<p>But what is THE language that's the most commonly used in all fields (except english)?? as in business, medical, law, entertainment, political...???</p>
<p>^French of course. It's the official language in many international associations. Besides, its such an enthralling language.</p>
<p>Französisch ist eine wahnsinnige Sprache, die nur wahnsinnige Leute sprechen. Studieren Sie Deutsch, wenn Sie andere Leute erschrecken wollen! Deutsch ist eine geheimnisvolle Sprache, mit der Sie die ganze Welt dominieren können.</p>
<p>I know I have violated CC's rules by typing in a language other than English, but they'll just have to deal with it because any language defeats French, and German is awesome. French sounds like you're speaking with your face shoved into your derrière. HA! I used French. I feel so impure now. Seriously, study German.</p>
<p>The French nation (and consequently its language) is dropping in terms of international importance. German is far better.</p>
<p>Jo.InC.: According to the link I posted somewhere in this thread, French is the second most influential language in the world (after English), when you factor in number of native speakers, secondary language speakers, geographic spread of the speakers, and of course history...</p>
<p>Kman, I am not sure how you figured that France as a nation is "dropping" in terms of international significance. It is tied with the UK as the 4th largest economy in the world and France is the world's third largest donor nation. In Europe, France is still the most influencial country and that is not about to change. Internationally, the way France sways is the way a third of the World follows. Let us face it, when France sides with the US, the World follows. When France goes against the US, the US must go it alone...well, along with England, Italy, Poland and Australia, but that's about it. </p>
<p>Your opinion of France is probably based on where France was in 1940. Indeed, in the 19th century, France was one of the World's 3 most powerful nations and by 1940, it had gone from being one of the World's 3 most important nations to not being one of the World's 5 most important nations. Countries like the US, England, Germany, Japan and Russia were already industrialized. France was still an agrarian society. This explains the ease with which France was defeated by the Germans. But in the 60's and 70's, France turned itself around dramatically. By 1980, France was the World's 4th largest Economy, a Wolrld leader in the telecom, aerospace and Medical fields and had one of the World's 4 or 5 most powerful militaries. Since 2003, France has been the #1 or #2 recipient of FDI (sharing that honor with China) and the second largest originator of FDI, larger than Germany or the UK. </p>
<p>In terms of language, France is still one of the 3 or 4 most important languages. Until this day, it is considered the language of culture and art. And let us face it, French is easy on the ears. Obviously, the primary language of France is French. But French is also very widely spoken in Canada, Switzerland, Belgium and Luxemburg. Furthermore, in many Arabic countries, like Algeria, Lebanon, Morocco and Tunisia (which have a combined population of 100 million people), French is spoken by the majority of the citizens. In international conferences, France is often the first language spoken...and always one of the two or three languages that is spoken. </p>
<p>Finally, it is generally a false assumption that France is losing ground in Europe. France has the fastest growing population in Europe. By 2050, France will be the most populous state in Europe. Germany has a declining population whereas France has a population that is growing by almost half a percent annually. It is estimated that by 2050, France will have a population of 75 million, compared to Germany's 70 million and England's 63 million. </p>
<p>Economically, of the big 4 Economies in Europe (England, France, Germany and Italy), France and the England are the ones that are growing the quickest. In fact, if I recall properly, as we speak, France has more Global 500 companies than Germany, and they are, on average, more profitable.</p>
<p>Take both!</p>
<p>But the Germen Language is a lot sexier. (I know im weird)</p>
<p>
[quote]
Finally, it is generally a false assumption that France is losing ground in Europe. France has the fastest growing population in Europe. By 2050, France will be the most populous state in Europe.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Not ethnic. :p</p>
<p>DUN DUN
DUN DUN DUN DUN
DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN</p>
<p>What do you mean not ethnic Tpeck? It certainly is not imigration that's accounting for all that growth. France has a very high fertility rate. Over 12 births per 1,000 people. The UK is stuck at 10 and Germany at 9.</p>
<p>I don't know why you are restricting yourself to German or French. Spanish will probably be the most useful to you as an American. Anyone speaking German or French (or Mandarin) in the business world will also be speaking English. Yeah it's probably not PC to make someone speak your language, but that's reality in the business world.</p>
<p>If German and French are your only two choices, I have to say fo German. Germany is the dominant economic force in Europe. While Alexandre is correct in saying that France's population is the only one still growing, that distorts the realities of life in France. Growth in the French population is coming from immigrants that France has shown an unwillingness to support (last year's riots are a prime example.)</p>
<p>Germany and France are pretty similar countries. Generous social benefits and workers are given a lot of time off. But as a result of this, taxes and unemployment are high. Like I said though, Germany is on the road to making some big reforms, while Chirac will probably offer more of the same.</p>
<p>Frankfort is Europe's major market. France might have more companies on the International 500, but the German ones have larger interests in America. Bigiges include DaimlerChrysler, Allianz, Volkswagon, Siemens, Deutsche Bank. BMW, Deutsche Post (DHL shipping), BASF, Bayer, Continental, Adidas, SAP. Additionally, German engineering and construction firms are known throughout the world and regularly win huge contracts.</p>
<p>France has some big companies, but many of them don't have dealings in America (Renault, Peugeot) Their list of companies with big U.S. interests is much less impressive: AXA, Vivendi Universal, Michellin, L'Oreal, Thomson (RCA electronics), and Accord (hotels).</p>
<p>I think France's status as a major world player is in jeopardy. They haven't worked to assimilate Muslims from Africa into what has been a traditionally very secularist state. Immigrants are shoved into slums that ring around the major cities. These people have trouble finding jobs and are angry at the French system (again, see the riots). France's population may not peak for another 50 years, but France will be a radically different country within the next 10-20 years if immigration issues are not solved.</p>
