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The most useful languages for world travel
<<Estos franceses no pueden aceptar que el español esta muy por encima de su idioma, eso sin mencionar que nuestro idioma es mucho mas sencillo que el suyo, incluyendo el inglés.>>
I suppose you could plausibly argue that Spanish is simpler overall than French (I don't know if it's true or not, though), but there's no way that Spanish could be considered simpler overall than English. Granted, English spelling has its quirks, but the rest of the language is remarkably simple. Many English learners on this forum have told us how easy it is to master English in a relatively short time. On the other hand, large numbers of students study Spanish here in the US, and never even get to first base (that includes me, BTW).
On the other hand, large numbers of students study Spanish here in the US, and never even get to first base (that includes me, BTW).
Americans are retarded, what did you expect?
"Americans are retarded, what did you expect?"
>>Don't be rude mate, he was just telling us his opinion, anyways that English-Spanish debate is being going around for a while, I'm gonna open a new thread to discuss it properly.
<<Americans are retarded, what did you expect? >>
Actually, my theory is that English is so simple and straightforward that it spoils native speakers with it's simplicity. When time comes to learn a 2nd language, E1Lers are appalled by all the horrendous complexity they encounter, and get turned off of foreign language study completely.
On the other hand, when non-E1Lers first encounter English, they're pleasantly surprised by the lack of gender, the easy-to-form verb tenses (no real subjunctive to speak of), lack of complex noun and adjective declensions, etc.
<< I'm gonna open a new thread to discuss it properly. >>
Please don't. The forum is being clogged with redundant threads all over the place.
Okay, I'm ready to agree that French and Spanish are equally important in Asia, and are both extinct.
However, everybody knows that French is more important in Africa, and it's really funny to hear some people say that Spanish is "spoken" there!
You mean that little, tiny, sliver, joke of land called Equatorial Guinea, which is surrounded by Francophone countries? or the Western Sahara, which doesn't even have the status of a country and is 99% barren desert? LOL
Plus, who goes to these two anyways? Tourists choose Cote d'Ivoire or Congo, and if they're English, they choose South America or Nigeria.
And for that, I can say the same thing about French in South America - it's only spoken on a tiny country in a continent that speaks 50% Spanish and 50% Brazilian Portuguese, so even English and Dutch are negligible there. Plus, who goes to these two anyways? Tourists choose Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Chile... etc.
So, Spanish can have South America, and French can have Africa.
Now, when it comes to Europe, French rules by a far margin and everybody knows it. Some would argue that it's German which rules. In any case, it is NOT Spanish by any stretch of the imagination.
What's left? North America.
Spanish and French are both used there.
I don't know why some people are trying to belittle or discount Quebec.
For your information, if Quebec was a country, it would be the 20th biggest in the world!
So...
ASIA=Neither Spanish nor French
AFRICA=Only French, Not Spanish
S.AMERICA=Only Spanish, Not French
N.AMERICA=Both French & Spanish
EUROPE=Not Spanish
Happy?
<<ASIA=Neither Spanish nor French
AFRICA=Only French, Not Spanish
S.AMERICA=Only Spanish, Not French
N.AMERICA=Both French & Spanish
EUROPE=Not Spanish
Happy? >>
I'd revise this a bit:
ASIA=little Spanish, little French (Tie)
AFRICA=French, little Spanish (French wins)
S.AMERICA=Spanish, little French (Spanish wins)
N.AMERICA=French, Spanish (Spanish edges out French, especially if you include Mexico in N.A.)
EUROPE=French, Spanish (French edges out Spanish)
Looks like an overall tie to me.
Yes. It looks like an overall tie in continents, but not in population (native and total speakers):
French: 80 million of native speakers (115 including bilingual). Total: 265 million including students and second language users (data from the Francophonie).
Spanish: 400 million of native speakers. Total: some 500 million including students and second language users (data from Instituto Cervantes).
That is very important also in world travel. If you go to old French Africa, a lot of people do not speak French there, for instance. They really speak Arabic, Wolof, Hausa, etc. In these countries they study French as second language, but English, Spanish and Arabic too (data from the Francophonie).
For instance, if you go to Morocco or Tunisia they speak Arabic as native, and some of them study French, but English, Spanish, Italian and German too. So, French is useful, but other European languages the same.
In Latin America, almost all people speak Spanish as native or second language. At the same time, if you speak this language, you can travel to Brazil too (Brazilian Portuguese and Spanish are similar).
<< I don't know why some people are trying to belittle or discount Quebec.
For your information, if Quebec was a country, it would be the 20th biggest in the world! >>
20th? Certainly not by poplulation, which is more important than size, especially if you talk about a far northern country.
<< N.AMERICA=Both French & Spanish >>
Not trying to be a fanatic, but there are not equal in N. America. Spanish far outweighs French, but we all know that.
<< N.AMERICA=French, Spanish (Spanish edges out French, especially if you include Mexico in N.A.) >>
It more than edges out French. Look at the numbers. Of course you include Mexico and the other Spanish countries. Why wouldn't you? They are in North America
EUROPE=French, Spanish (French edges out Spanish)
Yes, this is true.
<< Looks like an overall tie to me. >>
I agree.
I just checked the CIA factbook and wiki, and I found that French is NOT official in any major/mainland Asian country. Even in the former French Indo-China countries. English has taken Vietnam and is gaining in Laos and Cambodia as the most common foreign language. Some schools in Cambodia use French, but they are funded by the French government. English was listed next to French for unofficial presence in Syria and Lebanon, but we all know who eventually wins in that situation.
So quite bragging about French in Asia, because it's a joke. And don't bring up Spanish because I already know it has little presence in Asia and Africa. My point is only about French in Asia. And the same goes for French in S. America. That small "territory" with less half a million people hardly counts.
Oh my God, you hispanics are so fucking annoying!
I made a very generous compromise and I'll repeat it again for you...
ASIA=Neither French nor Spanish (they're both dead)
The Philippines and Vietnam are gravitating towards English since the American prescence in both, unfortunately. So, French and Spanish are almost extinct in Asia, BOTH!
AFRICA=NO SPANISH IS SPOKEN THERE!!!
Yes, Arabic is official in Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria but French is the most useful language afterwards. NOBODY SPEAKS SPANISH THERE!!!!
Please Hispanic cockroaches, get it through your thick heads, Spanish is unheard of in Africa!
S.AMERICA=This is all yours and Brazil's. French is spoken on a tiny little country and I'm more than willing to ignore that. No French in South America.
EUROPE=Again, hispanic cockroaches... please understand that Spanish is worth almost nothing in comparison to French or German.
N.AMERICA=This get a bit tricky... there are two choices:
Either you include Mexico and go with the real geographic North America... OR not include Mexico because it's a continuum of Latin America and separate USA and Canada as non-Latin.
In BOTH choices, French and Spanish are both spoken, however, in the first option, Spanish wins against French, but in the second option, French wins against Spanish.
Because no matter what, Spanish doesn't have political say in non-Latin America, but French does.
Quebec is the 20th biggest in the world in terms of size, not population.
Plus, Quebec is the 38th largest economy and GDP in the world... which is MILES ahead of dozens of Spanish-speaking countries like Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, and all those little shitty countries...
Anyways, at the end, it seems that French wins to me because it edges Spanish in Europe, which is the most visited for world travel.
It seems shameful that Quebec (a province, not even a country) has an economy that is MUCH stronger than a dozen Spanish-speaking Central and South American countries COMBINED!
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