I would like to learn a second language, and I would like some outside opinions on which one that should be. I have read through the FAQ and hopefully this meets the guidelines. I am a native English speaker from the U.S.A. My choice is between Spanish and German. Thank you to those willing to take the time and read through my wall of text and help me out.
Spanish: I studied Spanish for my four years of high school. By the time I finished I was somewhere between ILR S1 and S2 (stronger during school because I was using it. I didn't practice much over the summers). Since then I haven't used it much at all and I am now at below elementary level. I have had opportunities to speak with people in my life that were fluent, but I never felt confident speaking outside the classroom. As most will well know, Spanish is the second largest spoken language in the States and knowing it would be highly beneficial. I also have a job where knowing Spanish would be a great benefit. I enjoy Latin culture, food, and music, but I'm not obsessed with it all the time. I think the language is beautiful and the relative ease of learning is a plus (basically the same script as English [excepting ñ and accents on some letters] and the pronunciation is very straightforward). The fact that I know a little bit already and it feels like it should be so easy pulls me towards it. I have tried to speak in public a couple times since school and have not done well, mostly due to my limited knowledge/practice, but it does give me some hangups and I feel like even if I learn I'll never be confident enough to speak in public.
Enter German. A few years ago I started to really get into genealogy. I knew growing up that half my heritage is German, and I was able to trace that side all the way back to the fatherland. Part of me would really love to learn German to celebrate my heritage. To really explore the food and culture of where my ancestors came from. German is daunting in terms of grammar and pronunciation, but I know that if I were willing to put in the work it's not an insurmountable challenge. The biggest hangup with learning German for me is that I'm not sure I'll be able to find anyone to communicate with. The language was lost in the family a couple generations ago. My parent and uncle speak a bit because they studied in high school (similar to my Spanish situation). I know that there are online tools, and I could possibly find a local group to meet up with. Maybe I could get some of my family to learn with me?
Some days I get excited about German. I'm going to learn the "language of my people" and learn all about the culture and my family's history, but then I think, 'Well I already sort of know Spanish and it would be so useful here.' and I feel bad about not keeping up with it, and not learning it first. I know this is a really individually based question, but would it be too much to learn both? Focus on German because that would require the most study and do some Spanish Duolingo on the side to brush up and get back to where I was. Does anyone have any experiences with letting go of a language that they spent a lot of time on?
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