Which Language is most beneficial to learn in global context After English? (primary school, live)

[Crew Chief]

Originally Posted by gv0928

I think Spanish is proving to become incredibly important in the future.

From a US perspective, as the Hispanic population continues to boom - indeed, it is expected to exceed the Caucasian population by 2020, I believe it is - Spanish will become as common in the US as English is. Plus, Spanish is perhaps the most used language worldwide, after English. [Perhaps even before English.]

I think in the future, Spanish might actually overtake English.

Gvo928, at the risk of posting something that should be in the "Politics and other Controversies" forum, I think we are doing a TERRIBLE disservice to Hispanic immigrants by making Spanish-language media, signage and even government forms/publications so readily available in Spanish. Why does "bilingual" usually mean English/Spanish? What about immigrants from countries where a language other than Spanish is spoken? Do we want Hispanics to not get ahead so we can forever use them as cheap labor? Immersion in English will enable them to more easily attain the life they came here to find. My German-born wife speaks perfect Engish but often wonders why there are no German signs anywhere except maybe a German deli. A friend of ours, discussing the language choices available at the local high school (which are French, German and Spanish)commented: "If you want to sit in the board room of a large corporation, learn French or German. If you want to communicate with the gardner outside of the building where the boardroom is; learn Spanish". In my exerience living in Europe, Spanish isn't very widely spoken outside of Spain. French, German and Russian will get you a lot further in most European countries.

[destinedtodave]

Mandarin, Mandarin, Mandarin. China will be/is very important in the world economically. I don't understand why so many of you suggest Spanish. Latin American countries are slowly improving (maybe) but where is the business growth like in Asia?

Also, learning Chinese would unlock much of Asia. Chinese businessmen have been pouring into places like Singapore for a while so there is actually a large network of Chinese speakers in Asia outside of China. Not even mentioning Taiwan.

I also would recommend German. It is widely spoken in the EU. Germany is the 3rd largest economy on earth and is the largest engine of the Union. I want to eventually be fluent in Mandarin and German. Speaking Arabic would be nice, but more of a novelty for me.

[destinedtodave]

Originally Posted by gv0928

I think Spanish is proving to become incredibly important in the future.

From a US perspective, as the Hispanic population continues to boom - indeed, it is expected to exceed the Caucasian population by 2020, I believe it is - Spanish will become as common in the US as English is. Plus, Spanish is perhaps the most used language worldwide, after English. [Perhaps even before English.]

I think in the future, Spanish might actually overtake English.

eh, your're a little bit off. Its more like 2040 or 50 rather than 2020. Not to mention a crackdown on the border already occuring. Less immigrants are coming from Latin America and their family sizes are shrinking. Do you really expect to have the same rate of immigration for all those upcoming years not to mention hispanics having such high birthrates? Spanish will never be the dominant language in the US because english speakers are too proud to allow it. Not that that's a bad thing. Spanish is important domestically but falls behind internationally.

Spanish second or first in the world? I understand your just estimating but the true figures are very easy to find out. Mandarin is #1 with English second. Spanish is third. The 50 Most Widely Spoken Languages in the World But when you look at languages spoken as a second language English and Mandarin are quite comparable.

[bigbiceps]

Originally Posted by gv0928

I think Spanish is proving to become incredibly important in the future.

From a US perspective, as the Hispanic population continues to boom - indeed, it is expected to exceed the Caucasian population by 2020, I believe it is - Spanish will become as common in the US as English is. Plus, Spanish is perhaps the most used language worldwide, after English. [Perhaps even before English.]

I think in the future, Spanish might actually overtake English.

I think this should be rephrased because you can be hispanic and caucasian at the same time. It should be rephrased to the hispanophone population is expected to exceed the anglophone population in the U.S.

[sierraAZ]

Originally Posted by snitins

I can understand that Spanish is a very useful in our country and in south america too. But Why do you think Chinese will be helpful in global context. If I am right Chinese themselves are learning English and Chinese is spoken in China and nearby country's only where economy is not very strong. What kind of career you were talking about thinking Chinese is a better lang to learn.

He-he, don't know where you live, but in the US it may be very helpful soon. They hold some of our astronomical debt, they provide the IVs for resurrection of our dying patient, the dollar, , and we import all of their junk. All of that courtesy of our wonderful president! Looks like we'll be having a lot of business with them.

[sierraAZ]

Originally Posted by Crew Chief

Gvo928, at the risk of posting something that should be in the "Politics and other Controversies" forum, I think we are doing a TERRIBLE disservice to Hispanic immigrants by making Spanish-language media, signage and even government forms/publications so readily available in Spanish. Why does "bilingual" usually mean English/Spanish? What about immigrants from countries where a language other than Spanish is spoken? Do we want Hispanics to not get ahead so we can forever use them as cheap labor? Immersion in English will enable them to more easily attain the life they came here to find. My German-born wife speaks perfect Engish but often wonders why there are no German signs anywhere except maybe a German deli. A friend of ours, discussing the language choices available at the local high school (which are French, German and Spanish)commented: "If you want to sit in the board room of a large corporation, learn French or German. If you want to communicate with the gardner outside of the building where the boardroom is; learn Spanish". In my exerience living in Europe, Spanish isn't very widely spoken outside of Spain. French, German and Russian will get you a lot further in most European countries.

It irks me to no end, too! See my post here: Lack of bilingual programs in Arizona?

And yes, I think the main reason probably IS the intention to keep Spanish speakers as cheap labor.

[cosmomo]

Originally Posted by dragonten

I can't believe that French and Russian are that popular!

you believe in it )))

[FrenchAmerican0721]

I would say that Spanish, Arabic, Mandarin Chinese, French, Portuguese, and German are other langauges that are very useful. I'm surprised only one person has mentioned Portugese. Portugese is like the 4th or 5th most spoken language in the world!

[Crew Chief]

Thanks, SierraAZ! And thanks for the link to the other post! We can (and should) all still enjoy our native culture & language at hoem and among other like-minded people. But I still believe that one who lives in a foreign country should, at the minimum, speak it's language and understand it's culture. Otherwise, how are you going to get ahead? Just a thought...

[thomas.cl]

Probably Spanish