Most logical foreign language to learn. (student loan, school, college)

[Cornwell]

I'm about to start college and I was just wanting some input on which foreign language would be the most useful to learn If I plan on trying to get an M.A in Economics concentrating on global business. Would Spanish be the best bet because it has the most countries speaking it, or Chinese because it will probably have the most thriving economy by the time I'm done with school. Or would anyone else have a different recommendation? Thanks.

[Taty]

It's not called "Chinese" it is called Mandarin. The economy of China is exploding right know into a superpower.
Spanish is a strong language too, all though Mandarin speakers are much needed. When it comes in terms of specialists.

Another language that people might not know about of importance. That is Russian after the Soviet Union collapsed most people thought Russia/Eastern Europe would never arise economically wise again . -- It exploded into a Business Economy. Cities like Warsaw, Kiev, Moscow are climbing higher and higher of World City formation.
Moscow the capitol of Russia, is extremely powerful and has a powerful Business Boom which can be compared to Dubai. Russia is something of consideration, Moscow has a large influx of Global Economy Trade going for it.

There are over 40 Billionares in Moscow which is compared to New York City. Russian language and Mandarin are in huge demand at the moment.
There is a large russian association in NYC.

My top two picks would be Mandarin and Russian -- Huge demands for those two markets.

[Cornwell]

Now is russian latin based? Because I would preferably go with another latin based language just because it probably would be easier. Thanks because I never thought of that. And lets say in 8 years russia is a powerhouse again, there will be a huge demand for people who can speak it. I might just have to look into learning Russian

[lndigo]

Russian is a Slavic language. Chinese isn't too grammatically different from English, and I haven't found it too difficult (Although I'm only learning how to write simplified, what they use in mainland China, not traditional).

Mandarin is a from of spoken Chinese, and written Chinese is based off Mandarin.

[LINCOLNSHIRE]

If Europe is where you`re planning to ply your trade then German and French are the directions. German is very easy [ If I can then anyone can ] being recognised as the nearest thing to English. Some will say French is difficult. It is if compared to German [ if English is you`re first language ] but still only difficult from a point of fluency. IE. Knowing which face to make while speaking it!!!!!

[Huckleberry3911948]

spanish -- but first thing you should learn to say is
no quiero prestado de dinero por esquela (i dont want a student loan)

[Cornwell]

I'm really looking into eurasian languages because I kind of dream of getting a job as an economic analyst for the government and I know that speaking a eurasian language would greatly increase my chances of getting a job. And I'm pretty sure there are many more people who can speak spanish/english already.

[k374]

Mandarin is a very difficult language to learn if you're not adept at picking up accents because it has an incredible tonal range. I've academically learned French and Spanish and I feel Spanish is the simplest language to learn and also most useful.

[lndigo]

Originally Posted by k374

Mandarin is a very difficult language to learn if you're not adept at picking up accents because it has an incredible tonal range. I've academically learned French and Spanish and I feel Spanish is the simplest language to learn and also most useful.

There are some forms of Chinese that have a ridiculous amount of tonal ranges, but you only need to know four to be well understood in Mandarin.

[sierraAZ]

Originally Posted by Cornwell

I'm about to start college and I was just wanting some input on which foreign language would be the most useful to learn If I plan on trying to get an M.A in Economics concentrating on global business. Would Spanish be the best bet because it has the most countries speaking it, or Chinese because it will probably have the most thriving economy by the time I'm done with school. Or would anyone else have a different recommendation? Thanks.

The most logical language to learn for all of us would be Esperanto, but it never made it and it never will... Not as long as anybody having the upper hand wants his language used. Esperanto is a very simplified language based on Latin roots, so it's really easy to learn. Granted, it lacks the fine nuances of any language.

When I was a kid, my Mom took some classes and I went with her. Still remember two sentences:

_____ estas urbo.
_____ estas villagio.

Anybody can figure what it means, right?!