<p>Hey everyone I just have a quick question for all you business majors. I'm actually undecided between doing international relations (politics to be specific) and international business/finance. I was wondering if any one of you can help me decide between which of these languages would I want to commit myself to for the next four years (and probably more). </p>
<p>I took French as a high school class for about two years but by now I've forgotten most of it and I'm undecided if I want to commit myself in to learning either Mandarin, Korean, or Japanese... And yes I guess French is still up there. For the record I'm Filipino and I speak fluent English and Tagalog.</p>
<p>Here are my personal reasons for wanting to take these languages:</p>
<p>1) Mandarin
Pros: Lots of people speak it in the world, good for business majors with China on the rise
Cons: It might be hard to learn at a University assuming that those who are taking it are Chinese and the teacher expects us to know a bit (or so I've heard), and I don't pay much attention to Chinese media so I don't get much exposure to the language.</p>
<p>2) Korean
Pros: Samsung, Hyundai, Kia, and LG; I guess you can consider them as a rising economic power? I have a lot of exposure to the Korean language through music, films, and the Koreans who immigrate to the P.I. to learn English.
Cons: Doesn't have a large practical use?</p>
<p>3) Japanese
Pros: I'm very familiar with this language and I also get a lot of exposure to it through fashion and shopping especially. BIG in business.
Cons: I can't really think of any besides that there's already a large number of people I know learning the language.</p>
<p>4) French
Pros: I have experience with it. Expands my choices besides those from the Eastern part of the world.
Cons: Not much exposure (occasional films). Not sure when I can use it.</p>
<p>So which one do you think I should take? I'm hoping you guys can add on to or edit my list of pros and cons as these are just my initial thoughts on the subject. I would really appreciate your help! :D I know things to consider are how much exposure of the language I will get (important so that I don't forget it), how easy or hard it is to learn, and etc. etc.</p>
<p>Who cares? Any company you work for or do business with will have a translator. If knowing a foreign language of clients a company deals with was a pre-requisite for being hire, how many people do you think would be doing international business right now? </p>
<p>You won’t become fluent in Mandarin in 4 years. Every single person I know that said when they got to college that they wanted to learn Mandarin failed miserably. And go talk to a business professor about language barriers. Most I have studied under predict that English will remain the language of business for a long time to come. </p>
<p>Also…I give this advice to any freshmen/high school seniors thinking about how they want to work in international business.</p>
<p>When you think of working in International Business you probably think of traveling to exotic locations, eating interesting cuisine, etc. This is such a big misconception. My brother travels all around the globe working for an international shipping company. His trips consist of 8-36 hour flights. This is followed by working for 2 days with inevitable jet lag that makes things really hard. He wakes up, eats breakfast somewhere close to the hotel, goes to work at his clients office, and comes back to the hotel to work.</p>
<p>If he is lucky he will get a few hours during a week-long period to do any tourist stuff. IF he is lucky. When you travel you travel to work. He went in to his business loving the idea of seeing the world and now if you say vacation he thinks about his swimming pool. </p>
<p>My point is, if you like the idea of international business because you have a passion for travel than steer clear. When something as personal as a passion for traveling is mixed with business-class flights and 12 hour work days in the hotel lobby you will soon find your passion has been crushed.</p>
<p>Well that puts Mandarin out of the question. Aha! But to me, I really enjoy learning languages so I don’t expect to learn a language for the sole purpose of utilizing it in the business world (if that is what I decide I wanted to do) but for personal uses as well. However I just wanted to find a language that would also prove to be beneficial in the long run as part of my career. </p>
<p>And thanks, that really did put things in to perspective. I was thinking of traveling and such but my main goal was to work for some IGO or so like the IMF or perhaps even an NGO which is why I’m still a bit undecided at whether I want to go down a more political versus business path. So like a career where I’d get a lot of exposure to different cultures without so much the hassle of being relocated every month or so. But again, I don’t really know much about world after education so I really do appreciate posts like yours that gives a bit more insight as to what’s out there.</p>