Which Language is most beneficial to learn in global context After English? (to live, restaurant)
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I think Finnish is at least as important as Chinese.
So, did you know that Linux is Finnish? Did you know that the mobile phone revolution was started by Finns? Did you know that the proto social media platform IRC is Finnish? Did you know that the tune which rocked the world in 1999, Darude - Sandstorm, is Finnish?
We are talking about language prominence, country of origin is kind of meaningless. (almost) Nobody is using the Finnish version of linux or IRC. That famous song you mentioned doesn't even have words--how do they help spread Finnish language?
I agree with you that cultural prominence is very important to language influence (more so that economic prominence, imo). Korean language study has become really popular in Asia, for example, due to the huge recent success of Korean music bands and television dramas in Asia.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ariete
Name a Chinese music band. Or a movie.
The general lack of Chinese cultural exports is certainly limiting the appeal of learning the language, but there have been many internationally successful Chinese language movies. Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Farewell My Concubine, Infernal Affairs, The Killer, ... (okay, the last two are Cantonese, not Mandarin). Of course there are many more for people that enjoy movies in those types of genres, but the above 4 are pretty internationally well known.
I think Finnish is at least as important as Chinese.
So, did you know that Linux is Finnish? Did you know that the mobile phone revolution was started by Finns? Did you know that the proto social media platform IRC is Finnish? Did you know that the tune which rocked the world in 1999, Darude - Sandstorm, is Finnish?
No? Yes? But well, give a Chinese equivalent example of these. You can't or you don't know?
Name a Chinese music band. Or a movie.
Exactly. That's why Chinese will never be a world language.
Lol. I hope that's a joke. China is one of the most powerful nations on earth and Finland is not even the most important country in Europe. Yes, lots of people don't know modern Chinese culture but neither they do about Finland or other countries which are bigger.
I think Finnish is at least as important as Chinese.
So, did you know that Linux is Finnish? Did you know that the mobile phone revolution was started by Finns? Did you know that the proto social media platform IRC is Finnish? Did you know that the tune which rocked the world in 1999, Darude - Sandstorm, is Finnish?
No? Yes? But well, give a Chinese equivalent example of these. You can't or you don't know?
Name a Chinese music band. Or a movie.
Exactly. That's why Chinese will never be a world language.
Chinese pop music may not be popular in Europe, but it's very influential in southeast Asia, including Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand etc. Many singers in Central Asia (ex. Kazakhstan) sang some songs in Chinese too.
China has the second largest search engine (Baidu) and many social network apps. And their users are not just Chinese. When I use WeChat (a Chinese app) to search friends for fun, most of the time I found an Arab. Europeans do not know them because they only care about America and themselves.
The general lack of Chinese cultural exports is certainly limiting the appeal of learning the language, but there have been many internationally successful Chinese language movies. Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Farewell My Concubine, Infernal Affairs, The Killer, ... (okay, the last two are Cantonese, not Mandarin). Of course there are many more for people that enjoy movies in those types of genres, but the above 4 are pretty internationally well known.
Well the problem of Chinese-speaking films is that they are only famous amongst the Chinese-speaking population, and the Chinese production is usually hindered by censorship. The ones you named all have heavy Taiwanese or HK involvement, CTHD for example won an Oscar under the name of Taiwan instead of China, which puts Chinese cinema in the same place as the cinema of smaller languages, there are a few gems here and there, but overall it's probably just 10% as successful as Japanese films as far as exports go.
There are more successful Chinese-speaking films in the art house field though, which most people don't watch, and they are still mostly Taiwanese or HK production.
Same goes for music. Mando-pop is only popular in areas with significant Chinese population.
We are talking about language prominence, country of origin is kind of meaningless. (almost) Nobody is using the Finnish version of linux or IRC. That famous song you mentioned doesn't even have words--how do they help spread Finnish language?
I agree with you that cultural prominence is very important to language influence (more so that economic prominence, imo). Korean language study has become really popular in Asia, for example, due to the huge recent success of Korean music bands and television dramas in Asia.
The general lack of Chinese cultural exports is certainly limiting the appeal of learning the language, but there have been many internationally successful Chinese language movies. Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Farewell My Concubine, Infernal Affairs, The Killer, ... (okay, the last two are Cantonese, not Mandarin). Of course there are many more for people that enjoy movies in those types of genres, but the above 4 are pretty internationally well known.
Exactly.
Quote:
Originally Posted by F18
Lol. I hope that's a joke. China is one of the most powerful nations on earth and Finland is not even the most important country in Europe. Yes, lots of people don't know modern Chinese culture but neither they do about Finland or other countries which are bigger.
China is one of the most powerful nations, but its cultural exports especially into the West are miniscule. If you don't have cultural influence, nobody will care to learn the language.
So, did you know that Linux is Finnish? Did you know that the mobile phone revolution was started by Finns? Did you know that the proto social media platform IRC is Finnish? Did you know that the tune which rocked the world in 1999, Darude - Sandstorm, is Finnish?
Ariete, sorry... I know that Linux was created by a finn, but isn't the native language of Linus Torvalds the Swedish?
After English I have to say Spanish has been by far the most useful. French has been ok mostly if I encounter French speakers but other than this I must admit French has been pretty useless.
China is one of the most powerful nations, but its cultural exports especially into the West are miniscule. If you don't have cultural influence, nobody will care to learn the language.
But cultural export is not only music and movies. Most major Western cities have a lot of Chinese restaurants, for example. Never seen any Finnish restaurant here.
Some recent Chinese movies had success in foreign countries too. For example, The Great Wall had good ticketbox record in Turkey and Greece (had not been widely released in Europe and America yet).
After English I have to say Spanish has been by far the most useful. French has been ok mostly if I encounter French speakers but other than this I must admit French has been pretty useless.
But isn't Spanish also useful only if you encounter Spanish speakers? Where I live it would be far more frequent to meet people who speak Spanish than French, but this is not the case everywhere.
But isn't Spanish also useful only if you encounter Spanish speakers? Where I live it would be far more frequent to meet people who speak Spanish than French, but this is not the case everywhere.
I find young people are more open to the possibility of learning Spanish than French (young people that is). I work as a teacher.
Spanish also gave me the opportunity to explore South America as a teacher, French wouldn't do that unless you want to see some African countries which I would do, but not to the extent of what I wanted to see in South America.
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Where I live it would be far more frequent to meet people who speak Spanish than French, but this is not the case everywhere.
