speaking the country's language
Nov 21, 2014, 4:39 pm
#61
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 3,784
Meh.
Pretty much everyone under 50 everywhere in the world speaks at least some English these days. At least everyone under 50 who is well off enough to fly internationally.
Within a generation this "problem" will more or less take care of itself.
Nothing wrong with learning languages. But realistically speaking, if you speak English, it's all you need for business. It's the international business language. When a German and an Italian transact business, they do in English.
I remember when I was in high school in the 80s and there was a panic about Japan taking over. Seemed like overnight there was a mad rush to learn Japanese. My high school offered it an elective my senior year. Now it's same OMG OMG OMG we all have to learn Chinese. And wasn't the USSR supposed to dominate the world too at some point and knowing Russian would be important? Yeah I seem to recall that argument made as well.
How'd all that work out?
Pretty much everyone under 50 everywhere in the world speaks at least some English these days. At least everyone under 50 who is well off enough to fly internationally.
Within a generation this "problem" will more or less take care of itself.
Nothing wrong with learning languages. But realistically speaking, if you speak English, it's all you need for business. It's the international business language. When a German and an Italian transact business, they do in English.
I remember when I was in high school in the 80s and there was a panic about Japan taking over. Seemed like overnight there was a mad rush to learn Japanese. My high school offered it an elective my senior year. Now it's same OMG OMG OMG we all have to learn Chinese. And wasn't the USSR supposed to dominate the world too at some point and knowing Russian would be important? Yeah I seem to recall that argument made as well.
How'd all that work out?
Anyone who travels internationally for business should know 3 or 4 languages, if not fluently, at least functionally. Even when visiting a foreign country for vacation, spending a few weeks learning the basics is a very, very good idea. I've been to many places in the world where no one knows a lick of English. Granted, I actively seek those places out...
Living in DC, I'm working on my Amharic, so I can interact with cabbies.
Nov 22, 2014, 12:59 am
#62
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Join Date: Dec 2000
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1) Your "statistics" are meaningless because the US culture facilitates inter-racial bonds to the extent that "black/white" categorizations are overtly offensive
2) If you live in Europe and want to travel 1,000 miles away --for business or pleasure-- chances are that foreign language skills will be of use; this is not the case in the US
3) Maybe where you're from, fluency in foreign languages is a prerequisite for intelligence, but the majority of Americans can get by fine with English alone
Nov 22, 2014, 3:36 am
#63
Join Date: May 2014
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Yeah well, there would have been a reason he was a high school teacher and not working a service job that requires little to no education.
Nov 22, 2014, 5:21 am
#64
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Originally Posted by Palal Mandarin, English and Spanish, Arabic, Benghali, Hindi, Russian, Portuguese, Japanese, German in that order. French is nowhere near the top. It was 100 years ago, but no more :P .
It's an official language in nearly 40 countries...I'm not sure where you get your info.
1) China: Mandarin, various dialects, English
2) India: Hindi and English
3) US: English
4) Indonesia: Bahasa, English, Dutch, Portuguese
5) Brazil: Portuguese
6) Pakistan: Punjabi, English
7) Nigeria: English and various tribal
8) Bangladesh: Bangla, English
9) Russia: Russian
10) Japan: Japanese, English
Those 10 countries constitute half the population of the planet. None of them use French.
BTW, I have been in all those countries except Brazil. English is fine in all of them.
Nov 22, 2014, 11:32 am
#65
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[QUOTE=Tchiowa;23880458]Those 10 countries constitute half the population of the planet. None of them use French./QUOTE]
So unless a country has a lot of people, it's unimportant. Gotcha.
Not sure where you were in Russia that English was "fine." Outside of tourist-facing places is Moscow and St Petersburg, you'll find almost nobody speaking English.
So unless a country has a lot of people, it's unimportant. Gotcha.
Not sure where you were in Russia that English was "fine." Outside of tourist-facing places is Moscow and St Petersburg, you'll find almost nobody speaking English.
Nov 22, 2014, 7:41 pm
#66
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[QUOTE=ironmanjt;23881669]
I didn't say it "unimportant". I'm saying it's less important than the major languages. French is simply not an important international language any more.
Yes, I was in Moscow.
Those 10 countries constitute half the population of the planet. None of them use French./QUOTE]
So unless a country has a lot of people, it's unimportant. Gotcha.
Not sure where you were in Russia that English was "fine." Outside of tourist-facing places is Moscow and St Petersburg, you'll find almost nobody speaking English.
