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05-18-2008, 09:35 PM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Columbus, OH
109 posts, read 106,263 times
Reputation: 17
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Best language to know
I was just wondering what people thought would be the best language for an English speaker to learn if he wanted to travel the world and improve career opportunities.
It comes down to this... I want to fulfill my language requirement in college through Study Abroad. Choices are learn Spanish in Salamanca, learn French in Nice, or learn Italian in Lecce. What would be the funnest? Most practical?
Any thoughts?
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05-18-2008, 09:47 PM
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Trollenjaeger
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Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Des Moines, IA
1,510 posts, read 1,454,487 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by schmidt486
I was just wondering what people thought would be the best language for an English speaker to learn if he wanted to travel the world and improve career opportunities.
It comes down to this... I want to fulfill my language requirement in college through Study Abroad. Choices are learn Spanish in Salamanca, learn French in Nice, or learn Italian in Lecce. What would be the funnest? Most practical?
Any thoughts?
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Assuming you want to improve your career opportunities in the US, Spanish would be your best bet. Abroad, French is widely spoken and up until recently was pretty much the default langauge of the world (like English is now). |
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05-19-2008, 08:16 AM
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Senior Member
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(set 21 days ago)
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Join Date: Nov 2007
578 posts, read 411,606 times
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Bahasa
Quote:
Originally Posted by schmidt486
I was just wondering what people thought would be the best language for an English speaker to learn if he wanted to travel the world and improve career opportunities.
It comes down to this... I want to fulfill my language requirement in college through Study Abroad. Choices are learn Spanish in Salamanca, learn French in Nice, or learn Italian in Lecce. What would be the funnest? Most practical?
Any thoughts?
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Hi!
It depends where you'd like to concentrate.
In Latin America and Spain, Spanish is useful.
If you're good enough, you can even achieve a certain degree of intelligibility with the Italians.
French is useful in France, many African countries.
You've got any itinerary? Perhaps we could help based on which countries you're planning to visit.
Regards,
Neutre |
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05-21-2008, 11:27 AM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Columbus, OH
109 posts, read 106,263 times
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Has anyone ever been to nice or Lecce? I'd like to get an idea of which i would like better.
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05-21-2008, 11:42 AM
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Member
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Join Date: May 2008
57 posts, read 45,357 times
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Definitely Spanish, the second most widely spoken language in the world, speaks for itself really  |
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05-21-2008, 08:30 PM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Nov 2007
578 posts, read 411,606 times
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Castellano fuera de América y Europa
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mrs. Jones1
Definitely Spanish, the second most widely spoken language in the world, speaks for itself really |
Well, the thing is, if someone decides to concentrate upon the vast Asia, Africa, and Oceania, Spanish would be unfortunately quite useless.
Nothing against Spanish, I'm actually pretty good at it. Just trying to be a bit realistic.
Saludos |
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05-21-2008, 09:13 PM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Dallas
808 posts, read 708,482 times
Reputation: 188
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05-21-2008, 11:25 PM
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Member
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Join Date: May 2008
57 posts, read 45,357 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Neutre
Well, the thing is, if someone decides to concentrate upon the vast Asia, Africa, and Oceania, Spanish would be unfortunately quite useless.
Nothing against Spanish, I'm actually pretty good at it. Just trying to be a bit realistic.
Saludos |
That's a big "if" plus Asia has too many different languages/dialects to come even close to Spanish as does Africa and Oceana.
Until then I would still recommend Spanish
Tambien |
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05-22-2008, 12:27 AM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Lake Forest, CA
1,294 posts, read 1,415,826 times
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A lot depends on what your interests or goals are for learning another language. Spanish is my second language, and I use it daily and it is simply a part of my life. I also speak German quite well, but I don't have the opportunity to use it very often here in the US.
Arabic would be a good language to know these days. If you have a good educational background and learn Arabic fluently, I would presume that would open all sorts of career ops in government or private industry. Mandarin would be the other global language to know. Now that China has become a global player in business and many other arenas, and 20+ percent of the population is in China, Mandarin would open lots of doors too.
Last edited by recycled; 05-22-2008 at 12:27 AM..
Reason: typo
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05-22-2008, 12:51 AM
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Member
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Join Date: May 2008
57 posts, read 45,357 times
Reputation: 18
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I think Arabic would only be useful (but useful all the same) in non Arabic Countries, because in the main Arabic Countries just about everybody in business speaks English  |
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