Second language

Andre   Sat Jan 28, 2006 5:03 pm GMT
Why is English the best choice for a second language? Why not Spanish or French since they are widely spoken too?
Larissa   Sat Jan 28, 2006 6:24 pm GMT
In my opinion, English is the best choice for a second language because of the US superpower and as we know English is the international language, it's used everywhere. But I also think that Spanish is a very important language, 'cause it's the second world language. About French language, I don't know even if I speak it I wouldn't say that it's an important language in today's world.
Garans   Sat Jan 28, 2006 6:32 pm GMT
Spanish is not widespread in Europe.
German or French is better, I suppose.
Larissa   Sat Jan 28, 2006 7:01 pm GMT
"Spanish is not widespread in Europe." It's widespread especially in the USA but also in the whole world, it's the second language the most used in the world after English.

"German or French is better, I suppose." French maybe, but not German, I think German is one of the less used languages.
Guest   Sat Jan 28, 2006 7:18 pm GMT
Well, English is the language you speak if you are a German in Iceland, a Chinese in Japan, a Russian in France, a Swede in Italy, a Brazilian in Switzerland, a Pole in Korea, an Indonesia in India... the list goes on... I mean I used French as my "secret" language in Japan, and you won't do very well speaking only German in France, or Spanish in Korea.
Ben   Sat Jan 28, 2006 8:11 pm GMT
Larissa wrote:
"It's widespread especially in the USA but also in the whole world, it's the second language the most used in the world after English. "

Actually, Mandarin Chinese is the most spoken language.

Ben.
Uriel   Sat Jan 28, 2006 11:01 pm GMT
True. But it's not spoken much outside of China's immediate area.
Easterner   Sun Jan 29, 2006 11:12 pm GMT
Larissa: >>About French language, I don't know even if I speak it I wouldn't say that it's an important language in today's world.<<

It depends on where in the world you go. It is definitely important to speak French in many African countries to get by. However, except for Québec and a few other areas of the world, no large-scale French immigration took place to ensure that French will be spoken natively outside the francophone areas of Europe, so it altogether has less worldwide impact than does English. However, at least in the Old World, it is still the language next in importance to English, while Spanish plays the same role in America, but not on other continents.

Europe seems to be linguistically divided in this respect. I don't know to what extent you will get by using French in Italy or Spain, but I have read posts on this forum saying that many people in Romance-speaking countries prefer French over English as a second language. In other parts of Europe, even in the East (where traditionally German was the lingua franca), by far the most people opt for English as a second language nowadays. The reason is clearly pragmatic: English has ended up as the international language of business, commerce and of culture as well (eclipsing French in this latter respect). Another reason why English seems to be more widely learnt is also a pragmatic one: it is on the whole easier than French, the latter being gramatically more complex, more idiomatic and requiring a longer span of study to be mastered with a high degree of fluency.
Ben   Mon Jan 30, 2006 12:30 pm GMT
Uriel wrote:

"True. But it's not spoken much outside of China's immediate area."

You're right, but China's economy is supposed to take over the USA's in about 20 years if they carry on the way they're going. I think it'd be well worth learning the language, especially as there aren't that many non-Oriental Chinese speakers, so you could get a lot of work, as there'll be a great demand for them in the future, I reckon

Ben.
Larissa   Mon Jan 30, 2006 12:41 pm GMT
"Actually, Mandarin Chinese is the most spoken language." OK but only in China, you can't say that it's an international language nowadays.
Larissa   Mon Jan 30, 2006 12:42 pm GMT
"Uriel Sat Jan 28, 2006 11:01 pm GMT
True. But it's not spoken much outside of China's immediate area. "
Absolutely!
Larissa   Mon Jan 30, 2006 12:44 pm GMT
"China's economy is supposed to take over the USA's in about 20 years if they carry on the way they're going." maybe one day but not in about 20 years as long as the USA continue using Iraq's oil.
Ben   Mon Jan 30, 2006 1:36 pm GMT
Larissa wrote:

"OK but only in China, you can't say that it's an international language nowadays."

Taiwan, Singapore. Large communities of Chinese speakers across southeast Asia.

and:

"maybe one day but not in about 20 years as long as the USA continue using Iraq's oil."

The People's Republic of China currently boasts the fastest growing economy in the world and is widely regarded as the potentially biggest global market in the twenty-first century. It's also joined WTO.
SILA   Mon Jan 30, 2006 1:58 pm GMT
hı, I'm sıla . ı think its about power
Easterner   Tue Jan 31, 2006 8:10 am GMT
Larissa, quoting Ben: >>"Actually, Mandarin Chinese is the most spoken language." OK but only in China, you can't say that it's an international language nowadays.<<

In a recent article in a leading Hungarian daily paper I read that there is a growing tendency among American families to hire Chinese babysitters or other household employees to ensure that their children speak Mandarin before they grow up. The apparent reason is that China is well on its way to becoming a major player in both international politics and economy (it is already, in many repects). If this is a tendency, then Mandarin may become more important internationally than it is now.

By the way, Mandarin is not spoken only in China, it is something of an "internal lingua franca" for Chinese people worldwide (besides Cantonese, depending on which part of China or South-East Asia one comes from). People in Taiwan also use it, although not all of them speak it with native-like fluency (of course it is open to dispute if Taiwan is part of China or not). I assume Mandarin will be of growing importance for people who will have any business to do with China (even if Chinese people also seem to pick up foreign languages with relative ease).

Here is an interesting article testifying about the growing interest in Mandarin within South-East Asia (although it suggests English will is likely to keep its role of lingua franca there, too):

http://education.guardian.co.uk/tefl/story/0,5500,1576083,00.html