<<Yeah, but when you add their usefulness in 2nd/foreign language speakers, science, technology, literature, arts, and culture, Spanish will surely left behind by French and it will slip to from the 2nd to a lower spot. >>
I guess you'd need to figure out why Anglophones (or E1Lers) learn foreign languages. If you start out with English as a first language, I doubt technology or science is a big factor in your choice of 2nd lanmguage. Perhaps there are a few specialized fields where most papers are published in French or Spanish, but I'd think something like Chinese, Russian, German, Japanese, etc. would be better choices for technology, depending on your field.
That leaves food, culture, literature, history, art, music, etc., but again, how many Anglophones really consider these as important factors? Unless you're really into a foreign language, i doubt you'd read much literature in a 2nd language. (I really hated reading literature in foreign languages back in school, BTW). I'd think the most important factor is
the prevalence of a foreign language in nearby regions. In the US, this means Spanish is probably most useful in most places (except real close to Quebec). The situation is Europe would be different, where the closeness of France to England would be a big factor (but there's also Germany close by, too.)
I guess you'd need to figure out why Anglophones (or E1Lers) learn foreign languages. If you start out with English as a first language, I doubt technology or science is a big factor in your choice of 2nd lanmguage. Perhaps there are a few specialized fields where most papers are published in French or Spanish, but I'd think something like Chinese, Russian, German, Japanese, etc. would be better choices for technology, depending on your field.
That leaves food, culture, literature, history, art, music, etc., but again, how many Anglophones really consider these as important factors? Unless you're really into a foreign language, i doubt you'd read much literature in a 2nd language. (I really hated reading literature in foreign languages back in school, BTW). I'd think the most important factor is
the prevalence of a foreign language in nearby regions. In the US, this means Spanish is probably most useful in most places (except real close to Quebec). The situation is Europe would be different, where the closeness of France to England would be a big factor (but there's also Germany close by, too.)