Languages in the EU
Europe can be divided in 3 parts (actually already is) East, Middle and West.
Russian is only useful in the Western part and Spanish is only useful in the Eastern part, let's not kid ourselves.
The most useful languages in Europe are English and French.
English because, supposedly, it's spoken everywhere for tourism purposes, and French because many countries in Middle Europe speak the language and with it you can also get your way in other romance language countries.
No, Germans tend to speak English. And it's true; I've never met an Italian or French who could speak descent English, or any other language except for their own. I also wonder why is that so?
Your brain can be dividided in three parts: the empty one, the empty one and the empty one.
"Russian is only useful in the Western part and Spanish is only useful in the Eastern part, let's not kid ourselves. " Hilarious. Russia is Eastern Europe, dumbass .
It was obviously a typo, Mami panchita from hell
"Russian is only useful in the EASTERN part and Spanish is only useful in the WESTERN part"
No it is not a typo, you have a completely messed up concept of the European Geography.
You said:
"The most useful languages in Europe are English and French.
English because, supposedly, it's spoken everywhere for tourism purposes, and French because many countries in Middle Europe speak the language"
What Middle European countries speak French? France and Belgium are Western Europe, not Central Europe. Middle European countries speak German .
So I would summarize the map as follows:
French important in Western and South Europe.
Spanish important in South Europe
German important in Central and North Europe
Russian important in Russia ,not Europe.
English important everywhere.
Spanish is NOT useful in western part, it's ONLY useful in SPAIN!
@Mami panchita
I know my geography, thank you very much.
You do realize there isn't a single concept that divides Europe equally between West, Central and East, right?
I only divided it in these 3, so Southern Europe is Western Europe.
Also I'm considering at least Switzerland Middle Europe (yes, maybe I overstated by saying "many countries speak French in Middle Europe").
I know German is important in Middle Europe as well, but English covers those countries and so German is not one of the two most useful languages in Europe.
Russian is not only spoken in Russia, but as I said before, is also not that important in the rest of Europe.
<<Spanish is NOT useful in western part, it's ONLY useful in SPAIN!>>
That's certainly not true, it's just that it's not very useful in France.
"That's certainly not true, it's just that it's not very useful in France.
"
If Spanish is useful in an European country appart from Spain and Portugal, that is France. 34% of people speak Spanish in France according to many sources.
"Also I'm considering at least Switzerland Middle Europe"
French is spoken in Geneve which is the westernmost part of Switzerland. In fact if you look at a map, it looks like a French speaking enclave in predominantly germanophone country.
<< If Spanish is useful in an European country appart from Spain and Portugal, that is France. 34% of people speak Spanish in France according to many sources. >>
Just around 3% of The French speak Spanish according to Eurobarometer.
Sorry, but I have the Eurobarometer 2005 in front of me, and it says about France:
English 34%
Spanish 10%
German 7%
Eurobarometro 2006.
"Exceptuando su idioma materno, ¿qué lengua cree que los niños deben aprender?
Francia: Inglés (91%), Francés (2%), Alemán (24%), Español (35%), Italiano (6%), Ruso (0%), Sueco (-).
According to this famous Eurobarometer the important data are the next:
English is the most studied language: 38% of Europeans study it.
German: 14%
French: 14%
Spanish: 6%
Russian: 6%
Italian: 3%
In short, English is spoken by half of the Europeans, if you take into account total speakers. It is the most important language clearly in all Europe.
German is second, only taking into account native speakers. It is important in Central-Eastern Europe, but not in Latin countries.
French is third taking into account total speakers, but there is an interesting fight between French and German to be second. It is important in Latin countries, but not too much in Central-Eastern Europe.
Spanish is 4th. Important in Latin countries. There is a fight with Russian for the 4th place. I bet for Spanish because Russian was official in Baltic countries (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) and compulsory in Eastern Europe. But in these countries people study English now.
Russian is 5th. Studied in the past by Eastern Europeans. I am not sure if people in Eastern Europe will study Russian again, because it is not compulsory now.
Italian: the 6th place of Italian is the last of the top 6. I think in the near future will be 5th because Russian will be less studied.
También existe interés por el español en países europeos alejados del Mediterraneo como Suecia:
Según el eurobarometro: ¿Exceptuando su idioma materno, ¿qué dos idiomas cree que los niños deben
aprender? Los suecos responden:
Inglés 99% Francés 17% Alemán 35% Español 31% Ruso 1% Italiano 0% Sueco 1%.
Why do people here keep insisting Spanish is a useful language in Europe? It's spoken in Spain and..............NOWHERE else in Europe.
You don't even need Spanish to live in Spain. There are hordes of British, German and French tourists and ex-pat communities who could really care less about learning Spanish. It's a tourist destination, nothing more. Not to mention, Spain's birth rate is one of the lowest on the planet. I wouldn't be surprised if Brits and Germans one day out number the locals in Spain. Adios Amigos.
Why do people here keep insisting Spanish is a useful language in Europe? It's spoken in Spain and..............NOWHERE else in Europe.
False. 54% of people speak Spanis in Portugal, and 32% in France.