What do you think is the most useful second language to learn?

English is the only language you need to know. Everywhere you go in the world there is basically somebody that will speak English, and it's considered the "international tongue".

Since you are probably required to learn a language don't learn a language because it's useful, or you think it'll help your career. Basically for a majority of students that learn a language it's become completely useless for their career. Take a language because you like the culture. You'll do enjoy it much better, and it will be more rewarding than you ever imagine.

In college I dropped out of Spanish, and switched to Burmese (basically useless), and many criticized it as a stupid move, but it turned out to be one of the most rewarding things I've ever done. After all was said and done I probably would know as much Spanish as I know now, but Burmese easily made me a better person.

I'm not saying take Burmese (mostly because it's only taught in like 5 schools), but take something you're genuinely interested in, not just something you think will give you an "advantage".

Well, i grew up speaking Spanish & English. I learned Deutsche, but mein deutsche ist not ghut, or at least i think it isn't. My French is weak, but i suppose it's good enough to get me through.

As far as which ones are useful, I'd have to suggest a form of Chinese nowadays.

Well, in my area it would be Spanish.

Funny what some people say "they should learn OUR language" well how many of you speak the language of the native americans that occupied the country way before the first colonists? it may not be practical to use them extensively today but, really?

Personally I would say Japanese but business wise it'll probably be Chinese. China is the fastest growing business economy and it has way more room to grow still so we'll all be doing business with them someday.

Yeah, I suppose - as most have mentioned already - it depends on what you consider useful. If you're in economics or big business, probably Chinese. If useful means being able to communicate with the largest population of people, Spanish, seeing as it's the most widly spoken on the planet. As for hobbies, I'd go with French and Arabic, as there is a wealth of literature in either language. I'm learning French myself; it really gives me a lot of perspective and understanding over the English language. Never realized exactly how many words we steal from French on a regular basis until I really started studying it!

Spanish. I was dumb and took Russian class in High School.

Although if given the opportunity I would learn Hindi and Arabic. Both sound pretty cool when spoken.

Living in the U.S.? Probably Spanish.

If you were into importing oddball video games then Japanese. Written Japanese is very hard to learn though compared to languages that stick to using an alphabet.

To get a different perspective on world politics, maybe Arabic. The military doesn't even have enough people who speak it, it seems.

It depends on what your goal is really.

English is the only language you need to know. Everywhere you go in the world there is basically somebody that will speak English, and it's considered the "international tongue".

Since you are probably required to learn a language don't learn a language because it's useful, or you think it'll help your career. Basically for a majority of students that learn a language it's become completely useless for their career. Take a language because you like the culture. You'll do enjoy it much better, and it will be more rewarding than you ever imagine.

In college I dropped out of Spanish, and switched to Burmese (basically useless), and many criticized it as a stupid move, but it turned out to be one of the most rewarding things I've ever done. After all was said and done I probably would know as much Spanish as I know now, but Burmese easily made me a better person.

I'm not saying take Burmese (mostly because it's only taught in like 5 schools), but take something you're genuinely interested in, not just something you think will give you an "advantage".

jrhawk42

Me sorprende que nadie dijo Inglés! :roll:

It really depends on where you live I would think. Like if you live in the US, it wouldnt hurt to learn Spanish, in Canada, I dont know for sure but I imagine it would be nice to know French.

I have books on Spanish, and Wheelock's Latin. :D

I don' t knows a great amount of Spanish but it is a great language of United Nations and in America.

My wouldn' t brains academic society Chinese or Japanese, but I thought that I have the average intelligence quotient, and I have making matter.

I don' t knows a great amount of Spanish but it is a great language of United Nations and in America.

My wouldn' t brains academic society Chinese or Japanese, but I thought that I have the average intelligence quotient, and I have making matter.

SudoVisudo

learn a rare language i'd say so you can earn money out of it.

English.

Mandarin/Cantonese followed by Spanish. Have these and English and you're set up.

Depends on your career and level of linguistic ability. I'm looking into business so I'm learning Spanish. Sure it may not be as useful as Mandarin but it's easier to learn ...

If you're in the U.S. military, it may be a good idea to learn Farsi, in preparation for the next oil war.

Should you find yourself taken prisoner by the Iranians, it will be useful to be able to beg for your life in the native tongue.

:|

For employment? Chinese or Arabic. For more people to communicate with around the world probably Chinese and Spanish.

For me right now it would be Japanese. I'm at best only able to hold a basic conversation though.

When I move back home it would be Spanish. I live in South Florida, so yeah. I honestly think Spanish or Chinese would be two good choices. All depends where you live though I guess.

Useful? Depends where you live and what you do. From a business standpoint, a language of an emerging market country like Chinese for china or portuguese for brazil would be helpful. Japanese really isn't all that useful unless you are in a specific niche market that is centered in Japan. Otherwise, you're learning a language that only a very small portion of the world uses.

face it you ll probably never travel to china.Solid_Tango

If you are a Californian, Spanish is THE second language to learn.

