most useful language to learn?

[skinnyhb]

what do you guys think is the most useful language to learn today. i had my few years of spanish in high school, and while i'm no where near fluent, i can hold my own in a conversation. i have some elective college credits i can fool around with and really want to learn another language. for some reason im really drawn to portuguese. ideas?

[Pooks]

I'd go with French...
if u're business oriented than go with CHINESE imo.

I do like the way portugeese sounds too.

[~fuelforfire~]

english

[J.S.N.]

I say portuguese. everyone and his aunt betty knows spanish (y tu ya hables), but we have this massive country south of us with 125million portuguese speakers, not alot of whom can speak english. I think it's a good niche skill to have.

obviously spanish is the first choice for americans overall though. i think mandarin or hindi could be really useful too, but those languages are completely unrelated to ours and are alot harder to learn.

[~fuelforfire~]

korean is easy to learn, youll have it down in a week.

[Liftnainez]

Its english first and then spanish IMO.. Chinese people (business men at least) pretty much know english

[~fuelforfire~]

and all mexicans know english too, and there supposed to be speakin that spanish.

[J.S.N.]

and all mexicans know english too, and there supposed to be speakin that spanish.

uh... no def. not. maybe white collar profressionals. actually scratch that i've met some rich + successful mexican businessmen who spoke basically no english.

[firmechicano831]

I speak both, spanish and english. learn Spanish bro.

[~fuelforfire~]

uh... no def. not. maybe white collar profressionals. actually scratch that i've met some rich + successful mexican businessmen who spoke basically no english.

****in rites they do, they live for us canadians n americans to go down there, they make there money from us when we go for vacation, they need english to try n sell shit to us, i never met a mexican who didnt speak english down there.

[JDawg1536]

Sup skinny? HB= Huntington Beach yeah? You need to get fluent in spanish lol. French and Itallian would be my choices.

[J.S.N.]

****in rites they do, they live for us canadians n americans to go down there, they make there money from us when we go for vacation, they need english to try n sell shit to us, i never met a mexican who didnt speak english down there.

lol i'd be surprised if you went anywhere that isn't catered to tourists though. are you from BC btw?

one of my buddies who plays juniors always goes off about british columbians saying "****in' a' rights!"

[skinnyhb]

Sup skinny? HB= Huntington Beach yeah? You need to get fluent in spanish lol. French and Itallian would be my choices.

ya man, huntington beach. and you are probably right, especially with my plans to move to san diego in a year when i graduate.

[USfighterFC]

I'd say spanish cuz half this country speaks it.

[JDawg1536]

ya man, huntington beach. and you are probably right, especially with my plans to move to san diego in a year when i graduate.

where u goin to school?

[Warrior]

Arabic - you can make almost 200k per year overseas if you can pick up formal and a few other dialects... you'd be safer in this line of work if you weren't a real light skinned white guy too I am guessing that Arabic intel gathering will be an issue for many more years than the Russian stuff was...

[JDawg1536]

yup, all the linguists in the service are set when they get out.

[ProtienShak3]

Spanish for sure .. its becomming ever so important in many jobs theese days.

[skinnyhb]

where u goin to school?

im at UCSB now. one more year left.

[skinnyhb]

Arabic - you can make almost 200k per year overseas if you can pick up formal and a few other dialects... you'd be safer in this line of work if you weren't a real light skinned white guy too I am guessing that Arabic intel gathering will be an issue for many more years than the Russian stuff was...

ya, i thought about that too. my school doesn't have a year long Arabic program. just one this summer that i can't make because of vacation stuff. and ya, im probably the whitest guy ever and i can't grow a beard either. i would stick out in the middle east like a sore thumb.

[JDawg1536]

ya, i thought about that too. my school doesn't have a year long Arabic program. just one this summer that i can't make because of vacation stuff. and ya, im probably the whitest guy ever and i can't grow a beard either. i would stick out in the middle east like a sore thumb.

Irish pride baby...... Just learn to speak the native tongue.

[stee]

I think you wanna learn Welsh. Its the new Spanish!!!!!

[cfiler]

Math is the universal language.

[3Vandoo]

French and Italian if you wanna look cool by picking chicks!

