new opportunity. This combination of languages is nothing special. It is a generalist. However, my friends that know English and Polish or English and Norwegian, have doors open to them. They are experts and specialists.
Indian linguistic map - learn a unique language - this is the best langauge to learn.
One universal language like English and one unique language like Polish makes you stand out and shine if you are an English native speaker.
Language learning and relationships
Lets be honest and cut through the BS, countries like Sweden, Poland, Ukraine, Russia, Romania and Iceland have the most beautiful women. If you were to learn one of these languages things might happen in terms of relationships.
If you are back in the USA checking your match.com account when you get home from the office hoping something will happen, guess again. If you are living in some exotic European country and speak their language, you might be surprised.
Best language to learn if you are a guy -A lot of my friends have made this comment: ‘there is no way I would marry a French or German or American woman’ . However, Polish women are the most beautiful women in the world. Hmm, I am living in Poland and I do not know if I want the rest of the world finding out about Polish women and then moving here, but it is true.
18th century Polish lady - learn Polish the best language to learn if you have an eye for beauty.
Disclaimer, I am also Polish in ancestry of course so perhaps I am partial.
Best language to learn if you are a girl – If you are a women, many women like Italian or Spanish guys, so these languages you might find more exciting.
I met an American girl in South America. She said she was 35 not married, a lawyer living in NYC. She said scr_w it and moved to South America, learned Spanish and got married. I do not know if she is still with this Latin musician but at least she had guts and dared to be different.
Should with languages is boring
My point is do not study a language that is common or you think you should. Have you ever noticed the word should sounds like the word S_ _ t. Never base your life on shoulds, especially other people’s conceptions. That is, do not listen to conventional wisdom as to what language you should speak.
Learn the language you have a connection to (ancestral), that is interesting for you. I think the less spoken languages will make you more unique and more interesting as a person, as a human. This is why I recommend you ignore conventional wisdom about the best language to learn in the world and consider what am conveying.
Best language to learn – I need your feedback
What languages have you studied and how has it affected your life? That is, what experience has this language brought you. Do you agree with my thesis that Polish (or some linguistically equivalent language) is the best language in the world to learn?
Tags: Best language to learn
36 responses to Best language to learn
Great article. Greatings from Poland!
Świetny artykuł. Pozdrowienia z Polski
Thanks, When it comes to languages and people have to really think and just not repeat what other people say or think. If you really think about it one universal and one unique language is the best strategy for learning a language. Polish is the best language to learn because this is where all the actively is happening, its the new Europe.
The best language in the world (;
I find the idea that the best combination is one universal and one unique extremely compelling.
But why Polish? I have another idea: learn Norwegian.
As you said, Norwegian works wonders, and it is really easy to learn (source: pagef30.com/2008/08/why-norwegian-is-easiest-language-for.html or I made an introductory course here: ikindalikelanguages.com/courses/IntroductionToNorwegian/). That’s a lot more easy and looks good on your CV. While Polish is not the hardest language in the world (I don’t believe it is very hard at all), it is certainly harder than the Scandinavian languages.
Also, if you do lean towards those Slavic languages, why not learn Russian? Russian is a lot more exotic, used just as widely and it is similar in difficulty to Polish (except the alphabet but there are just 30 something letters). Also it could serve you in the whole Asia. And Russian girls are just as good as Polish.
Chinese and Hindu count too. Swahili is also catching on. I guess you would have to look at the cultures of those languages first as well.
Anyway, the main suggestions I have put up in this post: Norwegian, Russian.
You have a nice will language site but Polish is the best language to learn. Poland has the critical mass of people, 38 million in Poland and 12 million aboard. Which makes it unique but enough people to be important. Further, if you know Polish you can understand Czech, Slovak and a few more languages as the Slavic languages are the most closely related of all the European languages.
Poland is like the new frontier, a lot of action, business and cultural energy developing. Poland was always a great culture, just communism and the war, held it back economically. Now it is taking off again.
Polish people have a lot of mental energy.
Many people say the Chinese are smart, maybe it is just there are so many Chinese and you notice the smart once. But also because there are 1 billion 300 million of them.
Poland has always been a major player in Europe, even though there are not many Poles. Can you imagine if there were 1.3 billion Poles in the world? All that mental energy the Poles have.
It would be a very interesting and crazy place. Poland has such an interesting history and culture for so few people.
