Just curious which langugage everyone here is learning.
Both, in addition to Sanskrit. I also have books on Middle Egyptian, Sumerian, and Akkadian for when I feel comfortable with the first three. (Not sure how long that’ll take).
Latin, for now.
But I’ll do Greek later, that’s sure. And Sanskrit too.
aren’t we ambitious and hungry for languages
Latin and (biblical) Greek - although I’m planning on doing classical Greek later on this year.
Other languages I’m learning at the moment: French and German (mostly refreshing and adding to my high-school knowledge, though). After I’ve gotten a sufficient basis in both of these, I’m planning on learning Old French and Mittelhochdeutsch, as well as Old and Middle English.
Oh yeah, and since I’m going to Italy next year, I’d like to learn a bit of that as well before I go…
A bit too ambitious maybe? Time will tell…
Both and biblical Hebrew and German (both modern and 16th century). Someday I think I may learn Church slavonic just for fun.
I’m learning just Latin and Russian. I’d love to add more (Irish Gaelic anyone?), but I personally find two languages plenty. That, and I can never settle on what that new language should be. Depending on when you ask me, it could be anything from Indonesian to Icelandic to Turkish.
How are you enjoying Russian? I would like to learn Russian some day, if I ever get the time.
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What sorts of things are you reading? I don’t know what I would read if I learned Russian. The reason I want to learn it is because I have an affinity for Russian culture and languages, but I don’t know when I would use it, save for a trip to Russia. I would like to learn Church slavonic too some day. With this I could read some of the Russian church fathers.
There is a ton of literature written in Russian, but I’m still not quite advanced enough to read it without looking up 30 words a page. Currently I’m reading articles from websites such as Lenta.ru or the Russian BBC. I also have the Russian reader “Stories from Today’s Russia”. It has three short stories, and footnotes with English translations of some of the more difficult words.
Once I get my vocabulary up a bit, I have a novel for childern in grade school I could read. From there, hopefully I’ll have a large enough vocabulary to read that great wealth of Russian literature without too much trouble.
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That’s awesome! I wouldn’t mind a few Russian friends who could teach me how to really drink. Then again, I’m not too fond of hangovers either. 
Koine Greek and classical Latin as well as German. I’m also beginning to branch out into classical Greek this year.
edited for brevity
For Akkadian, I have A Manual of Akkadian by David Marcus. The Egyptian book is Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs by James P. Allen, and the Sumerian book is John Hayes’s A Manual of Sumerian Grammar and Texts.
Just a question, Hu: how do you manage to keep up with THREE languages at once? I find it hard enough to manage Korean and Latin, to find a balance between the two, even though one is a classical langauge, primarily reading, and the other a conversational language. When dealing with three classical languages, I’d think the challenge of learning three separate vocabularies, three separate systems of syntax – at once! – would be overwhelming.
I’d love to be encouraged about this. Do share your secret!
Best,
David
I have no life. I don’t have a job and prefer reading a good book to going out with friends, which I’ve never done in my life. Learning about how people in the past thought and being able to understand the ideas our civilization is built on as they were originally written is far more satisfying. Call me a geek, but I’m quite fond of it.
The fact that they’re all Indo-European and that I’m currently on a somewhat simple level also helps. As I get more advanced, I may slow down somewhat.
Ahh. This reminds me of one semester in college when I contrived to take three language classes: Modern Japanese, Classical Chinese and Sanskrit. Heaven.
I’ve not read through the Marcus book though I have a copy. I do like the fact that it has the glyph-syllabary in the back. I’ve not seen the other two but I’m going to look for the Sumerian one! 
My kids’ school did a unit last year on the history of Ancient Iraq and I came in for a morning with about 50 lbs. of clay and 40 sharpened chopsticks. I had prepared index cards with each kid’s name in wedge-form (as well as could be done) and showed them how to prepare a tablet, make the wedges, and then write their names like any good Akkadian man or woman. They loved it. It was precisely that exercise that a teacher did in college that sold me on the beauty of Sumerian and Akkadian.
All the best to you with those languages! I am certainly envious!
Me neither…and my Soviet friends ill-prepared me for the next morning. 
Though I will say I’ve never had better friends.
I got it from here: http://www.dovebook.com/Default.asp?bhcp=1
All the best to you with those languages! I am certainly envious!
Thank you. Sometimes I think I’m crazy, but there are fewer things I like doing better. Summer (and my free time) is almost over, though…