Russian, farsi, Arabic if you wanna look like James Bond

Chinese, Indi, Urdu, Spanish business oriented wise

German or Japanese if you wanna look mean

I studied

German (got kicked out!)
Russian (got kicked out)
Spanish (got kicked out!)
Chinese
Arabic
Italian

for me Spanish and Italian were easy, because I am french speaking so it is qite comparable, plus my family is italian (in theory! )

Russian is also easy, not hard at all to learn!

Arabic is a pain in the ass especially the writing part!

Im now learning chinese, it is easy, fun to speak, but you got to pratice your intonations

as for French, it is the hardest language to learn, because of all his complexity with grammar it is like calculating physics sometime!

[Prada]

Useful for what? For Career I would say Cantonese or Manadarin.

For some reason seeing a Caucasian speaking either leaves me flabbergasted.

[max2extreme]

Its english first and then spanish IMO.. Chinese people (business men at least) pretty much know english

no, not really. they attempt. but its extremely basic.


Depends on what kind of importance you want. If you want it for daily use, then look where you live and see what other language is being spoken. probably spanish. Do you plan on trying to travel overseas? Where do you want to go? Learn it. I think the number 1 language in the future with English is going to be Chinese. They are on the move economically (every day i watch the RMB gain on the dollar. blah!). I think as time goes on, more big businesses are going to want americans who speak chinese to help with translation.

[max2extreme]

yup, all the linguists in the service are set when they get out.

thats the truth. and we go to the absolute best linguistic school in the world. Honestly, if you are reading this thread and you want to do linguistics for career, JOIN THE MILITARY! Be a linguist. You also get (and must be able to get) a top secret clearance, which is your meal ticket. Do your 4 years (1-2 years of which will be school, which is more like a college than military training) and then get out if you dont like military and work as a civilian. you'd be set for life, plus you're college is paid for. if you have any questions, start a thread called DLI or pm me. thats what I did.

[max2extreme]

I'd say spanish cuz half this country speaks it.

if hes doing this for fun, then yea i agree. if not, then no way. like you said, theres too many spanish speakers to be able to stick out really.

[max2extreme]

Arabic - you can make almost 200k per year overseas if you can pick up formal and a few other dialects... you'd be safer in this line of work if you weren't a real light skinned white guy too I am guessing that Arabic intel gathering will be an issue for many more years than the Russian stuff was...

not quite. first they dont just pick up someone to go do intel gathering just because they speak arabic. most of that is done thru the military or the "3 letter" organizations, and you must be fluent, AND work for one of them..and you also need a ts clearance, which is a long and expensive process so why pay for someone to get a it when they can hire someone who just got out of the military who is fluent in arabic and already has a ts clearance? There are maybe a few contracted jobs, but they are highly experienced, probably retired military that went to DLI. And they dont make 200k, and in country intel gathering is not safe. Sorry it seems like im disagreeing whole heartedly with your post bro, dont take offense... but its not so simple.

[Warrior]

not quite. first they dont just pick up someone to go do intel gathering just because they speak arabic. most of that is done thru the military or the "3 letter" organizations, and you must be fluent, AND work for one of them..and you also need a ts clearance, which is a long and expensive process so why pay for someone to get a it when they can hire someone who just got out of the military who is fluent in arabic and already has a ts clearance? There are maybe a few contracted jobs, but they are highly experienced, probably retired military that went to DLI. And they dont make 200k, and in country intel gathering is not safe. Sorry it seems like im disagreeing whole heartedly with your post bro, dont take offense... but its not so simple.

Haha - do you work in the Middle East? I have for several years now. I know of some pretty retarded (not your sharpest tacks) Arabic "heritage speakers"... born overseas but were naturalized American. Because they were naturalized they can pick up the minimal requirement of a SECRET clearance. And those guys get paid big bank all over the Gulf... in Iraq they can get close to 200k. Talk about a break, from immigrant blue-collar to an instant high roller!

To be a linguist you should know more than one dialect... Farsi is a plus too... and French will help but not really necessary (North African Arabic can be heavy in French). If all you know is formal - they can still use you... I can think of a dozen contractor companies off the top of my head... MPRI, Titan, SMC, Worldwide, ... and some localy owned companies in the region - or civilian jobs with the 3 letter organizations. Contractors get paid more money - but civilians have more job security. There was a pay cut in January for a lot of the linguist jobs in the region outside the combat zone - but they still clear very good money. Right now, knowing Arabic is a good commodity.

Mandarin (Chinease) will also, more than likely, become an asset in the future...