Useful? Depends where you live and what you do. From a business standpoint, a language of an emerging market country like Chinese for china or portuguese for brazil would be helpful. Japanese really isn't all that useful unless you are in a specific niche market that is centered in Japan. Otherwise, you're learning a language that only a very small portion of the world uses.

sonicare

A niche market centered in Japan? You mean the consumer electronics market? I wouldn't really call that niche. Nor would I use the word "niche" when referring to the world's second largest economy. And while it may only be spoken by two countries (Palau also speaks the language) it still manages to be the second largest language on the internet (behind only English) so you'll definitely be able to put it to use. Japanese is definitely worth a person's time if they're going to be doing anything significant with business, electronics, computers, etc. Even if China does manage to overtake Japan's place in the global economy, Japan would still be in 3rd place.

Personally I'd say that as far as business goes, either Japanese or Chinese is good. Japanese has the benefit though of coming from an already established economic superpower, whereas Chinese is still a "wait and see" deal (there's a lot of unfounded hype over Chinese economic growth). Even if you're into emerging markets, Portugese isn't worth learning as much as Chinese or Hindi since Brazil is unlikely to overtake either China or India in economic growth and development.

Really though, as already stated many times in this thread, it's not a great idea to learn a language just because "it's the most useful". The importance of languages tends to change very rapidly. For example, for most of the 20th century Russian was one of the most important languages you could learn because of how insanely politically useful it was. Even as late as the 1980's people would tell you to learn Russian if you were thinking about learning a new language because the Soviet Union sure as hell wasn't going anywhere anytime soon and they were the only other political and military superpower besides the USA. Then come 1991 the USSR dissolved and suddenly Russian was no longer that important.

probably Spanish

Spanish. I was dumb and took Russian class in High School.

Although if given the opportunity I would learn Hindi and Arabic. Both sound pretty cool when spoken.

SunofVich

It would have to be Spanish for me, since Colorado is turning into El Colorrado.JustPlainLucas

Dude, Colorado is already a Spanish word. It means, "colorful". You don't have to hispanicize the name any more, it's already hispanic.

As to the folks demanding that hispanics learn English...

...I'll have you know that far more of the USA was a part of the Spanish colonial empire than the British. At one point, all of the US west of the Mississippi as well as the gulf coast was a part of the Spanish "ultramar". The legacy of this is present in many places: St Augustine, San Antonio, Los Angeles, Nevada, San Francisco, Colorado, Galveston (Galvez town...named after Galvez, a Spanish governor that assisted the US during the revolutionary war).

Hispanics have been a part of the United States since its very founding, a fact that is best represented by the Sons of the American Revolution allowing membership for the descendants of Spanish soldiers that valiantly participated in the Revolutionary War. Spain played a crucial role along with France in securing our victory over the British. They supplied food, clothing, gunpowder, cannon, and horses from Nueva España (Mexico) to Washington´s army. A Spanish army conducted a crucial campaign that ejected the British from the lower Mississippi valey and the Gulf Coast during the war. During the war, the Spanish navy engaged the British fleet around the globe, helping to demoralize the British and forcing them to spread their military resources thinly.

Have some respect.

Yes, people who come to the USA should learn at least enough English to communicate with their fellow Americans, but to demonize Spanish as if it were some sort of alien & invasive culture is beyond the pale. Don't forget that many hispanics didn't cross the border. The border crossed over them, and that's a fact.

Depends where you live. Where I live if you even want to be considered for a job you need to know spanish. I'd actually say spanish is more important to know than english where I live.

As to the folks demanding that hispanics learn English...

...I'll have you know that far more of the USA was a part of the Spanish colonial empire than the British. At one point, all of the US west of the Mississippi as well as the gulf coast was a part of the Spanish "ultramar". The legacy of this is present in many places: St Augustine, San Antonio, Los Angeles, Nevada, San Francisco, Colorado, Galveston (Galvez town...named after Galvez, a Spanish governor that assisted the US during the revolutionary war).

Hispanics have been a part of the United States since its very founding, a fact that is best represented by the Sons of the American Revolution allowing membership for the descendants of Spanish soldiers that valiantly participated in the Revolutionary War. Spain played a crucial role along with France in securing our victory over the British. They supplied food, clothing, gunpowder, cannon, and horses from Nueva España (Mexico) to Washington´s army. A Spanish army conducted a crucial campaign that ejected the British from the lower Mississippi valey and the Gulf Coast during the war. During the war, the Spanish navy engaged the British fleet around the globe, helping to demoralize the British and forcing them to spread their military resources thinly.

Have some respect.

Yes, people who come to the USA should learn at least enough English to communicate with their fellow Americans, but to demonize Spanish as if it were some sort of alien & invasive culture is beyond the pale. Don't forget that many hispanics didn't cross the border. The border crossed over them, and that's a fact.

dkrustyklown

Where I live spanish is fairly invasive. Half the signs around here are spanish, even important ones. I don't think they should "Get out" but they should learn enough of the language. It should be expected of them just as it should be of me if I moved to mexico. The entire country should not be expected to learn spanish.

[QUOTE="Solid_Tango"]face it you ll probably never travel to china.RK-Mara

Spnish, face it you ll probably never travel to china.Solid_Tango

An american shouldn't have to learn another language, they should learn to speak up to us, not vice versa.

for me, its japanese. 'coz im interested in playing NamcoXCapcom