I think the future of Europe is in the center and east not the west. Poland is where the action is. Those are some more reason Poland is the best language to learn.
I know many people do not see this but in 2008 and 2009 and now it looks maybe for 2010 Poland is the fastest growing (really the only growing economy) in North America and Europe. It was the only country which had positive growth. This is the way the world works. What was good the center of action 10 years ago is not the center today. The people who are in the know are ahead of the trend not lagging behind. This is another reason I would choose Polish and my unique language to learn.
Latin was the best language to learn 1500 years ago, but is it today? French was the best language to learn 300 years ago but is it today? What is the best language to learn depends on when.
Funny! But a really interesting point of view! Pozdrawiam!
It is funny, but do you want to know the strangest thing about it, it is true. The best language to learn to compliment English is a unique language. The best unique language in the world is Polish, because there are so many Poles around the world working and traveling and back home in Poland things are changing so fast that most Poles do not see how in five years Poland is a new hub for investment. That is why I nominate Polish as the best language to learn. And even if I am wrong, which I am not, Polish literature is beautiful.
Very interesting
i think if You found some other polish speaking person somewhere there he/she will appreciate that You know his language and really enjoy to speak with You, and of course help You if You need it.
Święta prawda człowieku – The whole world speaks intermediate English. When I meet someone that speaks English it does not do anything for me. I am an American and I have meet intermediate English speakers and Spanish speakers my whole life. Yawn (ziewać).
However, if I meet someone who speaks Polish or something unusual, then that is interesting. Even if I am Boston interviewing people for a job in my department, it gets my attention.
That’s precisely why I’m making a website for learners of Polish
Nice article, thanks!
I think you’re just being ethnocentric. I would still go for Spanish and German…In Asia, Polish is alien.
But in Asia English is spoken. Therefore, German or Spanish does not get you anywhere. But if you spoke Polish you would be a specialist. And on my blog everyday I get people from Asia interested in the Polish language for one reason or another. See it is not just the number of people or how widely spoken a language is that makes it the best language to learn. GM is one of the most widely traded stock or was, but is it good? While many small companies have real value. So it is with languages.
Hi,
Thank you for this nice post:) I am glad to read it (I am Polish). Yes, my fellow countrymen are everywhere (this is partly a result of our tragic history).
:
As for Polish women, I think Napoleon would agree with you
napoleonguide.com/lovemw1.htm
Polish women are the best.
Thanks for a most interesting blog. I am in agreement with you about the benefits of being bilingual. Those who are bilingual are in a more advanced space intellectually, in that they are able to relate two cultures and languages to one another, and view culture and human interactions from more than one perspective. Bilinguals are also by far more interesting, original, and creative people. They are able to combine elements from two cultures and develop a unique personal interpretation and outlook on life that is not limited to just one point of reference.
As for the best language to learn, I would say it is a personal question, but agree with your statement that it is better to learn a less-frequently spoken language. Polish, Lithuanian, Estonian, Latvian, etc. are all good choices. Learning a minor language gives you great repport with those who speak that language natively. It is an immediate to uniqueness of perspective. Further, if you are a native English speaker, then you can almost guarantee that can find immediate job opportunities in that country (should you need them) since bilingual speakers of that minor language and English will be in demand.
Pozdrowienia z Polski
How many languages are enought to learn?
I’m thai. I’m studying English and I think I’m going to study French. Is it good? or Is it too much to study?
If you’re Thai, better to learn Mandarin (rising China) or Malay (Malaysia to the south). If want an international European language consider German over French (German economy doing better.)
On English-speakers learning Polish, well maybe for some. If have interest in Asia generally, better to do Mandarin or Japanese or Malay / Indonesian. The latter is the easiest. If only have an interest in Europe, really depends which part of Europe or cities in Europe you are interested in, and then the language follows.
I’m Asian. . .and im taking Spanish course now. Honestly Im interest in learning many foreign languages, and I think I start love Polish too. But how do I find Polish course? I mean there’s no Polish course in my country. . .
I will come out with Polish courses. One will be flashcards, another will be an mp3 program another a mobile phone course and another software. But until then I have a free Polish course online at polishgrammar.com
The Polish language is great but definitely not the hardest language to learn. The Foreign Service Institute of the US Department of State has compiled approximate learning expectations for a number of languages. For native speakers of English it takes approximately 1100 hours to learn Polish (as much as for Icelandic, Russian, Finnish, Georgian or Hindi). For Arabic, Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese and Korean it takes 2200 hours. For closely related languages like Dutch, German, French and Italian a English speaker needs about 500-600 hours.
