What is the most practical Foreign Language to Learn?

India
December 31, 2008 5:32pm CST
I was wondering what the MOST practical language you think is to learn. Sure, there are a lot of Spanish speaking people moving to the U.S., but there are French speaking people too, and German speaking people. Which one would be most useful?
5 people like this
17 responses
@stormy09 (437)
• United Arab Emirates
2 Jan 09
I would like to learn Arabic and Spanish...
2 people like this
@Amythyst (59)
• United States
2 Jan 09
Likely Spanish would be the best. It is related to other languages such as French and Italian that are spoken in Europe. Also a good amount of words in Spanish are similar to what they are in American English and some are even spelled the exact same! French Might be second most practical as it would help with dealing with France, Canadians who speak French, and other countries that people speak French in. Other languages are probable practical to study on the side so that at least you can read some of them--especially those that do not use the same characters in their alphabet and learning a few common phrases when visiting there.
@nilzerous1 (2434)
• India
1 Jan 09
I do not have any in-depth knowledge in this regard. But I think Spanish is a good option. But for me, I would definitely like to learn French above any other language. That's in fact a dream for me.
2 people like this
@sweety_81 (2124)
• India
2 Jan 09
Hi Friend , I believe that the answer to this question is not so simple : It depends a lot on A) whether you want to move to another country ? B)Whether you want to go to another country and stay there for a long period ; or for a short period ? e.g- If a person knows English well ; then he or she may stay without learning Spanish in Spain for some time . However ; a longer stay might need one to learn Spanish . This situation is different in Germany ; or France . There one needs to learn a few basics of German or French ; even for short stays . In some of the East European countries; you may need to know their language . Similar is the case for Japan , China and Korea . However;you may not need to learn a new language when you go to Middle East countries , Australia or South Africa . Hope that it helps . Regards -Sweety_81
@gvaisakh (421)
• India
2 Jan 09
Hi to all........... I think it depends on the place where you live........... Being an Indian, I believe French and Spanish are the most important foreign languages............ HAVE A NICE DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HAPPY MYLOTTING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
1 person likes this
@mariposaman (2959)
• Canada
2 Jan 09
It obviously depends where you live and what you mean by a foreign language. If you are in the United States the influx of Hispanics would almost dictate you learn Spanish although there is a lot of resistance to this. In Canada the official languages are French and English so if you do not know one, that would be the one you would learn. The most used language in the world apparently is English. This would be the most practical one to learn as it is as close to a universal language as you can get. I am told that English is difficult to learn although I was brought up with English as my first language so I do not have to go through a learning process as a second language. I know there are other languages harder to learn though. I see you are in India, and a lot of the persons here from there seem to have at least 2 or 3 languages already.
2 people like this
@winterose (39887)
• Canada
1 Jan 09
depends on where you live and what is important in that area of the world. Here in Canada english and french are the most important languages,
1 person likes this
@oldboy46 (2129)
• Australia
2 Jan 09
It would depend if the person was wanting to se the second language for work or just for interest sake. If it is for work and the person wants employment as an interpreter, then almost any language would be good. If however it was for employment with a company that exported or imported to say Spain, then Spanish is the one language to learn. On the other hand if learning a second language for an interest or anything other than work, it would depend on where in the world they lived. For example someone in the US would no doubt find benefits in learning Spanish because of the large hispanic population. For Canadians it would be both English and French as those two are the national languages spoken there. At the same time someone who lived in my country, Australia, would benefit from learning Japanese, Chinese/Mandarin or one of the other Asian languages. We do have a lot of residents in my country whose first language is not English but those people can come from almost any countrt in the world these days. We have many people from almost every Asian countrt as well as the African nations, the Arabian countries to name just a few. However if living in the of the Asian countries and not already speaking English as a second language then that would be the one to learn. Basically for me, it would be one of the Asian languages but just which one I am not really sure. However I would say it would either be Chinese/Mandarin, Japanese or perhaps Indonesian.
1 person likes this
@urbandekay (18278)
4 Feb 09
For Americans it would be nice if they learnt English! hehehe German and French are of less importance these days, so probably Spanish. And in India? What language would you consider it important to learn? all the best urban
@williamjisir (22819)
• China
1 Jan 09
Happy New Year, coolmailraj. To me, English is the most practical foreign language to learn as my native tongue is Chinese. I have a good command of English, so I think that if I were to study another foreign language, I would choose to study Japanese or German or Korean because we have many teachers teaching these foreign languages and it is very convenient for me to learn any one of them so long as I plan to learn and spare time to learn, but I am really lazy in learning another one. If I were to ask which foreign language is more useful except English, I would say that it is Japanese and Korean because we have a lot of more companies from these two countries. They are distributed in the east part of China. Happy Learning, dear friend.
1 person likes this
• Australia
2 Jan 09
I any language is useful you could get a job as an interpreter or open yourself up for allsorts of job prospects. I would also love to learn a language i would like to learn how to speak Italian or French, because i love fashion from each of these countries.
@annierose (18926)
• Philippines
4 Feb 09
Hi coolmailraj, Since I am a native Filipino, I can say that English is the most practical foreign language that I can learn. It is a very powerful language because it deserves as a bridge between two and more countries.People from all over the world can communicate without hassle as long as there is an understanding of the language.In fact, I can say that if a person is fluent in English he or she can be consider competitive in the real world.Learning English language is fun and very beneficial. When one knows how to speak English, he or she has more chances of having friends not just here but in different countries also regardless of his or her nationality. I am a Filipino, but since I know English it helps me to have friends in other part of the world like Japan, China, Turkey and many other countries. I also met my boyfriend which is not a Filipino because I know how to communicate in English. Because of English also we can made transactions to other countries. We can make business and introduce it to foreigners. I also uses English to earn money just like what I am doing now here in mylot and other online jobs. I can say that I owe so much on the language. It just proved that English is one of the language that justifies it importance and practicality.
@suzzy3 (8342)
1 Jan 09
If I was in America probably Spanish or Mexican .It I was in business in this country England Manderin is the new language to learn now all the business with China and all that.
1 person likes this
• India
1 Jan 09
hindi is the best easy learnable language...just give a try
1 person likes this
@youless (112096)
• Guangzhou, China
4 Feb 09
I think it is English. As English is already a global language and it is used in many countries in the world. I love China
• India
15 Jan 09
french. It's so romantic and girls adore it.
• China
25 Jan 09
I think every foreign language is useful in different places, for me , English is the second language , it is important ,make me could join mylot and know more friends, I aslo want to learn french if I have more free time .