which language next?

I'm almost resigned to the fact that my next language will be French.

Unfortunately, after living in Germany for two years, I've found that the anti-French bias has rubbed off on me. Actually, thinking back, I have never, ever wanted to learn the language.

"Why learn a language you don't like," you ask? Well, a lot of scholarship on Africa is in French. French is a second language in much of West, Central and North Africa. It really would be valuable for my career and in my desire to be able to communicate with Africans all over the continent.

But then I think, "is it really possible to master a language you have a strong aversion to?" We'll see, I guess.

Any advice from you Francophiles? I need someone to persuade me that French is, in fact, a rich, beautiful language and not the nasal, stuffy, stuck-up language I hear.