Languages you want to know!

[Kevin]

So, I want to be an oral and maxillofacial surgeon when I'm older.
This means dental school.

This means I need an impressive resume and reasons for them to want me.

Cue the whole multi-lingual thing.

I speak English (of course), and I am capable in Spanish (not advanced, but well enough to get by a basic "How are you, where is the pain" thing). But I need more languages!

I've decided to learn Dutch, and after Dutch I'm going to attempt German. I also plan on taking signing courses at my local school for the deaf, so that I can communicate with those who cannot use speech (although I do know a few deaf people that can speak) to communicate.

My dad, though, wants me to learn Latin and Mandarin.
I'm all for Latin, because I enjoy the "romantic" languages, of course, and I would absolutely love learning an Asiatic language, but . . . Mandarin is so difficult! I have a very close friend that is from Thailand, and her mom speaks fluent Thai, so I might go for that so I can actually put it into practice.

I'm also learning Esperanto, which if you don't know about it you really should look it up. It's a man-made language designed to be easy to learn so that anyone anywhere can become an Esperantist without much trouble.

Anyway, the questions:
What language do you know?
What languages do you want to know?
What languages are you currently learning?

EDIT: After I learn a couple more languages, I plan on taking an English course so that I can learn to speak English the proper way. The main reason for this is that I have a desire to learn the reasons for all of the rules we apply in speaking (because native English speakers apply the rules without thinking about why that is the rule, they just accept it because it isn't something we really consider much).

Has anyone else ever wanted to take an English class for that reason?

[Jenny]

I know german ( because I'm from Germany) and English fluent (because I love the language).
I also learned the basics of french but it never got to me somehow. And I know just a little Italian.
I'd love to speak spanish and italian fluent too.

[Aaron Goin]

Speak English and failed out of French in high school. ^_^ So I speak it like a 2 year old.
I want to learn Hebrew, Czech, UK English ^_^ I also agree that Gaelic is pretty sweet.
Currently trying to learn Czech.

[Jezebel]

I speak English and French, and a little Japanese and Mandarin.
I want to learn Norwegian, Spanish, Italian, German, Russian... everything, really.
I am currently studying French (culture/literature) and possibly Dutch.

[Emma]

In order of ability:
English (fluent), French, Spanish, Swahili
I know the ASL alphabet and a few basic words, plus I can count to ten in German and Japanese.

My main goal right now is to become fluent in French, but after that I'd love to know Spanish well, and learn Yoruba, Irish, and Mandarin, not necessarily in that order.

Languages FTW!

[Sarahboo]

I took a cumulative four years of German (2 years in high school and 2 years in college) and I'm very sad to say that it didn't stick. I blame it on the fact that I never knew any German people to converse with and the fact that I can be easily distracted and a slacker.
I want to learn Japanese and American sign language. While I was studying German, the majority of the friends I made in college were either Japanese or Japanese-speaking Americans. I was totally hanging with the wrong crowd. I still have these friends and I would like to be able to know what the hell they are talking about when they start speaking the language to one another. I want to learn ASL because I encountered a lot of deaf individuals at my last job and I always felt like such an idiot because I couldn't converse with them outside of some basic hand gestures and written notes.
I am currently learning how to speak Toddler. It's a multi-faceted and rich language.

[emmet]

also, i have a friend who recently landed an awesome job in a dental office because they serve a very multi-cultural clientele + she just happens to speak tamil as a first language.

in terms of learning how the rules of english work + are bent + changed, you might be better off taking a linguistics class. linguists are interested in rules, but even more interested in how they are actually used, so you might find you learn more there about oddities that have become norms.

[Max Cosme]

I want to learn Koine Greek and Ancient Hebrew =) Along with Spanish and French and definitely Latin. At the moment, I only know English =/ but I will be picking up Spanish by New Year's, so I'm getting started =D

[Holly Draine]

I know english, and enough french to ordinarily understand what people are saying, but not enough to really carry my part of a conversation very far. I know even less Spanish.

I want to know Japanese, Mandarin, more Spanish, more French, and Swahili.

Dude, you sound a whole lot like the guy from Abundance of Katherines. XD It makes me happy.

[Holly Draine]

Oh, and ASL was my first language, and I took a class recently and am relearning it. I probably know more ASL than french at this point.

[Max Cosme]

What's ASL? =/ (I feel so stupid asking this... I bet I already know) >./body>

[Holly Draine]

No problem, man. It's American Sign Language, as apposed to British sign language. It's based on French syntax and is the most popular form of sign in the deaf community.

[Sarah Alexis]

I only know English. I know a few words and phrases in a couple other languages, but not enough to be able to communicate well with anyone. I would like to know Japanese, French, Italian, Slovak, Arabic, Hindi, Mandarin, Spanish... Ok, this list is getting long. I want to travel a lot, and I want to be able to communicate with people wherever I go, so I pretty much want to learn the languages of every place I want to visit, or at least the basics. I should probably get working on it because I have a lot to learn.