5th language
Hi everyone!
I can't decide which 5th language would be the best choice for me in the future. At this moment, I know Polish (native), English (C1), German (B1), and Spanish (A1). I'm working on my German until I reach professional B2, same with Spanish. I find it best for me to study in a ladder way - I focus on one language until I reach my set goal while maintaining the other language, then switch my focus to the other one. While it might not be the fastest way to study, that method keeps me from burning out. Since I'm going to reach the level in German I want in a year, I want to determine which language would be best as the 5th one to study alongside Spanish.
Just like many language enthusiasts, I find the majority of languages appealing, but even the simplest ones are a long journey, and sadly, life is too short to learn all the languages I want. That's why I want to learn something that would be useful, yet not too difficult (Chinese and Japanese, I'm looking at you). I'm most interested in exploring its media content, music, travel, food, job opportunities and the language itself - mostly etymologies, but sometimes grammar features can also be interesting.
Languages I'm interested in the most:
Italian - I love the way it sounds, Italian cuisine is my favourite, I'd love to visit it and explore the country as every province is very diverse, at least food-wise. There are also many leftovers of the Roman Empire, diverse and interesting architecture to look at. Moreover, there are lots of pieces of media (music, movies, content on YouTube) to explore. Additionally, I'm really into etymologies, so Italian would be very interesting as the language that is the closest to Latin. Sadly, it's by far the least useful work-wise, but still not completely useless.
French - French has many of the same pros as Italian - lots of architecture, food, history and interesting etymologies to explore. It's also much more spoken around the world, which should unlock even more pieces of media. Additionally, it's very useful for work - I keep seeing lots of well-paid job offers with French. There are only 2 things that discourage me from French - difficult pronunciation, which I heard many natives are rude about when someone doesn't pronounce words correctly. The other thing is the stereotypes about French people. I have no idea how accurate these things are, though. The only thing I'm sure of is that I'd be swearing over not being able to pronounce certain words.
Norwegian - One of the most stunning landscapes I've ever seen, one of the best countries to move to, one of the highest benefits for its speakers in my country (even though there are not that many offers), cool Viking heritage. There might also be some cool etymologies between Norwegian-German-English to learn about. However, due to the number of its speakers, there might not be that many pieces of media to explore, which worries me.
Swedish - The same pros as Norwegian, but twice as many speakers (which still isn't much) and job offers. Unfortunately, the fjords and mountains aren't as stunning as in Norway. The language also offers less mutual intelligibility with other Scandinavian languages
Dutch - Similar job benefits as in Nordic countries, spoken also in half of Belgium (and some smaller colonies/ex colonies, I know), cool to live in, with almost impeccable infrastructure. It would also be interesting as a language that is something between English and German. I don't know much about the media, but I'm afraid there might not be that much due to the percentage of English speakers.
Russian - I have always loved the sound of the language, the music is incredible and the amount of other media (literature, yt content, memes) is simply the largest out of the languages I named. Additionally, it would actually make me understand how my native language works (most grammar concepts are more-or-less the same in both languages) and learn a lot about my Slavic roots, which is something I'd love to do. Additionally, many Ukrainians and Belarusians live here who use languages that are something between Polish and Russian, so I would be able to understand most of their speech. They often can speak Russian, but they probably wouldn't be interested in such an exchange for obvious reasons. The only arguments against are political - its importance is decreasing due to political reasons and I might never visit this country as a tourist, but it's still the most appealing Slavic language to learn for me.
With my background, all of the languages above should be easy, so difficulty shouldn't be an argument against any of them.
I hope I described my thoughts thoroughly enough. I believe you can help me to decide what would be best out of these options.