So unless a country has a lot of people, it's unimportant. Gotcha.
Not sure where you were in Russia that English was "fine." Outside of tourist-facing places is Moscow and St Petersburg, you'll find almost nobody speaking English.
Yes, I was in Moscow.
Nov 23, 2014, 2:28 pm
#67
Join Date: May 2004
Programs: BA blue, LH Senator, KQ (FB) gold
Posts: 8,215
[QUOTE=Tchiowa;23883292]
Yes, French's role is diminishing in importance. It used to the language of diplomacy, a role it now has to share. However, it still has a lot of speakers, and that number of speakers is growing not shrinking, unlike Russian or Japanese. It remains one of the major international languages and will be for some time to come because it is also widely spoken as a second language.
It isn't just number of speakers that makes a language important. Even though it now shares its dipomatic role with other languages, it remains one of the world's major diplomatic languages.
UN Languages: English, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, Chinese...and French.
EU Procedural Languages: English, German...and French.
It is one of the working languages of: OECD, NATO, ECOWAS, WTO, WIPO, WADA and FIFA.
All deliberations of rhe European Court of Justice are conducted in...French.
It is one of two official languages of the IOC.
It isn't dead yet - it isn't even sick.
It isn't just number of speakers that makes a language important. Even though it now shares its dipomatic role with other languages, it remains one of the world's major diplomatic languages.
UN Languages: English, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, Chinese...and French.
EU Procedural Languages: English, German...and French.
It is one of the working languages of: OECD, NATO, ECOWAS, WTO, WIPO, WADA and FIFA.
All deliberations of rhe European Court of Justice are conducted in...French.
It is one of two official languages of the IOC.
It isn't dead yet - it isn't even sick.
Nov 23, 2014, 11:07 pm
#68
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There are a number of industries where knowledge of French would be extremely useful. Many of these industries involve luxury goods. A number of graduate programs in mathematics require knowledge of French, German, or Russian as a lot of important papers are written in those languages.
IIRC, pilots have the option of speaking to CDG ATC in French instead of English and a lot of them choose to do so.
Those who say that Parisians are cold and unfriendly often do not take the time to learn at least some French. Paris is a wonderful city full of very helpful people if one learns and uses some polite phrases in French.
Living in the US, it's relatively easy to learn some Spanish thanks to bilingual signs in many stores. Self checkouts at many stores have Spanish language functions which are a great way to learn Spanish as well.
IIRC, pilots have the option of speaking to CDG ATC in French instead of English and a lot of them choose to do so.
Those who say that Parisians are cold and unfriendly often do not take the time to learn at least some French. Paris is a wonderful city full of very helpful people if one learns and uses some polite phrases in French.
Living in the US, it's relatively easy to learn some Spanish thanks to bilingual signs in many stores. Self checkouts at many stores have Spanish language functions which are a great way to learn Spanish as well.
Nov 24, 2014, 9:01 am
#72
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My French vocab (French being an official language of Canada, you know, the second largest country in the world) has improved no end since I moved here, given everything, from the "pistaches, grilles et sales" to the "lingettes déesinfectantes" on my desk are in both languages!
Nov 24, 2014, 11:13 am
#73
Join Date: Jun 2014
Posts: 960
My French vocab (French being an official language of Canada, you know, the second largest country in the world) has improved no end since I moved here, given everything, from the "pistaches, grilles et sales" to the "lingettes déesinfectantes" on my desk are in both languages!
In fact, Canada sits at 38th in this case
Nov 24, 2014, 11:27 am
#74
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 1,559
English's use as a lingua franca around the world is the probably one the biggest impediments to foreign language learning in the US. Quite interesting that as the world has globalized, English has become more important rather than less.
Nov 24, 2014, 11:49 am
#75
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My French vocab (French being an official language of Canada, you know, the second largest country in the world) has improved no end since I moved here, given everything, from the "pistaches, grilles et sales" to the "lingettes déesinfectantes" on my desk are in both languages!
In fact, Canada sits at 38th in this case
1. By area in square kilometer, Canada appears to be the 2nd largest (source).
2. The top 3 largest countries by population are China, India, and US (source).
To pick a 2nd (or 3rd, or even 4th) language/s to master bases on either population or area index (or both) is too simple a criterion. Although English can be a popular choice internationally, there are other determinants to factor in as well.
The bottom line is speaking only one language can be very inadequate nowadays for worldly travelers.