Subject: Which language would you learn?
Posted by: Cymruambyth
Date: Jun 29 09
In an increasingly global economy, it is an advantage to speak more than one language. My son, the IT specialist, has been learning Cantonese and Mandarin, the two major languages of China, because it will be useful to him in the expanding Asian market. Which language do you think it would be important for business people to learn?
Posted by: Cymruambyth
Date: Jun 29 09
In an increasingly global economy, it is an advantage to speak more than one language. My son, the IT specialist, has been learning Cantonese and Mandarin, the two major languages of China, because it will be useful to him in the expanding Asian market. Which language do you think it would be important for business people to learn?
75 replies. On page 2 of 4 pages. 1 2 3 4
Cymruambyth 
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I'd like to dust off my Welsh. It was my first language (quite literally my mother tongue) but I haven't spoken or written in Welsh for over 50 years and I'm left with naught but a few words and phrases here and there. I speak passable French (at least, I won't starve, get lost or go without shelter in Quebec or France or any other French-speaking country), but I've forgotten all my German, Greek and Latin (not that Latin is of much use in conversation nowadays. Reply #21. Oct 26 09, 2:36 PM |
priya1234
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i would love to learn spanish as its a very interesting language! Reply #22. Jan 05 10, 10:34 AM |
| tigasrule
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Ideally : Russian, Chinese, Japanese. Realistically: Swedish, Spanish, Italian. Reply #23. Feb 22 10, 2:43 PM |
rfcneil
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I would love to learn Spanish as I think it is the most useful language next to English. As I live in Scotland, I speak English and would love to learn Spanish. Unfortunately, my school only teaches French and German as foreign languages, which I think is less useful than Spanish as these languages are only spoken in their respective countries. Reply #24. Feb 24 10, 3:37 PM |
lesley153
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Here's an answer to the question "in which parts of the world is French spoken?" "French is a Romance language originating in France but spoken in many other parts of the world including Luxembourg, Southern Belgium and Western Switzerland in Europe. In North America, French is spoken in Quebec, New Brunswick, Ontario, other parts of Canada, and parts of Louisiana. Other countries include former French colonies in North Africa and West Africa; in Haiti, Martinique and Guadeloupe in the Caribbean; in French Guiana in South America; in Tahiti and numerous other islands in Oceania. It has long been the language of international diplomacy and communication, and although replaced largely by English since World War II, it remains de rigueur (of obligatory requirement) for educated people around the world to have some level of basic French ability." http://www.blurtit.com/q562931.html And here's what Wikipedia has to say about German. Spoken in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy (Bolzano-Bozen), Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Alsace, Lorraine, Denmark, Belgium, Poland, Namibia Region German-speaking Europe, German diaspora worldwide Total speakers - Native speakers: ca. 105 million[1][2] - Non-native speakers: ca. 80 million[1] Ranking 10 Tenth in the world but widely spoken in Europe - so it's not entirely useless. Reply #25. Feb 24 10, 4:55 PM |
| lesley153
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I know a Lebanese woman who speaks French, so I went back to check French in Lebanon, and found even more countries where it's widely spoken (like Syria) or official (like Lebanon). There's a lot more in Wiki's answer than in the Blurtit article I quoted from before. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_language#Africa Reply #26. Feb 24 10, 5:02 PM |
redwaldo
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I did French at High School but can't remember much; I'm think of taking a course in the 'romantic' language. Reply #27. Feb 24 10, 5:18 PM |
Lochalsh
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I speak four languages besides my native English: Spanish, French, Catalan, and Italian, in order of proficiency. (I'm a specialist in Romance Languages.) I also have a smattering of Ukrainian that I'd like to turn into something bigger, and I wish I could learn it on site. Kiev seems a long way away, but maybe I'll get an invite to an appropriate place in Canada. :) Reply #28. Feb 24 10, 9:18 PM |
| Lochalsh
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Languages important in a global economy: Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, and Arabic Reply #29. Feb 24 10, 9:30 PM |
bubbatom1
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I'm English born therefore pretty sure I speak English. But, when I lived in America I was speaking to an American (as you do) and she told me she couldn't understand a word I was saying, and suggested I should go and learn how to speak English. So obviously a language I need to learn is English. :) Reply #30. Feb 26 10, 3:04 AM |
C30
