Best language to learn?

No offence but why not speak in English to them? After all they live here. People seriously overestimate the significance of Mandarin.

It's a good chance to practise his Chinese with them? :P

...I live in Manchester, you walk down the main high street and i see hundred of Chinese. I always have a bit of banter with them as i walk past saying something in chinese...

...my wife is Chinese so it was never about the money...

I never understand this point of view. If you have an interest in Latin, then by all means learn it. However, if you're learning it as a "shortcut" to Italian or similar language, you may as well spend those months actually getting somewhere in Italian. At the end of the day, you'll be further along than someone faffing around with Latin for the sake of it.

Arabic, Russian, Mandarin Chinese or Hindi.

Tbh, if you REALLY want to learn Hindi for economic reasons I don't think that is valid due to the HUGE number of fluent english speakers in India (indeed this is one of the reasons why is becoming economically more powerful). Are you Bengali by the way?

English.

Exactly, a huge amount of Indian English speakers, but a vast lack of Hindi speaking westerners. Don't underestimate the power of being a westerner in an Indian economy. It's not just a case of mutual language, but filing a particular demand.

And yes, I am.

bengali has such a rich tradition of literature. I only understand bits and pieces . Even the Indian national anthem is in Bengali. Urdu literature is astounding though (but I can only understand some of it when it is written in romanised letters).

Hi,

If I was to learn a language which would be the most fruitful/ esp. for jobs ?

apparently either arabic or chinese is going to be important....

Both Indian and Bengali national anthems are written by Rabindranath Tagur. I wish I was fluent in Hindi, but alas, as a Bengali speaker, like you, I can only pick up parts here and there.

Hindi as A LANGUAGE TO BE SPOKEN is fine for me, but all bets are off when it comes to reading and writing.

Mujhe liqna and padhna chiyeh kyun ki main urdu ya hindi shiri samjhana chaata hoon. Ek din, shiyad main urdu ya hindi liqna sakhoon, lekin yeh sirf ek kwaish - aur is waqt mujhe lagta hai ke main pana nahi sukunga. Lehkin mujhe university jaana hai aur isliye mere paas waqt nahi hai .

(I need to read and write so I want to understand urdu or hindi poetry. One day, maybe I might be able to write in hindi and urdu, but this is a wish - and at this time I think I won't be able to do it. But I also have to go university and for this reason I don't have time.)

Mandarin Chinese.

With growth (international) shifting from west to east and China in 10 decades time will overtake USA in reserves (according to the Economist), I think learning Mandarin is your best bet. You can be like the head of a Chinese sub firm in Europe or something like that (you've got English and Chinese (future) under your belt)