<p>Hi. I am currently a physics major at CSUSB and I was wondering how useful learning a foreign language is for a physics major? I am currently learning Japanese but I'm not sure as to how useful it is. I always read and hear that I should learn a language that I have an interest in first, and the economical benefits second. What do you guys think?</p>
<p>Knowing a second language is always good and you should study one that you are interested in. As far as utility for a professional physicist, most publications and conferences are in English these days so it is less important.</p>
<p>For physics specifically, it’s not going to be as useful as it would be for someone majoring in business or international relations or something like that. Most scientific publications are in English, and most scientific seminars/conferences are in English. It’s becoming the universal language in many respects, at least as far as scientific communication is concerned. </p>
<p>I’m a physics major myself, and I need 2 years of a language. I chose Spanish because it’s generally the easiest, and because the courses worked best with my schedule. I can see the merit in learning a language, but it’s the only one of my classes that I can’t really get enthusiastic about. I have genuinely tried to take an interest in it and tried to enjoy learning it…and I just don’t. I’m in my third semester now, so I’ve only got one more left. </p>
<p>^Spanish is not the easiest. The easiest would be Italian, followed by French. Spanish “looks” easy because there’s a good correspondence between what you see and what you pronounce, but the grammar is very hard (especially tenses and verbs use.)
For tourism and in general, depending on where you live in the US, Spanish can be practical indeed. Depends on where you hope to go on vacation and where you hope to work. (Note that most of your Spanish speaking co-workers will be bilingual thus speak English as well as you do.)
Choosing Japanese for enjoyment, especially if you’re into manga and anime, is a smart choice, plus it means you’ll stand out among the thousands who pick Spanish as a sort of “default” option. 
In terms of usefulness, scientists would find that some publications and access to research would be helped by knowing French and/or German and/or Russian and/or Chinese (in order of difficulty), but overall English is sufficient if you don’t intend on going into research.</p>