Good site to learn French/Portuguese??

[Thewhovianathogwarts]

So, I know two languages other than English, but I learned Spanish in school (almost fluent, not quite), and picked up Italian from spending time in Italy. (anyone been to Sistiana?? My dad's friend owns a bar near there!) I'm now looking to learn French and/or Portuguese, but I don't know any sites to learn it from. I'm looking for something free. It doesn't have to be the best, since Spanish is kind of similar to French, and VERY similar to Portuguese, but I couldn't find any free sites. I don't know maybe I'm just not looking hard enough

[miniboes]

Duolingo is excellent, go give it a try!
https://www.duolingo.com/

[Jebus]

I don't recommend learning two languages simultaneously. Because of the similarity of the two languages you are likely to confuse them. French is the world's fastest growing language and is definitely more important than Portuguese. On the other hand, Portuguese would be a lot easier for you to learn. I would look at where you are more likely to spend your future years and then decide based on that. It would surprise me if you can't find any free sites. With French you would definitely need auditory learning in order to catch the proper pronunciation.

[miniboes]

French is the world's fastest growing language

I highly doubt that. Do you have any sources?

[Jebus]

French is the world's fastest growing language

I highly doubt that. Do you have any sources?

Possibly the world's most spoken language by 2050.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/pascalemman ... be-french/

[brimstoneSalad]

French is the world's fastest growing language

I highly doubt that. Do you have any sources?

It's because of Africa.

Right now it's English, Chinese, and Spanish, but none of those populations are growing as fast.
But population growth isn't necessarily a good thing, because it's one of the things making Africa unstable due to being unable to educate the population.

It's possible that it could be a thing in the future, but I doubt it.
Virtually nobody learns French to talk to Africans (unless they just like learning languages), because not only is it basically a second language in much of Africa anyway with native languages holding sway, and French only being official (literally just the Lingua Franca), Africans learn English too when they're educated (or even possibly Chinese in the future, due to the growing investment there), and for any business purposes for anybody who doesn't speak English a translator would not be expensive.

I can't see French becoming more useful. I think English has pretty much won the fight for international language, and will probably continue to grow and dominate Africa by the time Africa becomes more economically important (if that time comes, which I somewhat doubt it will at this point since the essential bridge from being a third world to first world country -- labour -- is for better or worse becoming obsolete due to technology). Africa certainly has resources, but whether those countries will be able to leverage the economic or military power to protect and keep them is yet to be seen.

[miniboes]

I can't see French becoming more useful. I think English has pretty much won the fight for international language, and will probably continue to grow and dominate Africa by the time Africa becomes more economically important (if that time comes, which I somewhat doubt it will at this point since the essential bridge from being a third world to first world country -- labour -- is for better or worse becoming obsolete due to technology). Africa certainly has resources, but whether those countries will be able to leverage the economic or military power to protect and keep them is yet to be seen.

I agree. It is also worth noting that French is becoming less important in Europe because the younger generations of French speak much better english than their parents. I think the amount of people speaking a language is a pretty poor estimation of its value on its own, it really depends on who those people are.

[Jebus]

It is also worth noting that French is becoming less important in Europe because the younger generations of French speak much better english than their parents.

This is the case for virtually every non English speaking country in the world? Younger Chinese speak better English than their parents. Younger Italians speak better English than their parents. Younger Dutch speak better English than their parents and so on.

There is no doubt that English will always be the most important language in the world. The question is which will be the second most important language in the world.

[Pride The Solo King]

I speak portuguese.

[Unknownfromheaven]

So, I know two languages other than English, but I learned Spanish in school (almost fluent, not quite), and picked up Italian from spending time in Italy. (anyone been to Sistiana?? My dad's friend owns a bar near there!) I'm now looking to learn French and/or Portuguese, but I don't know any sites to learn it from. I'm looking for something free. It doesn't have to be the best, since Spanish is kind of similar to French, and VERY similar to Portuguese, but I couldn't find any free sites. I don't know maybe I'm just not looking hard enough

If you want to learn fast, i suggest you get the Pimsleur program.