Besides English, what foreign languages are most worth studying for the future?
459023
The Summer Institute for Linguistics (SIL) Ethnologue Survey (1999) lists the following as the top languages by population:\n(number of native speakers in parentheses)\n\nChinese* (937,132,000) \nSpanish (332,000,000) \nEnglish (322,000,000) \nBengali (189,000,000) \nHindi/Urdu (182,000,000) \nArabic* (174,950,000) \nPortuguese (170,000,000) \nRussian (170,000,000) \nJapanese (125,000,000) \nGerman (98,000,000) \nFrench* (79,572,000) \n\nHowever, English is a second language for many people, and that isn't factored in.  What to learn depends on what you want to do.  Business on the west coast, for example, you'd want Spanish, Japanese, or possibly Mandarin or Hindi.  I speak French but I've decided that it was a waste.  Everyone who speaks French is rude for the most part, and will insult you for speaking their language poorly.  \n\nSee the website below if you want to look at more stats on the most widely spoken languages.  I'm taking Mandarin now, and am glad to see its spoken by more people than any other language.
284747
I would go for Dutch but that is my own preference. I studied it for one year and gave it up though. The grammar and words are very close to German (it is a Germanic language afterwall) and so many words look like those in English. Bear in mind though that the prononciation is very, very difficult so if you are up to a challenge..It looks like German....but it does not sound like German.\n\nI know French so won't comment. But it would certainly help if I had to choose Spanish which is also a Romance (latin, not something romantic) language. But this is not a language which holds my interest so I would be useless.\n\nIf your maternal language is English, I think you are kind of lucky. Although English is considered a Germanic language, it has integrated much of the Romance languages via the French (1066).\n\nIf I were you, I would not go blind and find out too late that you just made the wrong decision.\n\nGo to a library, borrow some books and tapes, browse and listen to the sounds to see if you are attracted to one language more than any other. If you have a look-see first, I bet you will narrow your choice fairly quickly.\n\nWithout real motivation, a language is difficult to learn and you have - like somebody above said - follow your heart. Sooner or later, grammar will have you stumped and you will need your love of the language to maintain your interest.\n\nGood luck. Only you can make the choice you know.
35988
I think this depends on the country you are in and its needs. For my country electrical and electronics is the most sort after because it includes communications engr. which is a fast growing field in my country.
513170
English\nLatin\nSpanish\nFrench\nGerman (some)\nSign Language
1061499
I agree for the most part.  Most cultures will still keep their languages and accent.  English is becoming the main language for business the way French used to be.
728104
Spanish, english, French, some German
551325
Hebrew, French, Italian, and Chinese.  Cuz those are the only languages that are major that I dont know.
531373
the BEST language to learn \nis the language that you WANT to learn...\n\nuseful languages: french, spanish, german\n\ninteresting languages: chinese, hindi, arabic
39857
Latin is an excelent language to learn if you are planning to work in the health-related fields, and you will have a greater understanding of current english words and how they cease to be.\n\nI'm assuming you want something that your school does not offer (since the only last two your school DOES offer do not interest you)I would like to recommend Greek or Japanese.
