According to the internet, a famous writer of westerns, Louis L'Amour once said: "When you go to a country, you must learn how to say two things: how to ask for food, and to tell a woman that you love her. Of these the second is more important, for if you tell a woman you love her she will certainly feed you". We’re assuming Louis had more charisma than the average man though, since that seems like an effective way to get slapped to us.
Whether your motivation for learning a second language is carnal, carnivorous or cultural, it's an invaluable asset that will benefit you for the rest of your life. So, where can you get started?
Learn French, German and Spanish from the most pleasant-voiced Scottish people at Radio Lingua's Coffee Break series, which has numerous free 15ish-minute episodes, with the option to pay for expanded courses:
Listening is good, but if you don't practice with real people, the language will never stick. You can use sites like these to find a native speaker near you.
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Benny Lewis writes the blog "Fluent in 3 Months" which is packed with advice and motivation. In this post, he reviews a site called italki.com, which, in addition to connecting you to native speakers like the two previous sites, also connects you with (paid) professional teachers:
Learning a second language can be merely practical, but can also connect you to a whole new culture and way of thinking. A more inspirational quote than L'Amour's is from Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, first president of Czechoslovakia, who said, "As many languages you know, as many times you are a human being".