<p>I've taken 5 years of French and got a 5 on the AP test, but I'm looking to study another language in conjunction with International Business. What language do you guys think will be best? I'm taking a Spanish class at a community college this summer, but I'm not sure if I want to continue that in the fall. Thoughts?</p>
<p>Chinese would probably be a good option, as by all accounts it’s huge and getting bigger in world business. It’s a lot of work, but I think it could be very useful.</p>
<p>I’ll throw in my two cents and say that I would go for an Asian language, like Mandarin Chinese. Even though China’s economy is slowing down now, they’re still one of the biggest economies on the other side of the Pacific.</p>
<p>Going to second Mandarin Chinese, but really it depends on the industry and where you plan to do business. Arabic is another one, but that’s more for international security or petroleum/oil. Farsi, Urdu, and Korean are also in demand on the government level. If you are interested solely in private enterprise, then I would recommend Chinese or Japanese.</p>
<p>Mandarin Chinese, Portuguese, Arabic</p>
<p>Chinese, Spanish, or Arabic. But it all depends on what area of business that you want to go into. Chinese for finance, Arabic for oil, and etc.</p>
<p>I will play the devil’s advocate here and advise you to continue with French or start with Spanish, with some caveats.</p>
<p>The problem with Mandarin is that it is really, really tough. The US State Dept has rated Arabic, Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese, and Korean as the 5 most difficult languages to learn.
What this means is that you will probably need to study Mandarin for 4 years in college and do a year or two of study abroad before you even get close to fluency. Basically, it is an uphill climb.</p>
<p>Furthermore, due to the Asian emphasis on education, most university educated Chinese will speak better English than you will speak Mandarin.</p>
<p>However, I would agree that it can be very useful for business; many Chinese businesspeople will be impressed if you speak good Mandarin, etc. If you are someone who is genuinely interested in Asian culture and the Mandarin language, then by all means study it - that, I think, is the only way you’ll ever have the motivation to actually become fluent.</p>
<p>I feel like you have a strong base in French already, though, and so I feel like that is the natural choice in terms of cost vs. benefit. (small cost in terms of additional time spent studying it, moderate benefit).</p>
<p>Most Chinese speak English. Anyways you’ll probably never be fluent. Plus Asians aren’t the most accepting of outsiders. I’d say Spanish or brazilian Portuguese.</p>
<p>Agreed with Rolando. Take some time to look up individual languages yourself, based on what interests you (a language that you have no interest in will be much harder to learn and master). Find what cultures where the entire population seem to have a knowledge of basic English and exclude those. For example, Germany is a huge economic power, but apparently a lot of Germans know English and would prefer it to speaking some broken German. Same with Finnish, for example. </p>
<p>Japanese or Spanish should definitely be near the top of your list.</p>
<p>Most Chinese do not speak English. However, most university-educated Chinese DO speak English (i.e businesspeople). That is a difference I’d like to clarify.</p>
<p>Also note that all these people saying Chinese mean Mandarin, not Cantonese. Don’t waste your time learning Cantonese, because anyone from Hong Kong or Macau with a university education will probably speak better English than you.</p>
<p>Note that in Hong Kong, it is actually inadvisable to speak Mandarin currently, or you will get some nasty looks thrown at you. It’s Cantonese or English there, with a preference for English. You’ll only really use Canto in Taiwan and maybe some Chinatowns.</p>
<p>I hear from my Portuguese-speaking friends that they have a working understanding of Spanish when they hear it, whereas I have no idea what they’re saying in Portuguese even after 5 years of Spanish. So if you were to pick between Portuguese and Spanish, I suggest Portuguese.</p>
<p>My issue with Chinese is that most likely I won’t learn to speak it fluently, so that’s a ton of effort I will put into it for little result. I’m thinking of double-minoring in French and Spanish.</p>
<p>I’ve seen a ton of people say both Chinese and Arabic. But if you’re going to be looking for some sort of job/internship in the upcoming few years then I would suggest a different language. Here’s why. Unless you happen to study abroad for at least a year AND love to learn languages and get super immersed in both the culture and language, you’re not going to help yourself. In business with both Chinese and Arabic native counterparts, they will treat you like just another businessman. There are certain customs and nuances in the language that require many years of not only education but also an acclimation to various traditions and other small things that ultimately make or break a deal. For example, my uncle has worked as an executive living in Shanghai for the last 20 years and he still learns different ways to “be polite” or “show respect” every day when working other Chinese based companies. He speaks fluent Chinese.</p>
<p>OP, I considered this question. My parents kept pushing mandarin. However, I’m obsessed with Japan as I went with Japanese. Learning mandarin because it’ll be useful will be very very difficult. I recommend you go with the language of the country whose culture most interests you.</p>
<p>Don’t forget:
French + English + Spanish = NAFTA</p>
<p>chinese, arabic, french (if ur doing europe)
but esp chinese or arabic</p>
<p>I’m a French major at USC and we have the #1 IB program. My French courses are filled with students majoring in International Business.</p>
<p>If you want to work in Europe, Africa, or North America, French is definitely the way to go. Spanish is useful for South America and the US, but not so much the rest of the world.</p>
<p>I’ve heard learning Mandarin is pretty pointless. My school has an exchange program in China where students spend two years at USC and two years in China. The students I’ve heard from say that the locals don’t even speak Mandarin and they just end up using English. Also, it’s almost impossible to be fluent in Mandarin and it’ll be even more difficult starting it in college. Schools like to teach Chinese right now because they all say it’s the “next big thing”, but it’s such a difficult language that English will probably still be the main language for quite a while.</p>
<p>I wonder why no one is mentioning Portuguese? Brazil is developing very fast! It is full of so many opportunities. Portuguese probably isn’t as useful as Arabic or Spanish, but you can still travel to Portugal, Mozambique, Angola, Macau, Brazil, and a few other countries by knowing Portuguese!</p>