<p>I'm planning on majoring in International Relations (International Affairs, International Inter-communications, whatever you want to refer to it as) and I'm curious as to what an "in demand" language to pursue might be. </p>
<p>I've already been taking Spanish for almost eleven years and would consider myself fluent or at least close to being so. It has been handy, but I that it isn't a very unique language and I'm not all that interested in the culture, anyway, so I'd like to take a different language for now. </p>
<p>What would be a good language to pair with IA? I'm interested in Arabic or maybe Russian, although neither are latin based and that would make them pretty difficult. I truly find them interesting though so I wouldn't be lacking in motivation. </p>
<p>Are these languages already saturated in the work force? Am I heading in the right direction at all?</p>
<p>I know someone is going to say that Mandarin is a very useful language, but honestly, I have no desire to learn it. It would be very difficult, I'm not interested in the culture whatsoever and I don't like the way the words feel on my mouth, so we can just throw that out right now. </p>
<p>OK - he we go again. Where do you see yourself in 5, 10 years? What kind of job, grad school?</p>
<p>“In demand” to government means nothing if you want to work in the US or Europe.</p>
<p>Arabic is probably your best in terms of “In-demand”. However, being if you are female, working in the Arab world is different than the US.</p>
<p>Here’s an example - My “S” is majoring in IA at GW. He’s pretty fluent in Spanish also. His desire is to work in the EU and NATO - therefore he is actively learning French and studying abroad in Brussels.</p>
<p>So, it’s not necessarily what’s “in-demand” - it’s more where you want to be and work!</p>
<p>I’m double majoring in Politics and Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies. (Taking quantitive, international, and comparative courses within POL for a more international scope.)</p>
<p>I did a year of intensive French freshman year. I read Le Monde and other French publications near daily. I understand it, but I am not close to fluency at all in speaking. It is something that I would like to continue, but I switched to Arabic. It isn’t latin-based and it isn’t written in roman letters, but the language is shockingly very easy. I really recommend it to anyone interested in it. </p>
<p>The 5 official UN languages are English, French, Russian, Arabic, Spanish, and Chinese. While Chinese is on that list, I sort of laugh at people who take it, especially those in business schools. You will never conduct business in Mandarin. It will always be in English. </p>
<p>But when it comes to international relations and communications, the UN application can sum it up best: “English required, French is a plus.” Tack on a regional language for a specialty.</p>
<p>The 5 UN languages are always the best if you’re looking for utility.</p>
<p>In business, add Japanese, Korean, Hindi, and German to the list.</p>
<p>In government and law, regional areas such as Hebrew, Dari and Pashto (Afghanistan), Urdu (Pakistan), Bengali, Tamil, etc (India) are exceptionally desired by the UN and State Dept.</p>
<p>It really depends where in the world you see yourself- Spanish in the Americas, French in Africa, Chinese in Asia, and Arabic and Russian in their communities. Most anywhere else speaks their national language and English.</p>
<p>@Monoclide: Are you kidding me? Mandarin is super useful to know… it’s where a LOT of the opportunities for big multinational business development are…</p>
<p>I’m a little tired of people saying this. Monoclide is quite right; Mandarin is over-hyped and really not very important or useful compared to languages like French, German, Russian and Spanish.</p>