French vs German vs Spanish? Difficulty & Usefulness?

z   Sat Jun 16, 2007 11:28 pm GMT
In the USA, Spanish is the most common second language, however you will find in most other English speaking countries French is a more popular second language, and it is a popular third language in non-English speaking countries (where English is usually the most popular second language). This is because Spanish is a minority language in the USA, therefore it is commonly learned even though French is more useful.

France and Canada are two of the world's richest countries.

Equatorial Guinea is the world's fastest growing economy (18% GDP growth rate, admittedly also a Spanish speaking country).

The French have nuclear bombs.

French is spoken in every continent if you consider Australasia a continent instead of just Australia (Even South America: French Guiana).
Frenche   Sat Jun 16, 2007 11:38 pm GMT
You'd better say Eq Guinea is also a French speaking country (not true in reality) because 64% of population speaks Spanish. French language is testimonial, it was made an official language because Eq Guinea wanted to join the CFA but only a few people speak it. Despite Eq Guinea's economy grows at high rates, this country relies on spanish founds.
Guest   Sat Jun 16, 2007 11:48 pm GMT
Spanish is being wiped out in Equatorial Guinea. There is a reason why they made French an official language in recent years, because Spanish is weak sauce.
Franco   Sat Jun 16, 2007 11:51 pm GMT
El español desaparecerá. Es obvio que eres un bobo.
Guest   Sun Jun 17, 2007 3:57 am GMT
<< spanish founds. >>

It's funds not founds, SILLY!
Spanique   Sun Jun 17, 2007 4:01 am GMT
Spanish is fast dying in Equatorial Guinea and in Spanish Sahara just like what happened in the Philippines.

By the way the most popular non-English foreign languages in the Philippines are French, Japanese, Italian, and German in that order.
Guest...   Sun Jun 17, 2007 9:54 pm GMT
It is true that Spanish is taking over when it comes to foreign language in the education system, however, if you look outside of the schools...you will find that the United States concerns itself in terms of economics.

Right now, the United States doesn't care about French, Spanish, or German. I am not saying that these languages are not important or not desirable; I am saying that in terms of business and money...our attention is shifting elsewhere.

In the last ten years there has been a serious push for people to learn Chinese (Mandarin) and Hindi because they are becoming serious economic powers on the world market.

While French, German, and Spanish open the doors to many countries, the majority of these countries are developing countries and unstable partners. There is little money in career in these languages for the average person. If you are able to find a high paying career in these languages...you are one of the few lucky people in the United States. Most people who learn these languages find there is not much work out there for their skills, and end up becoming teachers working for minimum wages just above the poverty line.

People are going to continue to learn and speak French, German, and Spanish...but I honestly feel that these languages are going to be overshadowed by Chinese and Hindi. If Brazil ever wanted to push their economy...we could add Brazilian Portuguese to this list also.