hi! just a heads up that this sub is inundated with April Fools content right now, so if your post gets lost in the shuffle and is left unanswered, do resubmit when normal service has been resumed in a couple of days.

Spanish and English are the primary languages used in academia when studying Mesoamerica, however some work has also been done in German and in French. Personally, I think one should also study the language used by the culture you are interested in if that language is known. So if you are interested in the Aztec, learn Nahuatl. If you are interested in Maya, learn Yucatec or Ch'olan. Same for the Zapotec or Mixtec. In cases where the language of the culture is not known, like my own area in Jalisco or Teotihuacan in Central Mexico, I suggest looking at the languages present there today and how they may relate to the culture. Understanding the languages that came after can offer insight into the language present before in terms of loanwords, how long that language has been present in the area, how it relates to other languages in the area, etc.