What language should i learn?

17-12-2008 01:22AM

Spanish, it's easy.

It's funny, a lot of people seem to say Spanish is easy, but I've never met anyone who said that and who didn't speak it REALLY badly. At higher levels, it's no easier than the likes of French or German, IMO.

EamonnKeane · 17-12-2008 01:41AM

But virtually all Chinese business people learn English. French would be better. Or Esperanto. Or Klingon to impress your Internet friends.

Epic Tissue · 17-12-2008 01:44AM

python

bailefionn · 17-12-2008 01:48AM

EamonnKeane wrote: »

But virtually all Chinese business people learn English. French would be better. Or Esperanto. Or Klingon to impress your Internet friends.

Klingon..... nooooooooooooooooo! lol

Tech3 · 17-12-2008 02:00AM

wouldnt learn polish cause all the polish can speak english as it is!! wouldnt mind learning a bit of italian or spanish myself

Biggins · 17-12-2008 03:16PM

EamonnKeane wrote: »

...Or Klingon to impress your Internet friends.

Kaplaa!

tlhIngan maH!

Smart Bug · 17-12-2008 03:24PM

bailefionn wrote: »

Ok so heres my situation.. Im a newly graduated commerce student, but currently unemployed.. Im on the dole and before any haters post, i am actively looking for work.. Thing is, im getting really really bored jus sitting around all the time.. Im thinking of getting a 'Rosetta Stone' program and learning a language, but dont know which one would be most useful/beneficial in life.. (if any actually)
I do already know some french.. leaving cert standard, so dont want to tackle any more of that..

Any advice? Oh and has anyone else used this program?

Judging from your spelling and grammar I suggest English. :rolleyes:

delta_bravo · 17-12-2008 03:32PM

German is a good language to learn for business

emeraldstar · 17-12-2008 03:40PM

[quote=[Deleted User];58293190]It's funny, a lot of people seem to say Spanish is easy, but I've never met anyone who said that and who didn't speak it REALLY badly. At higher levels, it's no easier than the likes of French or German, IMO.[/QUOTE]
Hmm, I don't know. I did French and Spanish in college. I'd been studying French for about 10 years already, got an A1 in Honours Leaving Cert. I started Spanish in college as an absolute beginner and found it easier to learn than French. Of course I know that the more languages you've learnt the easier it becomes to learn new ones, but I'd still rate Spanish as far far easier to learn - definitely in the beginning anyway - but even beyond that, Spanish grammar is nowhere as awful as French grammar (now that's awful :eek:)

Roadend · 17-12-2008 03:42PM

delta_bravo wrote: »

German is a good language to learn for business

Wie komme ich am besten zum Lufthaus bitte

hobochris · 17-12-2008 03:44PM

c++

maninasia · 17-12-2008 03:46PM

German is a reliable, even though they speak English it will still help with making connections. Spanish is useful for S.American markets. I speak Chinese but that's because I live over this way and put a huge amount of effort in learning characters there's absolutely no point unless you intend to live in China (that said Chinese tourists will be absolutely massive business in a couple of years, for that purpose speaking is only neccessary and quite easy acutally, tourists will head to the major EU cities but not so much to Ireland) as you will find it hard to get the pronounciation right otherwise to get really fluent, it's not really neccessary for general trading business.
Ideally you'd want to move to the country to really learn it properly (for business use) otherwise it's just something for holidays, culture and fun. So German, go to Germany for couple of years, then you can use that in German speaking nations. Spanish, go to Spain etc. But not only the language, think about if you would also like to live in that place and what reason (business, culture, women, climate etc.). I'd say Russian is also a goer and Japanese is also a good one but of limited use in Ireland (although very useful in Asia).
Personally I'd like to learn some Spanish and brush up on the school French. I found I can read quite a bit of Japanese since it uses many Chinese characters. Lastly would be nice to get back into the Irish a bit.

emeraldstar · 17-12-2008 03:48PM

Roadend wrote: »

Wie komme ich am besten zum Lufthaus bitte

Gehen Sie geradeaus und nehmen Sie die erste straße recht.

CountingCrows · 17-12-2008 03:51PM

delta_bravo wrote: »

German is a good language to learn for business

Plus it works wonders on the laaadies

emeraldstar · 17-12-2008 04:22PM

CountingCrows wrote: »

Plus it works wonders on the laaadies

Yes. Oh so sexy.

jane86 · 17-12-2008 04:42PM

I'd lean more toward topping up on your French. It's a much nicer language IMO. Although I think Spanish is used more in different countries across the world.

biko · 17-12-2008 05:23PM

Chinese or Arabic. Will give you a definite advantage in the business world.

experiMental · 17-12-2008 05:25PM

Irish for having some pride in yourselves and Russian for getting the bragging rights for a shack in the Ural Mountains in case most of Western Europe will be flooded.

Aurora Borealis · 17-12-2008 05:42PM

I think in terms of business prospects the ideal would to be to go for the one that the minority of your counterparts speak so perhaps as suggested an Oriental language, Russian or Arabic. Clearly one of the Romance or Germanic languages would be easiest as they are the ones to which we have the most exposure in the Irish educational system or indeed Irish which in my own experience has proved worthwhile in work scenarios.

Ultimately to learn a language you do have to like it to be able to immerse yourself in it so you do have to factor in your own personal taste as going on business prospects alone will make for tough learning and there is a lot to learning languages if you want to gain a sufficent level of proficiency.

Perhaps if you listed the ones that might interest you and then get feedback on their perceived usefulness in terms of employment etc.

Enjoy whichever one you choose. Learning another language really does give you a great insight into another culture on a far greater level than just vocabulary.

Ckal · 17-12-2008 05:46PM

Esperanto

Davidius · 17-12-2008 05:52PM

All of them.

Smart Bug · 17-12-2008 05:54PM

I'd go for the language of love. Everytime you speak the lights dim and a Barry White song can be heard playing softly in the background.

blubloblu · 17-12-2008 05:56PM

Lojban.

doonothing · 17-12-2008 06:08PM

German! Berlin is a fun city, and german women are unreal. And it's not an ugly language at all when you hear it in Berlin..

carrotcake · 17-12-2008 06:11PM

doonothing wrote: »

german women are unreal

Were you drunk the whole time you were there?

R0ot · 17-12-2008 06:34PM

Greek or Hebrew

Conor108 · 17-12-2008 06:46PM

Russian

stevedublin · 17-12-2008 06:50PM

Portuguese maybe? I think thats what they speak in Brasil.
They discovered lots of oil off Brasil off their coast recently and could be the next boom country.
Also, their chix are hot!

doonothing · 17-12-2008 06:56PM

carrotcake wrote: »

Were you drunk the whole time you were there?

Yes I was, but I was also drunk in the like, 15 other countries I've been in, and the fact remains that german women are unreal! Haaaaate to have missed out on that buddy!

4zn76tysfajdxp · 17-12-2008 07:11PM

European. Failing that, Irish and Spanish.

What language should i learn?

Comments