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Old 04-17-2013, 10:05 AM
 
Location: Eindhoven, Netherlands
10,623 posts, read 15,944,114 times
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How would you rank the next 20 languages from most to least important in ASIA?

Arabic
Bengali
Cantonese
English
French
Hindi
Japanese
Korean
Mandarin
Malay
Persian
Portuguese
Punjabi
Russian
Spanish
Tagalog
Tamil
Thai
Turkish
Vietnamese
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Old 04-17-2013, 11:01 AM
 
570 posts, read 1,725,991 times
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English
Mandarin
Japanese
Cantonese
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Old 04-17-2013, 11:46 AM
 
Location: Eindhoven, Netherlands
10,623 posts, read 15,944,114 times
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1.English
2.Mandarin
3.Hindi
4.Bengali
5.Arabic

6-9 (no order):
Japanese
Turkish
Russian
Malay

10-13 (no order):
Korean
Cantonese
Persian
Punjabi

14-16 (no order):
Vietnamese
Tamil
Thai

17.Tagalog
18.Spanish
19.French
20.Portuguese
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Old 04-17-2013, 04:27 PM
 
43,365 posts, read 44,076,810 times
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It depends what part of Asia. English has become the language of international business even in Asia. I would say Mandarin in China and Arabic in the Middle East. Russian in the former USSR area of Asia.
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Old 04-17-2013, 07:32 PM
 
Location: Czech Republic
2,358 posts, read 7,063,108 times
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Spanish and Portuguese are not known languages in Asia. Spanish is just known in Spain's former colony and the only colony in Asia the Philippines ( Filipinas ) while Portuguese in Goa, Timor and Macau. Well even in Macau, I think most people cannot understand Portuguese though the addresses or streets are in Portuguese ( I guess they just retain the Portuguese words and names for touristical purposes as it is what makes Macau different from the rest of China and from other Asian countries ) . Unlike Europeans, Asians in general are not multilinguals.

English
Mandarin
Arabic
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Old 04-17-2013, 08:35 PM
 
Location: Mount of Showing the Way
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1 Persian
2 Arabic
3 Mandarin
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Old 04-18-2013, 12:09 AM
 
366 posts, read 979,331 times
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The most important languages are still English and Mandarin, if important refers to the potential for career opportunities.

Apart from English which is still the most widely spoken language in the world, Mandarin is necessary because of China's status as a major economic power that in recent years took over Japan as runner up.


But in the future, its hard to say. Languages like Hindi and Vietnamese may be necessary since countries like India and Vietnam are regarded as having the potential to catch up economically.


In the political realm, i would think Arabic, Mandarin, English, Hindi, and perhaps Japanese are very important since these languages are often used in Asian politics. Oh yes, and Korean too may be important partly because of the North Korean threat.
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Old 04-18-2013, 12:26 AM
 
Location: Oklahoma
857 posts, read 1,650,992 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by fellowjoe View Post
The most important languages are still English and Mandarin, if important refers to the potential for career opportunities.

Apart from English which is still the most widely spoken language in the world, Mandarin is necessary because of China's status as a major economic power that in recent years took over Japan as runner up.


But in the future, its hard to say. Languages like Hindi and Vietnamese may be necessary since countries like India and Vietnam are regarded as having the potential to catch up economically.


In the political realm, i would think Arabic, Mandarin, English, Hindi, and perhaps Japanese are very important since these languages are often used in Asian politics. Oh yes, and Korean too may be important partly because of the North Korean threat.
Indians are supposed to speak English.
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Old 04-18-2013, 12:29 AM
 
Location: Czech Republic
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ag77845 View Post
Indians are supposed to speak English.
I agree... Indians speak English.
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Old 04-18-2013, 12:43 AM
 
Location: Oklahoma
857 posts, read 1,650,992 times
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More than 1/4 Indians don't even speak Hindi. Not everyone in India is proficient in English, but the chances are that government officials, business people and professionals can speak English.
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