Good for them. I am glad you brought that up (it has been brought up here many times). I have seen this report and the person writing it has never learned these languages. They are just some bureaucrat using recycled information on a theoretical level. Not someone in the trenches learning a languages everyday. I do.
Further, when you say lean a language they are talking about learning the complete writing system, which is another story. Language was only verbal for 50,000 years and only in the last 100 years has it become written. So what is their definition of learning a languages. I think 99.9% of a language is spoken. How often do you talk each day compared to write? Did people 100 years about not know a language because it was the time before mass education? I have gone into an African market and people can speak four languages no problem, but if they do not know the writing grammatical system the bureaucrat would say aha. Try a stream of Polish pronunciation compared to an Asian language written written in western characters.
I am learning Chinese as is my daughter and wife and I can tell you it is a lot easier than Polish, which I had to learn.
What is your opinion on learning Swedish then? There is no way I’m learning Polish so I have been thinking about learning Swedish, or Norwegian. Are there other languages like of a different language family that are still nearly as valuable?
I think learn the language you are really into. If you are into it you will learn it. I am horrible with languages but I learned Polish as I was into it. So choose a language where the culture and people and even the girls are most interesting for you.
Hi Mark, I was wondering which language should i choose. At this point I speak polish, english and danish. I’m considering french, dutch, russian or arabic. Could you help me in choosing one of them? I don’t know yet, what I wanna do in the future, but as my mom used to say ‘languages are the key to everything’. What do you recommend? regards, K.
Wow you speak a lot of languages. It depends on what culture you are interested in the most. Dutch is close to English and Danish and Russian close to Polish so maybe you want to try something different. French is always cool and romantic as a girl, however, I would do something like Chinese. It is so different and so useful and interesting. It is a non European language so it would open your life up. I am giving my daughter some Chinese lessons. The spoken language is not hard only the written. But Arabic is cool also.
HI, I speak English, Arabic and French and I am seeking to learn a fourth language, preferably a Europian language. I wanted to ask if it is best to learn an eastern language (Russian,Polish,..) than a western one ( Italien, Portegese,..)?
Polish unique? It is so tied with the rest of those Northern European languages so what is so unique aboutit?
Unique for me means anything that is almost always not considered and yet it’s there. People just don’t know about it that’s why it’s unique.
So there’s only one language that meets the crietria of not being considered. . . not in a million years and yet it’s a beautiful language with a flavor that is both crude and elegant and precise but full of innuendos you can shake a wink at:
IT IS TAGALOG!!!
Kuha ninyo?
Hi there! I’m Spanish and I can speak good English and French. So now I would like to learn a different language, just for hobby. I got interested in Polish just because I read some poems of Wislawa Szymborska (Polish Nobel Prize of literature in 1994) and I loved them.
Well… I don’t know exactly where to start, so please could you give me some advice?
¡Muchas gracias a todos por su atención!
Well… excuse me for the little mistake I made. Wislawa Szymborska was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1996, not in 1994.
¡Salu2!
English, Russian, Spanish, Chinese, but not Polish ( excuse me
). Your arguments are not enough to begin to study Polish.
Thanks for your advice Natalie. The point is that I started studying French because I liked French literature, and now, some years later, I’m reading “Les miserables” sans problème.
Of course, French is a romanic language, and it’s easier than slavic laguages, but I don’t consider it as a great trouble (excuse me if I’m wrong…)
So thanks again
i think everyone should learn irish. simply the best. nóinín i measc na neantóg.
Now THATS unique.:)
Hello,
So as of lately I have been researching what would be the best/most useful language to learn for travel and for bettering my chances for graduate school and although your article sounds pretty convincing I havnt found much else on the web pointing me towards polish. So i was wondering if you could site any other references that would better convince me to do so.
When you are talking math or physics you can look for data. However, when you are in the realm of subjective humanities, logical arguments are the best. languages are in the latter.
I think the best language to learn is like I wrote. If you know a major language or two learn a minor one that is less spoken but were this is a lot of energy and growth of interest. The best languages to lean do not have to be the ones I listed but the same idea.
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