Hola Ricky -
xxx
A multilingual ex-airline pilot has some language advice.
I flew worldwide from 1969 until 2008, I am now retired.
For your info, I am native of Belgium, lived 25 years in USA, now in Argentina since 1993.
xxx
In Belgium I got French and Flemish (a Dutch dialect) as basic languages.
I studied English (from age 10) - also had classes of German and Spanish.
I slept through classes of Latin/Greek (yet these helped me for other languages).
xxx
I introduce myself "fully fluent trilingual" English-Spanish-French.
My Dutch/Flemish is "rusty", but I can still have a "social conversation".
Forgot most of my German, but can ask my way around, order "ein bier bitte" and be polite.
Frequently in Brazil at the beach, I massacre Portuguese well by now.
Portuguese is quite similar to Spanish - I often confuse the two = "Portuñol"...!
xxx
I know a few sentences of Russian (and can read the Cyrillic alphabet).
I can read/understand Italian (yet unable to speak it, except a few words)
Also can read/understand other languages, which are derived -
Examples:
Thanks to Dutch/Flemish, can read/understand some Afrikaans, the South African language.
My Dutch/Spanish/Portuguese helps me understand Papiamento (Dutch Carribean) -
With Dutch/Flemish/German I can figure many words of Yiddish -
Dutch/Flemish/German also helps me understand some Scandinavian languages...
Except Icelandic - Nobody can understand them...!
And with French, I surprised myself being able to read/understand Haitian "Créole"...
xxx
For your future career, I recommend study of Mandarin (official Chinese language)
By the year 2050, the entire world will only speak Mandarin and maybe English...
Forget the Cantonese - (as Load Toad mentioned correctly) -
Essentially, Spanish can be valuable for Central and South America...
If you hear "rumbo dos siete cero" it means "heading two seven zero"
In Africa, I would recommend French for North, West and Central Africa.
"Authorisé au niveau trois cinq zero" = "Cleared flight level three five zero"...
So, if you think you will travel these continents, you know which ones could be of help.
xxx
And another mention (outside languages) - for our American friends -
Familiarize yourself with the SI - "metric" measures.
You must think "meters, liters, kilos, and Celsius", the rest of the world does it...
When I arrived in the USA, I really had problems with Imperial measures...
How many "ounces" in a "pound" was a major problem for me -
If I heard "35º and sunny" on the radio, I thought I did not need a jacket.
xxx
Study vocabularies, learn sentences - don't worry about grammar.
A gender mistake, or saying "womans" instead of "women" is not important.
When babies learn to speak, no need to care about irregular verbs or grammar rules.
xxx
Good luck, Ricky -
Happy contrails
P.S.
Don't forget to study proper ICAO English - "10-4" is not the same as "Roger"
And "one-two-oh-point-three" is questionable "Yanqui" tribal dialect for 120.3...
