[Saddam Hussein]

Russia will soon invade the United States.  High schools will be priority targets.

[Thork]

Russia will soon invade the United States.  High schools will be priority targets.

America don't know how to attack a school. They only have weapons that destroy oil wells.

[Hoppy]

Russia will soon invade the United States.  High schools will be priority targets.

America don't know how to attack a school. They only have weapons that destroy oil wells.

Also the weather patterns on the moon.

[Saddam Hussein]

Russia will soon invade the United States.  High schools will be priority targets.

America don't know how to attack a school. They only have weapons that destroy oil wells.

Irrelevant, seeing how Russia is the one doing the attacking.

[Snupes]

I highly doubt NATO would do nothing

I didn't say they would do nothing.

I honestly believe that NATO would do nothing

Notice only one of those says honestly.

kk good save 12/10

[Particle Person]

Yeah, that was close. For a moment there I thought Rushy might be really dumb.

[Yaakov ben Avraham]

For whatever its worth, IRUSH, I took Spanish in public high school, and lived in a town half Mexican in population, and then went to Guadalajara and studied during my summers of college, and studied more Spanish during my college academic years. I lived in Costa Rica for two and a half years also.

I speak Spanish as well as I do English. I am grateful for having learned the language. I studied Latin for two years in college as well, and lost most of that, and I'm trying to get that back now.

My knowledge of Hebrew is poor, just enough to get me through the Prayer Book without looking like a total schmuck in services. I can't read the alphabet, though.

I think you are right that Spanish or Mandarin Chinese are your best bets. Certainly Spanish is going to be hella easier. Latin is a good choice if you wish to have an appreciation for our cultural patrimony, and if you wish to understand the grammatical base of European languages generally. And of course, if you get Latin, learning Spanish (at the same time or later in life) will be simple.

So, that is where I would rate things. Overall, if I were you, and I had to make a choice based on a purely utilitarian grounds, and had a gun pointed at my head, I would pick Spanish. I think that would be the best option if the above situation obtained.

[Thork]

[Yaakov ben Avraham]

Except that Esperanto only has 2,000,000 speakers, and doesn't look to be getting any more soon. It really serves very little purpose in the overall scheme of things.

[Lemon]

It is highly useful and (especially in Europe) we need to push for its use.

[Rushy]

I'm probably just going to take another Spanish class. Its easier to find people to (attempt) to converse with, especially in Arizona.

[Yaakov ben Avraham]

In the United States, aside from George Soros, who is a native speaker of Esperanto, you can probably count the number of speakers of the language on your fingers and your toes.

[rooster]

In the United States, aside from George Soros, who is a native speaker of Esperanto, you can probably count the number of speakers of the language on your fingers and your toes.

Well damn, can I cash in on the rare speaker I've known?

[Thork]

In the United States, aside from George Soros, who is a native speaker of Esperanto

There are no native speakers of Esperanto.

[Eddy Baby]

You guys are silly, languages are an end in themselves, learn whatever you want.

And Thork, yes there are.

[Yaakov ben Avraham]

George Soros was brought up speaking Esperanto as a native tongue, along with his native Magyar and English. That makes him a native speaker. Just because its an artificial language doesn't mean you can learn to speak it from birth.

[Rushy]

There are no native speakers of Esperanto.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_Esperanto_speakers

[Thork]

na•tive (nāˈtĭv)
 ► 
 
adj. Being such by birth or origin: a native Scot.
adj. Being one's own because of the place or circumstances of one's birth: our native land.

No one is born in Esperantoland. It isn't the official language of any country. As no one is native to Esperantoland because it doesn't exist, you can't speak the language like a native. Obviously.

[Particle Person]

na•tive (nāˈtĭv)
 ► 
 
adj. Being such by birth or origin: a native Scot.
adj. Being one's own because of the place or circumstances of one's birth: our native land.

No one is born in Esperantoland. It isn't the official language of any country. As no one is native to Esperantoland because it doesn't exist, you can't speak the language like a native. Obviously.

That isn't what it means to be a native speaker. A person born in the U.S. can be a native speaker of Spanish.

[Ghost of V]

If you are born to a family that speaks Esperanto, and Esperanto was your first language... you are a native speaker of Esperanto. Or is there something I'm missing?