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Re:Kenya will start teaching Chinese to elementary school st... by bluGill on Wednesday January 09, 2019 @12:35PM (#18866724)
That is only true when the other language is one that someone else you want to talk to speaks AND the other person doesn't speak your language. Unfortunately there are thousands of different languages in the world, it doesn't matter what language you speak somebody exists who doesn't speak it and then you cannot communicate. Alternatively, if the other party has already invested in learning your language there is less benefit to learning theirs. (less is not zero)

Is any language a good choice? The world changes all the time, over my lifetime English has been the best choice for the majority of people - in part because the majority of language learners have chosen English making it self-reinforcing (which isn't to discount the other reasons to learn English). However history is not always a predictor of the future. Even if history is the best overall your particular future might make Kazakh the best language to learn. (I picked Kazakh because you have probably never even heard of it before)

Don't forget that time spent learning a language could be used for something else. Language is useful to know, but it isn't the only thing and you cannot possibly learn all the useful things there are to know. You have to choose and your choices will both open and close doors to your future. Good luck choosing.

Re:Kenya will start teaching Chinese to elementary school st... by sonnyblarney on Wednesday January 09, 2019 @12:41PM (#18866783)
"That is only true when the other language is one that someone else you want to talk to speaks AND the other person doesn't speak your language"

Don't agree. It's good for self development even if you'll never use it very often.

Language is an extremely powerful human concept. It forms cultures. They say Germans are candid and direct? Well, maybe that's because there's usually only one way to say something in German! In English, you can almost always say something that has two meanings, at the very same time.

Learning a language is like visiting a completely foreign culture and it can change your view of things. It's like having an extra limb.

Life is very long, there's plenty of time to learn all sorts of things. A second language is useful, which is why there are all sorts of options in grade school.

And Chinese is a pretty good option.

Re:Kenya will start teaching Chinese to elementary school st... by bluGill on Wednesday January 09, 2019 @01:51PM (#18867520)
You have reduced language to no better than learning to knit, but I won't disagree.
Re:Kenya will start teaching Chinese to elementary school st... by almaty on Wednesday January 09, 2019 @01:06PM (#18867030)
Fun fact, European traders used to learn kipchak language, which highly resembles modern kazakh language. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codex_Cumanicus