Spanish vs French
I just realized there hasn't been any good ol threads about anything besides spines and homosexuals.
So I shall bring back the age old question of which language is more important second in the world? French or Spanish? And no, Chinese is not number one, English is. And Chinese isn't number 2 or even a global language.
is simple: French!
If you speak Fernch or English, you have many chances to build a dialog with someone in almost any country no matter what the official language is, while with Spanish, you could do that only in Spanish speaking countries - or better said: in 99% of the cases only in Spanish speaking countries.
Spanish is spoken in Latin America, Spain and IT IS THE SECOND LANGUAGE IN USA.
So, all other points are irrelevant. It is obvious that Spanish is the winner...
<<IT IS THE SECOND LANGUAGE IN USA.>>
If you want to get around in the US, English is still your best bet, but perhaps not for long.
However, if you want to get around in the Western Hemisphere, knowing English and Spanish would be the best combination of 2 languages.
It's not clear that Spanish is all that useful in the Eastern Hemisphere (outside of Spain). I'd guess English + Chinese would be your best choice there.
I always deemed any competition for being second as rather pathetic. Be the number one or be nothing.