HELP!!! Which language would be more useful SPANISH or GERMAN- please READ!!! Thx !

I don't think listening to German people's views on people learning their language is useful at all. Everybody does certainly NOT speak English in Germany, even the younger generation. I'd go for German, since fewer people are choosing to study it here. Then again, it's really up to you. Which countries/culture do you prefer?

If this was aimed at me I'd like to point out that I didn't say that everybody speaks English in Germany. I also didn't say that everybody in Germany holds this opinion, just the people who I've spoken to about it.

Hey all,

Thanks for your views so far. I dont have much of a preference between the two cultures. I am not really bothered about going to the latin american countries either. I guess I am looking from more of a business, legal, economic perspective. I want to try and appear more employable. I think the thing about languages is the enjoyment of understanding and I got that from German. However, I have never given Spanish a shot.
I agree with those who have told me that I most probably could teach myself/learn Spanish later as I am fluent in French.

I would most probably need more attention and actualy lessons on German.
My problem is that I have never tried Spanish out and will not know until I try...so I have no preference. I do not think I will ever live in those countries either. My long-term bf is dutch and lives on the German border of NL and I do like the way that I can pick up similiarities with German linguistically....but thats about as significant as I get with regards to the language.

Guess my biggest fear is losing what knowledge I did have. If only I could learn all the EU languages!

What do you all feel is the best EU language!?

Scarlett xxxx

Hey all,

Thanks for your views so far. I dont have much of a preference between the two cultures. I am not really bothered about going to the latin american countries either. I guess I am looking from more of a business, legal, economic perspective. I want to try and appear more employable. I think the thing about languages is the enjoyment of understanding and I got that from German. However, I have never given Spanish a shot.
I agree with those who have told me that I most probably could teach myself/learn Spanish later as I am fluent in French.

I would most probably need more attention and actualy lessons on German.
My problem is that I have never tried Spanish out and will not know until I try...so I have no preference. I do not think I will ever live in those countries either. My long-term bf is dutch and lives on the German border of NL and I do like the way that I can pick up similiarities with German linguistically....but thats about as significant as I get with regards to the language.

Guess my biggest fear is losing what knowledge I did have. If only I could learn all the EU languages!

What do you all feel is the best EU language!?

Scarlett xxxx

Best EU language soundwise = Italian, its beauuutiful to listen to

IMO of course

If the natives don't think it's a useful language to learn then the chances are that fewer and fewer people will learn the language in the first place and if they think English is more useful that will take over. Chances are this won't happen in our lifetime but it still says a lot.

It says a lot about the Germans' attitude towards their own language, but not necessarily about the practical value the language has or will have.

I hope people realise that most international banks from German-speaking countries conduct most of their business in English...German-speaking ability really isn't that necessary. Spanish on the other-hand is growing in importance whilst most of the main languages studied are receding..

i agree with that! that's the reason i chose to learn it... although people say it's useless to do a 4 year degree in italian & it would be much better to learn spanish and much more valuable in the job market... this is depressing lol

Spanish probably is more useful just because it's more widely spoken, but French should be useful even if Italian isn't particularly, and if you go for a non languages related job, being fluent in 2 foreign languages will be really impressive considering most English people can't even speak 1 to a half decent level!

If you want to learn a language purely from a business/legal/economic perspective and you're not bothered about the culture or living in the country, I'd go with German. You said you enjoyed learning it, it would be harder to teach yourself and you can pick up where you left off at GCSE. You can always learn Spanish later on if you want to/have time to. As for the best EU language, I only speak French and a bit of Spanish, plus obviously English, but out of those, I'd go for French. I've been studying it for 7 and a bit years compared to 1 and a bit for Spanish though, so that might have something to do with it.