Become fluent in more than one language

I’ve started learning Japanese.

I’m not really sure why – it was a bit of a spur-of-the-moment decision. Japanese wasn’t even on the shortlist of languages I wanted to tackle. But here I am.

Now, I don’t expect to become fluent anytime soon. I’m starting from zero, and I’ve got a long way to go. But it’s something – I always said I wasn’t doing anything about this goal because I didn’t know where to start. I’ve started.

... though probably not hard enough, since I haven’t really narrowed it down at all. I don’t know why I’m finding it so difficult: it’s just a matter of choosing a place to start. If I decide I want to learn another language later, there’s nothing stopping me.

I’m going to keep this goal as-is for now, but I’ll probably change it to something more specific in the near future.

There are just so many choices, I don’t know where to begin. I tend to lean toward German, only because I already know a little. Of course, I dismiss it almost as quickly for the same reason – I’m nowhere near fluent, or even at a conversational level, but I’m familiar enough with the grammar and vocabulary that I could probably pick it up fairly quickly if I was exposed to it enough.

My second instinct is to go for French. I am Canadian, after all, and I feel a little guilty that my French is so terrible. (I do manage a little. I’ve heard it referred to as ‘cereal-box French’ – the bare minimum every English-speaking Canadian picks up, simply because we’re surrounded by bilingual packaging. Not that being able to translate “fat free / no sugar added” is all that useful.) But I’m still scarred by memories of junior-high French class. I will tackle French eventually, but not yet.

Other than that… I have no idea. I truly can’t think of a language I wouldn’t like to learn. I just have to pick one to start with.