<p>Germany's economy hasn't experienced very rapid growth the past few years, but it is still the third largest economy in the world (behind only Japan). With the recent election of Angela Merkel, I think Germany is going to push through reforms that will reenergize the German economy and get growth back on track.</p>
<p>Having studied both French and German, I found German to be easier. But I was younger when I learned French, so maybe that's irrelevant. English, German and Scandanavian languages are considered to be "germanic languages", while French, Italian, Spanish and Portugese are considered to be "romance languages". "Romance" simply means that they are derived from Latin (the language of "Rome"), and has nothing to do with sounding romantic.</p>
<p>Any basic language course is going to take up alot of time just because you have alot of rules and vocabulary to memorize. If you put in the time, one is probably not alot easier than any other. Also, I think that if you learn how to learn a language, each subsequent one you study will be easier.</p>
<p>Actually, dsmo, that is not at all correct. The bulk of France's growth is organic. It is the French themselves who are multiplying. Like I said, France's fertility rate is one of the highest among developped nations. France has roughly 12.15 births per thousand people...compared to just 0.66 immigrants per thousand people. It has nothing to do with immigrants. If it did, why aren't the UK and Germany, both of which have larger immigrant populations, growing as rapidely? A country's population does not grow dramatically simply because a small minority is growing. Its population grows dramatically because its entire society is growing. And that's what's happening in France.</p>
<p>I agree that the French need to solve the problem with the muslims, but the problem is not that major...take it from an Arab. The media has blown France's riots way out of proportion. Anyway, none of that will alter the fact that in 40 years, France will have a population of 75 million, 80% of which will be ethnically French and Catholic. So no, France's growth is not purely a result of immigration, nor is France ever likely to allow this to happen. By 2035, France will be the largest Economy and have the largest population in Europe. </p>
<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France%5B/url%5D">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France</a></p>
<p>Like I said, and this is not really subject to debate, France is the heart of Europe. It has the most resources (both in terms of energy and in terms of agriculture), the most political power, the most land and in a few years, the largest economy and the largest population.</p>
<p>It's going to be a wait and see type thing. I can't see things being resolved. But for now, I'm going to disagree with you. (For the record, I'm pretty liberal politically)</p>
<p>Let's first take a quick look at the current population trend. Muslims make up about 5 million of France's 60 million population, and they are reproducing at a higher rate than the native population. France has had generous social programs for the past few decades, and as in America, that is going to catch up with them. To support such a system, you need a growing population, and France's population just isn't growing quickly enough to do so. The French government will have to make a choice: cut benefits or loosen immigration restrictions.</p>
<p>France is going to have to integrate Muslims, but it seems unlikely. France has given immigrants welfare instead of jobs. Discrimination makes it even harder for Muslims to get jobs. Those without EU citizenship can't work many government jobs.</p>
<p>France will undergo some major changes within the next few decades, probably for the worse. I can't see its influence growing, as its future looks pretty cloudy. The immigration problem is nothing compared to the troubles the economic system will cause. Germans seemed to get this and Merkel and her 'conservative' government are in power. For France, I think economic conditions will have to further deteriorate before the citizenry will consider reform. Chirac won't be able to end the 35-hour work week or to loosen the other restrictions on the labor market.</p>
<p>dsmo, yours is a laboratory analysis of France. There are literally millions of variables that we cannot foresee, but they will self-adjust. France will not lose any of its clout or power. You seem to think that France will reach a point where it will collapse. That does not happen to one of the World's 4 most powerful countries. France will adjust as needed and will remain one of the 4 or 5 most powerful nations on Earth. And again dsmo, France's Catholic population is reproducing at the same rate as the Muslim population. That has been the trend for the last decade. Demographers are saying that France will maintain its 85% Catholic, 5% protestant and Jewish and 10% muslim ratio.</p>
<p>I can't be sure of what will happen, but it will be interesting to see. I must say that France doesn't do much in the way of adjustment though. These problems have been building for thirty years..</p>
<p>"You seem to think that France will reach a point where it will collapse."</p>
<p>lol, got that right, France sure is struggling.</p>
<p>Certain languages have more words and/or more precise words for certain things. Traditionally, French was the language of banking and German was the language of science.</p>
<p>dsmo, all countries have their societal problems and most of them aren't getting fixed. France is not unique. Germany, the UK and the US all have significant issues that need sorting out. Every once in a while you get an outburst due to those problems, but such large, stable and powerful countries always seem to pull trhough and come out on top. At any rate, we'll have to wait and see.</p>
<p>interesting thread.......i take both German and French; I think French is easier to learn in the beginning because it is not that different from English syntactally (sp?) with similar vocabulary, but German has all those sentence variations with conjunctions, verb last, modals, cases.</p>
<p>However, in common usage and literature, German is easier (once you get the basics down) than French, especially in terms of writing. French has a long literary tradition that has developed quite an intricate system for usage.</p>
<p>German, on the other hand, in my opinion, has just come out from the 'forest' because it's still heavily rooted in oral traditions, folktales that date from the Volkerwanderung. </p>
<p>My French lit teachers are extremely nitpicky about constructions, grammar, content, etc...it's almost like an English composition class, but in French.....so i mean it sorta kills the fun in learning a new language and the culture.....</p>
<p>One more thing.......I wish that CC could have foreign language forums!! :D that'd make me happier...</p>
<p>I love German, I've been taknig it for 6 years now, and it's amazing. It helps me out with english words too.</p>
<p>:-)</p>