File :-(, x, )
Anonymous
Sup, /trv/?

Long story short, in approximately 3 year's time I will be traveling by road and air through Europe and Asia, beginning in the UK and winding up in Japan. I'm a blank slate when it comes to foreign languages, so I think that now is a good time to start learning. What language should I give priority to learning that will be used by the most people? I think that for most of Europe I'll be OK with English, so I was thinking either Russian, Mandarin or Japanese. Your thoughts?
>> Anonymous
bump for short attention span anons
>> Anonymous
Well, depends on how long you want to spend in each place!

In Europe, you should be OK with English, though German is widely spread throughout the germanic countries and East/Central Europe.

Russian is spoken widely between the ex-Soviert states, as well as East Europe, and even then Eastern European langauges are similar to Russian (I get around by speaking Russian, and Im understood, if not well).

Asian languages are much more difficult to learn for westerners, and you are less expected to know some. basics may be good, but unless you are travelling in rural areas, English and a guidebook will see you through.

But it really depends on how long you want to stay, and how immersed you want to be!
>> Anonymous
>>42791

Get a lonely planet phrase book for everything Chinese related. Remember, China is like a small fucking continent, they speak different dialects especially in the primarily rural western provinces. So no matter how much you prepare you'll still be fucked.
>> Anonymous
>>42905
True. I'm Chinese and I can't understand any of the southern dialects and accents unless they speak really slowly
>> Anonymous
Stick with a western langauge unless you have a calling to another one. You won't be able to master it without the motivation, or at least not nearly in a practical amount of time.

SURE I LOOKED I LOOKED LIKE AN IDIOT WHEN WE ALL WENT AROUND IN CLASS SAYING WHY WE TOOK CHINESE AND EVERYONE WAS ALL "BUSINESS" "GIRLFRIEND " ANCESTRY" AND I WAS ALL "I DUNNO I JUST LIKE IT" BUT WHO'S LAUGHING NOW? I'M THE ONE WHO STUDIED FOR 4 HOURS LAST NIGHT YOU BETTER BELIEVE I KNOW THESE FUCKING CHARACTERS GO TAKE YOUR MBA, GIRLFRIEND, FAMILY, AND SHOVE IT UP YOUR ASS.