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bubbatom1.........There are two languages you know, "English" and "American English"...........the latter only roughly based on the former! Lol Reminds me of when I was in the Navy. We were in Venice and a couple of American tourists asked to take our photos. "Fine", we replied, "Go ahead". They did this and when thanking us said, "You guys speak good English". "We should", we replied, "We ARE English".! Never mind "American Cousins", we like you anyhow! Lol Reply #31. Feb 27 10, 3:53 AM |
little lady
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I used to know some French but I am pretty rusty so I would like to brush up on it.I think Spanish would be good too. Reply #32. Feb 27 10, 5:05 AM |
| lesley153
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I had a holiday with family in Teaneck (New Jersey) and spent most days taking buses into NYC. The bus drivers had a lot of trouble understanding me, and I found myself speaking more and more slowly and carefully for more than a week, until I greeted the driver at half speed and he said "It's OK, I'm Irish." I spent the whole journey at the front chatting to him. He was happy to hear an accent from home, so was I, and I was relieved to find someone I could talk to at normal speed. One morning I got talking to a woman at the bus stop. "I can tell you're English," she said. "I saw the Forsyte Saga." I wonder if the languages we are now saying are essential in a global economy will be essential in ten or fifty years? When I was at school, it was Russian. I can still say "In spring, the work starts early on the collective farms" in Russian. It sounds like the sort of thing Alec Guinness would say before he took his brown envelope - not like the beginnings of negotiations for a new global contract. Reply #33. Feb 27 10, 7:22 AM |
Jennings
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I think that Esperanto should be revived and should be the second language taught in schools. Reply #34. Feb 27 10, 7:32 AM |
martin_cube
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Lesley. Your experience sounds very much like my own when I visited New York 2 years ago. I got a taxi at the airport & tried to ask the driver about how the weather had been lately. (Typical Englishman, first topic of conversation - the weather.) He was unable to make out what I was saying so, after a couple of attempts, I gave up & took in the sights instead. I'll admit that I'm not good at making conversation and speak very quietly too, so it made the visit a bit of a lonely one. After the failure with the taxi driver, it put me off of trying too hard to strike up a conversation to any extent. The one person I was able to chat to with any regularity during my stay (face to face anyway) was the manager of the bar around the corner from my hotel. He was from Ireland & probably relished the change to hear English spoken properly. lol Reply #35. Feb 27 10, 7:20 PM |
daver852
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I can understand your difficulties with people in New York and New Jersey; we Americans can't understand them, either. But as for "English spoken properly" - ha! A famous linguist once observed that if Shakespeare were brought back to life today, he'd be completely unable to communicate with anyone in London; could get by passably well in Dublin; but would find himself right at home in the Ozarks. Looking at the rhyme schemes used in poetry and other linguistic clues, there seems to be little doubt that the Northern Appalachian dialect, which I grew up speaking, is the closest surviving version of "Classical English." Reply #36. Feb 27 10, 11:07 PM |
| C30
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Daver852..........This day and age, Shakespeare would be very lucky to find many people in London to whom "English" is their first language! Reply #37. Feb 28 10, 3:00 AM |
| daver852
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Some day I may try to learn Australian. I know their word for beer is Foster's, and wine is Shiraz, but that's as far as I've gotten. I did see a movie once called "Barry McKenzie Holds His Own," which was billed as "the first English language movie with English subtitles." Reply #38. Feb 28 10, 10:07 AM |
strudi74
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Most South Africans are bi or trilingual as a result of our past. Afrikaans and English are both home languages to me, and I'm trying my best to learn Sotho, which does help a lot in daily life where I live. In other areas it would be better to know Xhosa or Zulu though. I would also love to learn Chinese, very interesting language and culture. Reply #39. Feb 28 10, 11:10 AM |
| lesley153
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Bad luck, Martin. My Teaneck trip was in 1971, so it doesn't look like anything changes quickly! Dave, here's a bit of English language television which needs English subtitles. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFPWbh4E6m8 Even if Shakespeare could understand the accents, his head would be spinning at the vocabulary. Five minutes of booting up PCs, logging off laptops, and getting a take-away Chinese, and he'd be running sobbing back to the 1500s. Reply #40. Feb 28 10, 12:01 PM |
75 replies. On page 2 of 4 pages. 1 2 3 4
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