What is the most obscure language you would be willing to learn?

Question

By "obscure" I mean a language that is not often TAUGHT/STUDIED. So, even though a lot of people speak it, for an American, Hindi would still be an obscure language. Most West European languages then are not very obscure. Does that make sense?

Currently, mine would be Indonesian.

Answer 1

Hebrew/Yiddish. I don't know if it qualifies as obscure, but I've rarely seen it offered. I've read a lot of books that describe it so beautifully- there's such a rich culture behind it, and I think it'd be awesome to be able to read and write.

Answer 2

You did not specify your level of French or Spanish. However, I would recommend you to continue with Spanish (because of the large number of speakers) and a second one, that could be any of the following. French - it would be easy because you already know it somehow. Chinese Mandarin - as China becomes bigger in the global picture, people will need speakers/translators/interpreters of Chinese. Indian language - India most likely will become the second China (see above). Japanese - Japanese people and companies usually would pay good money to people doing good job translating. You might also look for a field you want to work (engineering, medicine, etc.) and then decide what languages are required in that field. For example, articles on Chinese medicine are regularly translated into English and sent to professionals in the field. Edit Do not worry that much about how difficult would be to learn Chinese or Japanese characters. I know at least a couple of guys that started learning these characters when they were your age, and mastered enough of them in a couple of years to live, study and work in Japan (one even married a Japanese). It is a matter of time and practice. About sign language - I think it is an interesting and noble choice, but you should note that it is not universal. Sign language changes from country to country, and in some cases can be considered as totally different.

Answer 3

Aramaic. Still spoken by a small group in Syria, it is the language of the origional versions of the New Testament. I would like to read what the gospels were like before the Greeks messed with them.

Answer 4

If you want obscure study basque or aramaic (not sure how to spell that last one) Basque is only spoken by the wackos who live in a remote area of Spain and Aramaic was popular around the time of Christ but has long since become a dead language. But why would you want to study an obscure language? why not one that's very popular or useful (spanish or chinese for instance)

Answer 5

Old English. Understanding it would give a new layer of meaning to the words you see every day. Interesting trivial fact: man originally meant all of humanity. wer- (as in werewolf) meant male and wif- meant female. Gives a new light to Word's gender specific language doesn't it? There are many more to be learned fromt eh study of Old English!

Answer 6

verify your passport is good and get out of the US

see quickly Hindi is not obscure

maybe check into the subcultures of Indonesia or one of the 800 something spoken languages in Africa

Hindi is a unifying language just as English is

to answer your question, I think I would like to learn Welsh

it's Olde English but more Gaelic in W. England area, in Wales

my last name is Welsh, new name is mispelled for Glenn's (son)

Answer 7

Pidgen English

Answer 8

Tagalong Tongan & Old English

Answer 9

I would say Afrikaans because it sounds kinda cool.

Not much good outside the Republic of South Africa, but cool nonetheless.

Answer 10

I will be learning Yiddish this summer, because it's my grandparents first language/
I also want to learn Hebrew, and sign language.