What do you think is the best foreign language for a student
As the son of 2 immigrants to the US, I have always been fascinated by languages. copyright ybarra-cgm
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To me, the beauty of learning another language is to acquire a key to another culture. Language allows us to understand sometimes very different ways of looking at the same phenomena. copyright ybarra-cgm
I may have always been fascinated by different languages. But, that unfortunately has not made me gifted in learning them.
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It can be very hard to learn foreign languages after age 12 or 13. Depending upon the language, fluency can require intensive effort for several years. It is usually beneficial to have the opportunity to live in a place where that language is the dominant language spoken.
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This means that learning a language for one’s future career is a risky proposition. If you study Spanish in college for 3 years and then join the Military, there is a pretty high likelihood your first posting will not be on the Costa del Sol in Spain.
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You can look at your Q a couple ways.
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- Which languages have more speakers and hence, in theory, a greater market for their application?
- Another way to look at this is what languages tend to be used in what professions?
The good thing going for your son is that his native language English has become the universally accepted language around the world. It wasn’t always this way. In my parents’ generation and before, French and German were the languages of the Enlightenment. If you were interested in an academic or professional career, you needed to be able to read both of those languages to be able to read the literature in your field. French was the lingua franca of international diplomacy. But, after WWII, the English language has risen in importance in parallel with the rise in influence of the US in global affairs. copyright ybarra-cgm
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If you want to go into international business, it will be very helpful to speak the local language and understand the local customs of the place in which you wish to do business. But, English will be spoken by the educated in most countries around the world. If you want to go into science or medicine, English will suffice. If you want to be a historian and plan to research primary texts, you may need a reading knowledge of several languages including French, German, Spanish, etc., depending of course on what history you are specializing in. ybarra-cgm.com
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If you want to look at the number of people who speak different languages, this is a relevant ranking: ybarra-cgm.com
- Chinese (Mandarin)
- Spanish
- English
- Hindi/Urdu
- Arabic
- Bengali
- Portuguese
- Russian
- Japanese
- German
- Javanese
- Punjabi
- Wu
- French
- Telugu
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_languages_by_number_of_native_spe
Each one of these languages has different dialects.
But, it may not make sense to choose one of these languages just because there are a lot of speakers of it. For example, there are hundreds of different languages spoken in the Indian Subcontinent--Indo-European and Dravidian languages. For reasons of national unity, India has 2 official languages, Hindi and English. You can learn Hindi (which is similar to Urdu used by Muslims in Pakistan and India), but all educated Indians (and Pakistanis) will speak English. They most likely were educated in English. If you plan to do business with an uneducated segment of the Indian population, you should make sure which regional languages they speak before choosing Hindi.
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Here in the US, English is the de facto national language. Spanish is the 2nd most widely spoken language here. It is spoken at home by about 12% of our over-5 population (source: US Census Bureau, 2006, Table 52; http://www.census.gov/prod/2008pubs/09statab/pop.pdf ). I guess if you were to randomly bump into people in the US, over 1 in 10 would speak Spanish. But, again, depending upon what business or profession your son chooses, the number of Spanish speakers could be greater or much lower. Another way to look at this is that if I wanted my 2nd language to give me an edge in the job market, if I chose Spanish, 12% of the population is already fluent in it...I’d better learn it very well... Similarly, if I wanted to learn Chinese to enable trade with China, I should know that there are millions of Chinese who already speak English, more or less well. copyright ybarra-cgm
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I guess what I am trying to say to you or your son is learn another language for what it will give you in intellectual and cultural benefits. Pick a nation or a culture in which he has a natural interest or family tie. If you want the language for your future, yet unchosen, career, you never know if you will be studying the right language. And, you may end up not needing it.
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Different languages take more or less study to achieve fluency. As a native English speaker, Romance languages are relatively easy. If you study Spanish or French intensively, and if you are motivated, you should be able to achieve fluency in 1-2 years. If you choose Arabic or Chinese, it will probably take 3-4 years. If one is a pre-med student, a commitment to a language can be a big deal in terms of available electives in college.
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The US Government used to be interested in Russian language students in my day. Today, Arabic and Pashtu are hot languages. But, don’t be surprised if the US Military or NSA is interested in your son when he graduates. ybarra-cgm.com
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I know I didn’t say, "study this language." But, I tried to make my point that studying any language will be educationally valuable to your son. It is the rare career that will demand fluency in a foreign language, where the company or institution woouldn’t be better off hiring a native speaker. copyright ybarra-cgm
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One final thought. Many foreign companies will look to Americans to staff their US subsidiaries or to market their products and services to American buyers. In this case, having fluency in the language of these countries which sell to the US can be helpful. China is of course a huge supplier to the US. Interestingly, tiny Israel is very big in high tech. Their entrepreneurial marketplace is always looking for US agents to help market locally. I can’t see studying Modern Israeli Hebrew, which is not too difficult to learn, unless one were Jewish or interested in Biblical studies (which of course requires Biblical Hebrew). But, it can be helpful to at least understand the local language, even if one is negotiating in English. I have a couple times been happy that I actually understood what my business partners were saying between themselves, thinking I was an Ugly American who only spoke English... :) ybarra-cgm.com
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