[J.S.N.]

yes esp. when we own china in the war that will break out over that big controversy that will break out in the 2008 summer games.

[max2extreme]

Haha - do you work in the Middle East? I have for several years now. I know of some pretty retarded (not your sharpest tacks) Arabic "heritage speakers"... born overseas but were naturalized American. Because they were naturalized they can pick up the minimal requirement of a SECRET clearance. And those guys get paid big bank all over the Gulf... in Iraq they can get close to 200k. Talk about a break, from immigrant blue-collar to an instant high roller!

not currently. but been there.

200k is high pay even for middle east. Or are you factoring in that someone makes $120k, but $85k is tax free, so its like $200k? and the jobs you mentioned, are not jobs that skinny would be able to do anyway, him not being middle eastern or 100% fluent able to blend in exactly as a local. It is very high paying, but $200k, $85k tax free is very high end.

To be a linguist you should know more than one dialect... Farsi is a plus too... and French will help but not really necessary (North African Arabic can be heavy in French). If all you know is formal - they can still use you... I can think of a dozen contractor companies off the top of my head... MPRI, Titan, SMC, Worldwide, ... and some localy owned companies in the region - or civilian jobs with the 3 letter organizations. Contractors get paid more money - but civilians have more job security. There was a pay cut in January for a lot of the linguist jobs in the region outside the combat zone - but they still clear very good money. Right now, knowing Arabic is a good commodity.

Mandarin (Chinease) will also, more than likely, become an asset in the future...

basically skinny, what me and warrior are talking about, you will not get without a clearance anyway, so unless you plan on going this route, you need to plan ahead and do something to get a clearance... otherwise, as someone not majoring in linguistics, just taking a year of a language, it wont get you nowhere except like someone said earlier, cool points.

[Booz]

the most universaly used language is......English!

[Warrior]

not currently. but been there.

200k is high pay even for middle east. Or are you factoring in that someone makes $120k, but $85k is tax free, so its like $200k? and the jobs you mentioned, are not jobs that skinny would be able to do anyway, him not being middle eastern or 100% fluent able to blend in exactly as a local. It is very high paying, but $200k, $85k tax free is very high end.

Okay, not literally but close... more like 152-184k - and that is take home with the first 80k tax free. I have heard of some Titan linguist making around 204k - but like I said, there was a pay cut this year so that may have changed too.

Basically, if you just begun studying Arabic today and learned the basics of the grammer... and could at least one other dialect as well as formal Arabic - you could become a supervisor of a linguist project pretty easily... espcially one overseeing foreign national linguists... reviewing their translations and what not... quality-control type stuff. Those frequently pay over 100k per year...

[Mizfit]

Sign language of course.

The middle finger is universal

[3Vandoo]

If you say that Chinese firms employees know to speak english is like talking to a mute trained monkey! I say it, they don't know how to write and speak english properly, hell my mom speaks better english and her english is composed of two words and one expression: Yes, No and Fu*k You!

They are a pain in the ass to deal with especially when they call you and leave you these type of messages.

"huh hallo! here mista Wong from Yiensing Company, yes, from Nangbo, yes, we, me calling to confirm, new sheet of list of price, okay, see u soon, bye ciao"

THATS THE ****ING CEO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[3Vandoo]

the most universaly used language is......English!

Hmmm not!

the universal language is now: Full Metal Jacket

anyone can understand that now

[Mizfit]

If you say that Chinese firms employees know to speak english is like talking to a mute trained monkey! I say it, they don't know how to write and speak english properly, hell my mom speaks better english and her english is composed of two words and one expression: Yes, No and Fu*k You!

They are a pain in the ass to deal with especially when they call you and leave you these type of messages.

"huh hallo! here mista Wong from Yiensing Company, yes, from Nangbo, yes, we, me calling to confirm, new sheet of list of price, okay, see u soon, bye ciao"

THATS THE ****ING CEO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I work for a japanese company and i speak english real good

[mmaximus25]

Mandarin, although there will be a shit load of dialects you will be able to get along. I think from seeing how much my industry (Semiconductor) in intertwined with Asia and how much work other country’s are we get done there (how ever inhuman it may be).

Mandarin, Japanese, English, Spanish and German... those are my picks as the languages needing to know as capitalism grows...

[J.S.N.]

german?!!! if your first language is english then learning german is something you do because you want to, no because you need to. i have seriously yet to meet a german under the age of 65 who'd english wasn't really good.