Choosing between languages related to International Business

Hello forum members. I only have one request please do not flame me.

In the Fall I will be attending the University of Texas at Austin to study International Business. My major requires me to study a language for three years as well as to study abroad for a semester in a country where that language is spoken.

I will admit that I'm monolingual, but it's not because I'm disinterested in languages just that when I was a freshman and sophomore in a high school Spanish class I would always get called out as having a "gringo" accent. This was in a school where near native Spanish speakers would take Spanish as an elective just for an easy 100. Not all, but some did. Anyway, I guess this has always led me to be a little apprehensive about picking up a 2nd language.

Okay; back on topic. I've heard so many conflicting arguments about picking a language to study in the context of international business. For example, Latin America is a growing market so pick Spanish or Portuguese. French is the language of diplomats. German has one of the strongest GDP's. China is becoming a powerful economic market, etc.

I have also seen the counter arguments: Latin America has only shown minimal evidence of growth and the largest market, Brazilians, are striving to learn English. Most Germans speak English. Chinese are content with their sphere of influence, etc.

Now, I kind of find these arguments feeble. What I would like to know is what would be the most useful language for an International Business major (NOT the easiest) to learn in respect to the economic forecast and quality of living in those countries where the language is spoken?

Thank you for your assistance in advance,
Chase

<<I only have one request please do not flame me. >>


Request denied.


<<when I was a freshman and sophomore in a high school Spanish class I would always get called out as having a "gringo" accent. >>


And? What does that have to do with anything? So you had a crap accent. Most likely you always will. (non demotivating mode: but accent doesn't matter much anyway)


<<This was in a school where near native Spanish speakers would take Spanish as an elective just for an easy 100.>>


These near native Spanish(/Portuguese/German/French/etc) speakers are always going to exist, and are always going to better than you, so best get used to it.


<<Anyway, I guess this has always led me to be a little apprehensive about picking up a 2nd language. >>


What's wrong with that? You should indeed be apprehensive about undertaking such a large amount of work that could well all amount to nothing in the end.


<<Okay; back on topic. I've heard so many conflicting arguments about picking a language to study in the context of international business. For example, Latin America is a growing market so pick Spanish or Portuguese. French is the language of diplomats. German has one of the strongest GDP's. China is becoming a powerful economic market, etc.

I have also seen the counter arguments: Latin America has only shown minimal evidence of growth and the largest market, Brazilians, are striving to learn English. Most Germans speak English. Chinese are content with their sphere of influence, etc. >>


Conflicting, of course. Because there is no correct answer. There are pros and cons. Success is not guaranteed. Some people learn Chinese and fail miserably and never get a job, despite all China's success. Others on the contrary learn Cambodian and become millionaires.


<<Now, I kind of find these arguments feeble. >>


Not really. They're all true at the same time. They're not mutually exclusive. Chile is prospering and Venezuela is fucked up. Some diplomats speak French, but more speak English. German has a big GDP and lots of Germans speak English. China is a growing powerful economy, and many indeed are content... Where's the contradiction?



<<What I would like to know is what would be the most useful language for an International Business major (NOT the easiest) to learn in respect to the economic forecast and quality of living in those countries where the language is spoken? >>


There is ample enough opportunity in all the languages you mentioned. So just decide...

If you're considering an asian languages, I will say Mandarin will be a good choice.

For european languages, french or german will be very useful.

you should listen to my english accent... he he he

Don't worry about your gringo accent, just began to walk, then run, and then fly.

If you are attending the University of Texas at Austin, then you can go easily to mexico on summer to improve your spanish or at least go to the border.

Anyway, here in europe, people who study international business learn at least 2 foreign languages. English, French , German, Spanish, Chinese are the most popular ones.

Remember: american spanish and brazil portuguese are quite similar languages so you can get 2 languages paying just one.

I'm spaniard if you are thinking about my native language.

Good luck

According to several experts, the business languages of this century are English, Spanish and Chinese.

The Hispanic market, including Hispanics in USA, Mexico, South America and Spain is the second one in GDP.

Besides, Brazilians, are striving to learn English, but also Spanish. The same with French and Italian people (a lot of them study English and Spanish).

At the same time, China, Taiwan and Singapore are an important market.


So, in theory, you should choose between Spanish and Chinese.

After taking a few months of Spanish you should be able to read and understand most Wikipedia articles written in Spanish. A little bit more and you should be able to make yourself understood in Spanish speaking countries. After taking a few years of Chinese, you should be able to puzzle out a few characters in a Children's book story. After a few more years, you probably will have forgotten how to read Chinese, but you will probably remember how to say ni hao (but with the wrong tones) and Xiexie (thank you).

According to several experts, the business languages of this century are English, French and Russian.

The Francophone market, including Francophone in USA, Canada, Belgium, Switzerland, Francophone Africa and France is the is the largest trading partner of not only of the US but the other non-francophone world.

Besides, Brazilians, are striving to learn English, but also French. The same with Spanish and Italian people (a lot of them study English and French).

At the same time, Russia, Belarus and the rest of CIS are an important market.


So, in theory, you should choose French and Russian.

German remains a powerful language in Europe. French is also a good bet.

The dark horse is Russian, they already control vast amounts of energy and many European countries are already heavily dependent on these supplies. Russian will be a major business language of the 21st century.

I agree with you Fraz. But the dark ass/donkey/burro is Spanish.

The ranking of major languages is not going to change in the foreseeable future. As long as the Western civilization as we know it is still there, English will remain #1 and French #2.

Moreover the gap between winners and losers is going to sharpen. In Europe, thanks to healthy demographic rates UK and France are steadily growing while population is alarmingly diminishing in Germany and Italy. Chances are that in the next 35 years UK will be the most populous country in Europe, with France 2nd and Germany far behind.

Grimmest prognosis is for Russia. High mortality, extremely low birth rate: the nation is literally collapsing.

France is increasing in population, but thanks to non whites. Germany has much more white population by far than France and these are who bring prosperity, not the muslims and their children who reproduce like rabbits and drain resources and public funds.

French is useless, German is only good if you wanna move to germany, Russian/Arabic only if you wanna get into the energy sector, Mandarin and Spanish in practical terms by far the best. Mandarin is money, if you can get to fluency however that is very hard, Spanish is easy to learn won't make you important but it'll sure as hell will make you more competitive in the years to come, even if you end up working at walmart :P

"Mandarin is money"

and Spanish is no money, no development, no hi-tech, nothing valuable, NOTHING

"Spanish is money"


and French is no money, no development, no hi-tech, nothing valuable, NOTHING

<<
and Spanish is no money, no development, no hi-tech, nothing valuable, NOTHING >>


Why does that imply you can't make money from them. In fact, it's a good reason to learn Spanish, because there is a growing middle class there and yet there is no tech or anything valuable. That means THEY WANT STUFF , but they CAN't MAKE IT THEMSEVLES, so they NEED someone to SELL IT TO THEM!!!!! You could make a killing.