668897
It depends. Spanish is useful in Central and South America, whereas French is more useful in Europe and Africa. Most Americans believe erroneously that French is not useful, but this is simply because they are ignorant of how widespread its use as a second language is outside of Europe. If you're going to Senegal, Madagascar, Lebanon, or Morocco, Spanish will do you absolutely no good at all, whereas French will come in quite handy. In the U.S., however, Spanish is more practical, given that you learn it well enough to be considered fluent.\n\nAre you interested in travel? If so, which countries would you be more interested in traveling to, Mexico, Argentina and the Dominican Republic, or France, Canada and Switzerland? If it's one of the first three, choose Spanish. If it's one of the last three, pick French.\n\nThe grammar for French is quite similar to that of Spanish, so neither one is significantly easier or harder than the other. Spanish pronunciation is easier for many English speakers, but unfortunately you'll be in competition with native Spanish speakers if you try to use Spanish to find a job. Whether you study Spanish or French, you'll have to become really fluent in it if you want to use it on the job, anyway, which means that two years in high school or at a university just won't enough. \n\nAs for this nonsense about French being "prescriptive" and "dry," I'm afraid to inform anyone interested in learning a language that there will be a certain amount of grammar, which by definition is "prescriptive," regardless of the language you study. I've even known fluent Spanish speakers born of Mexican immigrants in the U.S. to flunk Spanish because of all the "dry," "prescriptive" grammar. But a good language teacher makes the grammar understandable and includes fun communicative activities that are quite the opposite of "dry." In fact, I can't think of any class besides a language class that has such a high percentage of hands-on activities and varied teaching techniques. You want to talk about dry and prescriptive? Try taking a statistics or accounting class. French and Spanish classes look like a party in comparison.\n\nIn other words, if you're just going to study a language for a couple of years, then study the language you're most interested in. Two years of study isn't enough for any language to become truly "useful," so just do what sounds fun to you!\n\nOf course, I'm a French teacher, so I'm partial to French. It seems like I have more students in my classes who actually enjoy learning the language than there might be if I taught Spanish, simply because most people who take Spanish do so because they think it's practical rather than because they really like it. And yes, Spanish is practical if you become fluent in it, but if you're not interested in it enough to keep studying it for the years that are necessary to become fluent, then it's not so practical after all.\n\nWhatever language you select, it will broaden your horizons and teach you more about the world you live in and your own language, as well! For example, unlike certain others, I know that the British use the word "learnt" where American English speakers would spell it "learned". In British English, "learnt" is the correct spelling. This is something I wouldn't know if it weren't for my interest in foreign languages and communication in general.\n\nBest of luck making your decision!
653470
probably anything that i'd be currently learning...\n\nlike now, it's french and spanish... ;p
362676
The three languages I would use are English, French, and Japanese.\n\nEnglish is the international language of choice right now (soon to be replaced by Chinese in the next several decades).\n\nThe French have a huge nuclear industry, and are looking to start exporting their nuclear fuel world wide.\n\nThe Japanese also have a huge nuclear industry.
175319
Spanish has more speakers worldwide than German. If you want to study political science/international speaking more languages in general may be useful. If you are especially interested in south American politics there won't be a way around Spanish, if you are more interested in European politics German may be at least as useful. \n\nI'd say it depends how good your German is after 4 years. Do you think it really needs more work, or do you feel comfortable talking/reading it? If you feel pretty good about your German speaking abilities, learn an additional language, if you don't it may be better to learn German so that you are pretty good at it (after all you already invested 4 years into it) before you go on for spanish.
314830
spanish ... its my 4th language i learned \n\n\ngood luck
904372
Search the net and find out the strengths and weaknesses of each language, as well as their "intended" purposes. Compare these to your personal needs and preferences, and make your decision based on that. Nobody can make that choice but you, so you are probably the best person to do the research.\n\nRawlyn.
32334
Chinese.  1 billion+ people know how to speak it.  Many koreans and japanese, instead of taking English as their second language, are now taking Chinese.  China's economy is booming, and so currently is a great place for business.\n\nbut then again Wikipedia says:\n"Some assert that, after English, Spanish can now be considered the second most important language in the world (probably replacing even French), due to its increased usage in the United States, the high birth rate in most of the countries where it is official, the growing economies of the Spanish-speaking world, its influence on the global music market, and simply due to the broad number of areas on the Earth's surface that the language is spoken in."\n\nMe...I speak Chinese at home, English at school, and am taking AP Spanish right now.  =)
1169522
u can learn portughese!! it's pretty similar to spanish!! // italian sounds good too/ FRENCH  it's like HARD GURL!! so stick to those 2!!:)