questions on which languages to learn... (Minneapolis, St. Paul: home, schools, college)

[MascaraSnake]

Not sure how long I'll be living here (at least a few years past college) and polyglotting tends to be looked well upon with jobs. Is there a listing of the minority languages spoken at home here? I tend to be a language whiz, so I'd love to try my hand at Somali, Hmong, or Hindi.

[Slig]

The languages I hear most are Spanish, Swahili and Arabic but that might just be for the areas I spend time in. Hmong is pretty common too.

[Twisted_Logic]

Originally Posted by MascaraSnake

Not sure how long I'll be living here (at least a few years past college) and polyglotting tends to be looked well upon with jobs. Is there a listing of the minority languages spoken at home here? I tend to be a language whiz, so I'd love to try my hand at Somali, Hmong, or Hindi.

I speak both Hindi and Somali and I can understand Arabic if I pay close attention. I would love to learn Italian and French sometime.

[mplsgirl]

Non-English languages commonly found throughout MSP:

Spanish

Somali: many Somalis also speak Kiswahili and Arabic; some are fluent in European languages also - Italian comes to mind). Very difficult to learn for Westerners, especially if you do not spend a large amount of time interacting with Somalis on a daily basis.

Amharic/ Afaan Oromoo: Ethiopian languages - most all Oromos are fluent in both languages, not the case with the Amhara. But there are more Oromos than Amharas in MSP. Some basic classes I believe are taught in Brooklyn Park.

Hmong - big one in MSP, lots of Hmong residents

There is also a growing Burmese-speaking population from the arrival of the Karen refugees in recent years.

And there are a fair amount of immigrants/ refugees that have hailed from Eastern European nations, Russian might be a good one to learn as well.

[tvdxer]

Originally Posted by MascaraSnake

Not sure how long I'll be living here (at least a few years past college) and polyglotting tends to be looked well upon with jobs. Is there a listing of the minority languages spoken at home here? I tend to be a language whiz, so I'd love to try my hand at Somali, Hmong, or Hindi.

Main minority languages in Minneapolis are:

- Hmong. MSP has what is probably the largest Hmong community in the U.S. (St. Paul especially)
- Somali. MSP has what is probably the largest Somali community in the U.S. (Minneapolis especially)
- Spanish. Where ISN'T it a primary minority language?

According to Wikipedia, the Hiawatha Metro's ticket computers have Hmong, Somali, Spanish, and English as their languages.

Some others that might be spoken by large groups in the Twin Cities are Russian, Vietnamese, and Laotian.

[Slig]

Check out Northeast Minneapolis area. There are alot of Arabic speaking people there. I just sold my car to an Arabic speaking gentleman from northeast and I also had an Egyptian co-worker from that area as well.

[City_boy1]

Originally Posted by mplsgirl

Somali: many Somalis also speak Kiswahili and Arabic; some are fluent in European languages also - Italian comes to mind). Very difficult to learn for Westerners, especially if you do not spend a large amount of time interacting with Somalis on a daily basis.

somali language is diffcult but its beautiful language and it can be learned .. In fact There is new and famous Western girl who sings in somali..
This narwegian girl can speak better somali than i do , even though i am of Somali background myself.lol

YouTube - Tanya Gedgedoonka Dunida Clips


YouTube - Tanya - Weli sidii Baan - maakhir.com

[golfgal]

General rule of thumb, the 'newer' immigrants are the ones they have the hardest time finding interpreters for so go for that language. I know many schools are looking for Somali language speakers for their ESL programs and such. It would be a good place to start. Hmong, while a large population, has been in the metro for well over 20 years and there are many, many Hmong speakers, children of immigrants quite often, so those jobs aren't as plentiful. Spanish is always a good one as many companies specifically list Spanish speaking as a 'bonus' qualification.