Best European language to learn for working in Europe.

david4791

Hello,
I was considering learning a third language apart from Gaeilge and English, I was considering learning a european language which would be good for work prospects mainly. What language is the most useful in Europe?

Jay Pentatonic

To be honest, English is probably the best language to have, since most people in mainland Europe can speak it.

Having said that, I think German would look really good if you could speak it, 'cause Germany pretty much runs the E.U.

Hope this helped!

david4791

True, with regards to German. Any views on Spanish?, a lot of folks say its easy to learn and nice to have, but whats the point if only 1 country in Europe speaks it?, fine if you wish to work in S. America or central America but those places are not exactly booming with job prospects!

spoonface

david4791 wrote: »

Hello,
I was considering learning a third language apart from Gaeilge and English, I was considering learning a european language which would be good for work prospects mainly. What language is the most useful in Europe?

If you learn German, you can work in Germany, Austria or Switzerland with it. If you learn French, you can use it in France or Belgium or Switzerland. Spanish is great for travel but in Europe only used in Spain.

david4791

Thanks for the advice, great username you have there.

jester77

German is the most widely spoken language within Europe, but it all comes down to what you want to do or where you would like to live.

Jay Pentatonic

david4791 wrote: »

True, with regards to German. Any views on Spanish?, a lot of folks say its easy to learn and nice to have, but whats the point if only 1 country in Europe speaks it?, fine if you wish to work in S. America or central America but those places are not exactly booming with job prospects!

Yeah, a lot of people say it's good to have because it's appantly easy to learn for English speakers, and it's also good to have if you're travelling cross atlantic, since a huge amount of countries speak it.

Nothing really to do with working in Europe.

I think it still would be a kick in the teeth at times, when people learn Spanish, because I'm told the accents and dialects vary dramatically, much more than with English!

sNarah

Definitely German and French as they are the working languages of the European commission. They considered German for a long time as the official language but decided on English in the end.

French is a definite must have for any EU commission and associated agencies jobs.

david4791

Thanks Snarah

Marsden

Learn Russian, the eastern bloc birds have the longest legs:cool:

Aard

david4791 wrote: »

What language is the most useful in Europe?

You say "useful", so I'm gonna take this from a slightly different perspective. In terms of numbers of people who speak the languages, German, French, Spanish, and Italian are the most spoken. Polish and Russian are up there too. You mention above a language that's "nice to have". That leads me to believe you don't have a specific reason (work, travel...) to learn the language, and thus no constraints.

My suggestion would be French. Very widely spoken (France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland), so it'd be useful for a lot of different travel situations -- beach holiday, skiing, city breaks. For work, you've got Paris, Geneva, Luxembourg, and Brussels (amongst others). It's also an "international" language. A lot of people around the world speak French, more than those who speak German or Italian (for example). French was also the language of diplomacy, until English became widespread.

Also, and this would be a more practical reason, French people are by and large really bad at learning English! You're far more likely to be able to converse with a German in English than with a Frenchman.

You could make the case for Spanish too I guess. It's less widely spoken in Europe and doesn't hold the same prestige as French, but still undoubtedly useful.

And then of course comes in personal preference. Do you see yourself moving to another country? Do you like the sound of one language over another? Do you have an unbridalled rage towards any European nations?!!! Remember that learning a language is a huge undertaking, and my advice would be do it right or don't do it at all. You'd be amazed at the amount of time you can waste thinking you're advancing, but then completely fail to deliver in a social situation. Good luck!

Sie

david4791 wrote: »

Hello,
I was considering learning a third language apart from Gaeilge and English, I was considering learning a european language which would be good for work prospects mainly. What language is the most useful in Europe?

Talking in terms of usefullness, I'd suggest Russian or Polish... Look at it from a marketing point, the rate of people with French, German Italian and Spanish as a second language is high compared to Russian or Polish. The Polish economy is the fastest expanding at the moment in Europe. Learning Russian (not a light task at all) will put you in a position in a minority market of native English speakers whom can communicate with 220+ million Eastern Europeans and Russians. If you are fluent in gaeilge, it will be a big help in learning a Slavic language...:cool:

martinkunev

German is your best choice. It is native in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Luxemburg and Liechtenstein. Lots of people in the Czech republic, Slovenia, Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden and Norway also speak German. German can also be of use in any other european country.

French and Russian are also very widespread (the first in western and the second in eastern Europe).

These pictures can be useful (unfortunately not all countries are included):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_Europe#Proficiency