Which languages would you be most impressed someone knowing how to speak, read, and write with proficiency?

Question

Answer 1

jgokgotit | 399 opinions shared on Other topic.

Yoda

Russian or any Asian language. They are the hardest ones for an English-speaker to learn. If the person is not an English speaker then add English to that list.

Answer 2

Avicenna | 1.9K opinions shared on Other topic.

Master

Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Modern Standard Arabic, Vietnamese, Georgian, Finnish, Hungarian, Thai , Basque

Physics-Man

19 d
I have Basque ancestry and am interested in learning the language, but I haven't been able to find Basque language learning material.
Avicenna

19 d
One of my grandfathers was Basque. You might need to find these materials in Spain. I’ll see what I can dig up.
Avicenna

19 d
I forgot about Csntonede- more times and tougher ones than Mandarin.
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Avicenna

17 d
* Cantonese. tones

Thanks for the mho

Answer 3

Physics-Man

I have Basque ancestry and am interested in learning the language, but I haven't been able to find Basque language learning material.

Answer 4

Avicenna

One of my grandfathers was Basque. You might need to find these materials in Spain. I’ll see what I can dig up.

Answer 5

Avicenna

I forgot about Csntonede- more times and tougher ones than Mandarin.

Answer 6

Avicenna

* Cantonese. tones

Thanks for the mho

Answer 7

zeitgeist057 | 61 opinions shared on Other topic.

Explorer

Mandarin, Russian, Latin, Gaelic, English, Hebrew, Navajo (no written language),
Khoekhoe, Turkish, and Arabic. https://www.youtube.com/embed/5Voh8CnC2xo(Khoekhoe speaker)

Physics-Man

19 d
Why English? It's spoken well throughout the planet and isn't quite as isolated as much as say, Cantonese or Korean.
zeitgeist057

19 d
Because you said "proficiently". In my estimation, many native speakers of English don't even speak, read, or write proficiently. They have no idea how to implement proper grammar, how to spell or pronounce words in their only language. Proficiency in English is impressive, and noticed by others who are proficient.
zeitgeist057

19 d
Also, it is a difficult language to master. It's not difficult to learn the basics and speak poorly.
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Physics-Man

19 d
Hmm... I disagree with that. Even if most people aren't proficient, which doesn't equate to fluently or perfectly, most I'd say are still competent or skilled in it. Perhaps this is a case of personal experience?

Furthermore, there are 59 countries where English is an official language, which is the most of any language, so the total number of speakers of that language who're proficient even by an arbitrary definition should still greatly outnumber nearly every other language even especially more when you take its international and influential status into consideration.

As a result, it's the most spoken 2nd language and has the greatest number of speakers in the world overall of any language, so the probability of finding someone proficient in it is going to be the highest of any language out there. That's not quite as impressive.
zeitgeist057

19 d
Your points are taken. I however still believe English is a difficult language to learn, and therefore makes my list of languages I am impressed by. Not so much if it is the only language a person knows and they are still inept.

Answer 8

Physics-Man

Why English? It's spoken well throughout the planet and isn't quite as isolated as much as say, Cantonese or Korean.

Answer 9

zeitgeist057

Because you said "proficiently". In my estimation, many native speakers of English don't even speak, read, or write proficiently. They have no idea how to implement proper grammar, how to spell or pronounce words in their only language. Proficiency in English is impressive, and noticed by others who are proficient.

Answer 10

zeitgeist057

Also, it is a difficult language to master. It's not difficult to learn the basics and speak poorly.

Answer 11

Physics-Man

Hmm... I disagree with that. Even if most people aren't proficient, which doesn't equate to fluently or perfectly, most I'd say are still competent or skilled in it. Perhaps this is a case of personal experience?

Furthermore, there are 59 countries where English is an official language, which is the most of any language, so the total number of speakers of that language who're proficient even by an arbitrary definition should still greatly outnumber nearly every other language even especially more when you take its international and influential status into consideration.

As a result, it's the most spoken 2nd language and has the greatest number of speakers in the world overall of any language, so the probability of finding someone proficient in it is going to be the highest of any language out there. That's not quite as impressive.

Answer 12

zeitgeist057

Your points are taken. I however still believe English is a difficult language to learn, and therefore makes my list of languages I am impressed by. Not so much if it is the only language a person knows and they are still inept.