Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie
Hi all! We have been experiencing an issue on site where threads have been missing the latest postings. The platform host Vanilla are working on this issue. A workaround that has been used by some is to navigate back from 1 to 10+ pages to re-sync the thread and this will then show the latest posts. Thanks, Mike.
Hi there,
There is an issue with role permissions that is being worked on at the moment.
If you are having trouble with access or permissions on regional forums please post here to get access: https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058365403/you-do-not-have-permission-for-that#latest

Which European language is most useful?

  • 27-11-2017 1:12pm
    #1
    Registered Users Posts: 15


    Being a stereotypical 18 year old here, but I really want to travel. I'm doing Arts next year but unsure of which language to choose. French was the only one offered at our school, I'm pretty good at it. My cousin did her Erasmus in France & claimed they were unfriendly, so I feel wary of studying French- but I suppose you can't really judge a nation's people based on one person's experience. I also have an interest in learning German or Italian. In terms of careers, I have considered secondary teaching or a language school.


Comments

  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,655 ✭✭✭draiochtanois


    This post has been deleted.


  • Registered Users Posts: 15 Quokka99


    I've considered it, but I don't think I have any hope of rolling my r's haha


  • Registered Users Posts: 103 ✭✭Sneak


    Technically you already have the most useful European language


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,624 ✭✭✭flexcon


    Quokka99 wrote: »
    I've considered it, but I don't think I have any hope of rolling my r's haha

    I would have thought that German would be as great language.

    Plenty of use in many industries, and seems to be a language sought after outside Germany as Germans don't tend to move away from germany thanks to their impressive society and benefits with low unemployment,]


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 511 ✭✭✭Kamu


    flexcon wrote: »
    I would have thought that German would be as great language.

    Plenty of use in many industries, and seems to be a language sought after outside Germany as Germans don't tend to move away from germany thanks to their impressive society and benefits with low unemployment,]

    German as a bilingual language is highly sought after by tech companies the likes of Google and Facebook for translation services compared to the likes of Spanish or French.
    Source: my friend who works for a translation services company that is hired by Google and who are crying out for German speakers.


  • Advertisement
  • Registered Users Posts: 15 Quokka99


    German might be easier for me to learn because I Skype/Snapchat 3 German girls who went to my school regularly (our school gets a lot of exchange students)


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,898 ✭✭✭CelticRambler


    Quokka99 wrote: »
    French was the only one offered at our school, I'm pretty good at it. My cousin did her Erasmus in France & claimed they were unfriendly, so I feel wary of studying French


    Why stop at one language? :) If you've already got French and Irish (I presume) then it should be no bother to you to add German and (for example) Italian.

    Seeing as I live in France, I'm somewhat biased, but I know a huge number of friendly French people, and obviously it was really useful for me to have brushed up my Leaving Cert French so that I could work here.

    I've a smattering of German and Italian that I use when travelling, because they're the most useful in the countries just over the border.

    If you're thinking of your future employability, you might be better off picking the least useful language that's on offer, because that way you won't be competing with every other anglophone who's studied French, German, Spanish and Mandarin.

    In the end, unless you really want to work in a particular country, or study the language for its own sake and the specific jobs that come with it, there's no "most useful" - you can learn any language you need at any time in the future.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,624 ✭✭✭flexcon


    Quokka99 wrote: »
    German might be easier for me to learn because I Skype/Snapchat 3 German girls who went to my school regularly (our school gets a lot of exchange students)

    it is easier to learn than any latin based language. many words cross over too, so its easier to understand if you cannot speak all.

    Also, I have found it is easier since the rules of grammar seem to ride along the same with Irish.

    I have tried both Spanish and German, and German I have found challenging but at the same time, it seems more logical in my Irish Head


  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Education Moderators Posts: 27,275 CMod ✭✭✭✭spurious


    In terms of travelling, Spanish covers many places, though English probably puts you ahead of the game in most countries.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,350 ✭✭✭doolox


    Since 65 million speakers will leave the EU and leave only 5 million Irish people speaking it.


  • Advertisement
Advertisement