Which are the 3 most useful languages?

Student   Thu Jan 08, 2009 9:34 am GMT
Hi! Which are the 3 most useful languages to find a job and travel around the World?


One of them is English, but what about the others?

The candidates are French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Russian and German. I really want to study a language that it will be really useful and practical, not a prestigeous one.

Some people say English-Spanish-Chinese. Another people say the classical English-French-German. I don't know which is the best option.



PD. You can answer without insults to other languages or people. Thank you in advance.
Chyort   Thu Jan 08, 2009 10:11 am GMT
English and English and English. But really, the other 2 are up to you and dependy ENTIRELY on where you plan to go. There is no sense in comparing the importance of those other languages because they pale in comparison and are only used regionally. So, it depends on what region you're gonna visit. Just look at a map.
Quincy   Thu Jan 08, 2009 10:43 am GMT
I don't know about 3, but I do know that English is the most widespread in the world. If someone doesn't speak the local language, there almost always is someone who speaks English.

As for the others, I'm going to be basing this off where I'd like to visit.

2nd most useful (for me): French

I would love to visit France, Switzerland and even Morocco. French is pretty widespread in the Mediterranean area as well I think.

3rd: Italian

I would love to spend a lifetime traveling all across Italy. Most Italians are not very good with speaking English, so Italian is a great plus.
J.C.   Thu Jan 08, 2009 11:32 am GMT
Well, as it has already been said it depends on where you travelling.
If you're coming to Asia coming from Eastern Europe Russian and Chinese would be interesting. If you're entering Asia from Bulgaria then Turkish and Chinese but once you cross the border from China to Mongolia and Korea then you'll have to know the local language, at least some greetings.

When I travelled to Korea, China and Taiwan I had to rely on the local language since English wasn't much widespread (I'm not talking about hotels and touristics places but REALLY TALKING to the locals). In Japan
English is also useless...
Oh yes, last but not least, if you want to travel in Central and South America SPANISH is the language to learn since you can use it even in Brazil but don't expect Brazilians to reply in proper Spanish!!! :D

Good travel and take care!!!
J.C.   Thu Jan 08, 2009 11:40 am GMT
By the way, when I went to Taiwan and Korea Japanese was VERY USEFUL and to some extent also in China.

Cheers!!
ça   Thu Jan 08, 2009 7:20 pm GMT
1. Danish
2. Urdu
3. Basque
mufasa   Thu Jan 08, 2009 8:45 pm GMT
1. Esperanto
2. Romani
3. Swahili
Guest   Thu Jan 08, 2009 8:49 pm GMT
1. Moonish
2. Trollish
3. Shoe Polish
CNN   Thu Jan 08, 2009 9:19 pm GMT
1. Chinese
2. Japanese
3. Korean
Guest   Thu Jan 08, 2009 11:53 pm GMT
Etruscan
Ligurian
Tartessian
Not a Communist   Fri Jan 09, 2009 12:17 am GMT
We get variants on this question all the time. I'm going to be Frank, even though it's not my name. It's like J.C. indicated or any smart person will tell you-it depends on your needs and goals.

Diplomat: Choose French and one other language spoken in the region where you want to relocate.
Manufacturing: Spanish and Mandarin
Humanitarian: Spanish and French

The languages I have used the most are English, French, Spanish, and Chinese characters, but truthfully, I think I have used almost every language I know, so if you choose one not on your list, maybe an opportunity will arise for you to use it.

German will give you an edge in some things. Russian will help with other Slavic languages. The US needs people who speak Arabic well.

Besides languages, what skills do you have? That's what you need to ask yourself.
Xie   Fri Jan 09, 2009 3:00 am GMT
>>travel around the World?

3 are never enough for that.

I find it much more fun to concentrate on just any 3 you choose from your own list, and then visit a lot of places in those 3 - say, if you choose French and Russian, then you "can" go to Francophone, Russophone, and Anglophone countries. Elsewhere, any chances that you can use any one of them is a nice bonus.
Rigamarole   Fri Jan 09, 2009 3:22 am GMT
1. Hiri Motu
2. Polari
3. Hottentot
4. French
Frannco   Fri Jan 09, 2009 7:43 am GMT
1. Spanish
2. Portugese
3. Italian
Li Dahua   Fri Jan 09, 2009 8:34 am GMT
I live in Taiwan but i really think English is useless unless you take the exam. Every company here says we need to apply for English, but it is only by name, not true. I may consider Japanese is more useful than English.