Hi, I was wondering what people’s opinions are on which languages would be most useful to know other than English. I was thinking of taking Arabic due to the gulf states economic growth.
I would say chinese 
ni hao ma
In the United States? Spanish, hands down. Best language for financial services is a different story. As far as Mandarin, I don’t think so. The Chinese have been learning English and we are a good few decades away from China being our economic overlords (i.e. you’ll be retired or close to it before it matters).
fxguy1234 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > ni hao ma Mandarin is ridiculous. I learned bits and pieces and basically writing things in this English-ized form could really lead to some confusion. I took a short course and every time I tried to say this, they told me I was saying: “Hello, Old Woman.” My teacher was a younger gentleman, and he didn’t see the humor in that.
German and maybe French.
sherbeer Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I would say chinese So you’re Chinese, female, AND you like beer? We have a winner…
In the US, definitely Spanish. As a third… I love French. In the world, Mandarin could be useful but not a must, given that English is strongly spoken everywhere.
I like champagne. Bolinger will do or a veuve clicquot. Beer is dutch word for bear, the market we are in.
sherbeer Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I like champagne. Bolinger will do or a veuve > clicquot. Beer is dutch word for bear, the market > we are in. Chinese, female, champagne connoisseur, AND sophisticated? We have a winner…
i was once told japanese can be very usefull too. also i know someone who took russian in college and just landed a sweet internship and mckinsley in moscow.
the show NY Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > i was once told japanese can be very usefull too. > also i know someone who took russian in college > and just landed a sweet internship and mckinsley > in moscow. funny, i wouldnt go work in moscow even if they would pay me 100% raise
depends if theyre paying me in rubles or not…
math
dlpicket Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > fxguy1234 Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > ni hao ma > > Mandarin is ridiculous. I learned bits and pieces > and basically writing things in this English-ized > form could really lead to some confusion. I took a > short course and every time I tried to say this, > they told me I was saying: “Hello, Old Woman.” My > teacher was a younger gentleman, and he didn’t see > the humor in that. Cantonese is even worse, 8-9 tones/intonations compared to 4 with mandarin, plus alot of colloquialisms that a non-native would have dificulty understanding. I’d rather learn Cantonese its more useful for where I live, plus it might up my game with the HK shorties. Like KKent said Spanish is probably the best to know in the United States and increasingly Canada. As for me I’d like to learn it for my own personal development since I already have a fairly strong base and my best friend is from el salvador and she can help me out.
English then C++. What else do you need?
SeanC Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > dlpicket Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > fxguy1234 Wrote: > > > -------------------------------------------------- > > > ----- > > > ni hao ma > > > > Mandarin is ridiculous. I learned bits and > pieces > > and basically writing things in this > English-ized > > form could really lead to some confusion. I took > a > > short course and every time I tried to say > this, > > they told me I was saying: “Hello, Old Woman.” > My > > teacher was a younger gentleman, and he didn’t > see > > the humor in that. > > > Cantonese is even worse, 8-9 tones/intonations > compared to 4 with mandarin, plus alot of > colloquialisms that a non-native would have > dificulty understanding. > > I’d rather learn Cantonese its more useful for > where I live, plus it might up my game with the HK > shorties. > > Like KKent said Spanish is probably the best to > know in the United States and increasingly Canada. > As for me I’d like to learn it for my own personal > development since I already have a fairly strong > base and my best friend is from el salvador and > she can help me out. That’s cool. My best friend (mi amigo mejor) is Bolivian.
entonces, hablamos en espanol? vale
Somalia, it may prove useful as I will have to broker deals between shipping companies and pirates, and also put my persuasion skills into use.
i’d say French. it is spoken quite widely and when combined with English will make you able to communicate in a wider number of countries than any other combination of two languages…