If you were already fluent in both Chinese and English and wanted to learn a third language what would be your first choice? German? Spanish? French? Another asian language?
Trying to pick a major for my Arts degree to complement the Commerce one…sounds mighty stupid but I’m really excited and want to make the right choice. Screwed up high school bad enough and don’t want to make the same mistake in uni!
Ahhhh :help:
I’d love to hear from everyone!
Arabic, Hindi and Spanish in that order
Taiwanese.
Depends on where you plan to live and what you plan to do.
I live in Australia and plan to go into international trade or something like that. Did have wild hopes of becoming a diplomat…well, we’ll see about that.
Mmm…German seemed to be a good idea when I considered the potential business opportunities but then I got thinking…many Europeans speak next to flawless English anyway! Just don’t want to learn a language and then never use it again for the rest of my life.
Improving my Taiwanese would be a good idea…right now I can probably just manage to understand family and the old women at the market…
Well, if you want widespread usage, Spanish or French. Arabic (and its varations) is also becoming increasingly important in commerce and politics, though I’m not so sure about art.
In terms of numbers of speakers in the world, I believe Mandarin, English and Spanish are the top three. Perhaps Spanish should be your next choice?
With commerce and Chinese up your sleeve, why not Japanese? The Japanese economy is back big time and with the Chinese you are already some way there with the kanji.
HG
Spanish, Hindi, Hebrew (mom wishes it was first on the list), or Japanese.
[quote=“Huang Guang Chen”]With commerce and Chinese up your sleeve, why not Japanese? The Japanese economy is back big time and with the Chinese you are already some way there with the kanji.
HG[/quote]
Yeah, but who wants to spend more time involved with yet another “You foreigners just don’t understand XYZ culture” culture?
Not intending to send this thread to the IP forum, but with the leftist wave/scourge sweeping through Latin America (and six more upcoming elections this year) one might argue that commercial prospects on that continent are not the most promising. If you’re already fluent in Chinese, why not go for Japanese? I know a number of translators who do both Chinese and Japanese, and envy them greatly. I wish I could turn the clock back ten years and go off to Japan to pick up the language and have adventures!
At least with the Japanese they will be damned right. 
HG
At least with the Japanese they will be damned right.
HG[/quote]
:bravo: 
Truth.
French or Spanish. Japanese would be a good choice, especially as you’re located in Australia and so alot of your commercial interests would probably center around Asia…
I also recommend Japanese since you’ve already got a head start with your knowledge of Chinese. Spanish probably wouldn’t be that difficult to pick up as a fourth language.
When you choose a language to study you choose a culture to partipate in, so whatever you choose, choose it carefully.
So how’s that Mandarin coming, Bob? 
Very funny. 
But seriously though this was something I thought through and had pretty much settled on (until recently). Japanese culture was too weirdly cruel and perverse or something. The spanish cultures I’d encountered were too chaotic and intimidating. French, well, it reminded me too much of school I guess. And while the Chinese people I’d met were kind of weird too at least there was a kind of humane, natural feel to them that I quite clearly liked. These days I’m not so sure but I think that has as much to do with sasonal affective disorder as much as anything else. Learning another language is definitely an immense experience. There is room for every kind of reaction to it.
Perhaps I’d study Inuktitut, or !Kung, or maybe Yanomami.
How bout navajo?