Is French useful?

[Nihilanth]

Which one would you learn, French, German, Spanish or Russian?

I want to learn a second language, but I still don't know which one. Learning a language takes a lot of time and commitment so naturally I want to make sure I don't waste my time. The criteria I'm trying to use is this:

1. Jobs prospects and economy: which language do feel would boost your market value the most?
2. Culture: which language do you think has the biggest cultural output, i.e Music/Television/Cuisine/etc?
3. Difficulty: which one is the easiest?
4. Tourism and Travel: places worth visiting where they speak said language.
5. Future: is the language booming or declining?

I'm leaning towards French for 1, 2, 4 and 5. It's spoken in many parts of the world: Canada, half of Africa, Europe, parts of Latin America. When Africa starts developing, French will also grow in importance and status. Unlike Spanish, French is actually an international language. Spanish is only spoken in Latin America and Spain, whereas French is spoken is more places around the world.

PD: it has to be an European language; no Mandarin, Arabic, etc.

[SpcGuts]

What sort of job prospects would you be looking for?

[Vanyali]

It depends where you'll be working.

For culture, it depends what you're into; there's some odd things in other cultures and some brilliant ones, but knowing the language rather than subtitles doesn't necessarily help or hinder if you don't know the culture behind it half the time. Same with places worth visiting - i've no desire to travel to south america, but that doesn't make it not worth visiting. i just prefer europe, england in particular, as that's a historical period i'm interested in (pre-roman, before i'm accused of glorifying the empire or something).

For the future, Spanish will be more useful in the US. Without question.

[Osoroshii]

I'd prefer to learn German personally, or Russian.

Spanish seems to be the fastest-growing language, though. It's certainly well on its way to becoming mandatory in the US within another decade or two.

[Vanyali]

J'aime le français mieux que l'espagnol, mais c'est probablement moins utile que l'espagnol.

it disturbs me when i realize i can read that despite taking french in high school being ten years ago D:

at least the context of it, anyway.

[Merite]

I ended up taking 3 years of German. I know far more German than Spanish. I just spent 4 15+ hour days managing some people who only spoke Spanish. Instant regret.

Learn Spanish - if you want to learn French from there it should be easy.

German and Russian are neat I suppose, but having visited and backpacked a bit in both countries, even fairly far into the boonies, English works better. As soon as you get away from tourist hubs, people enjoy speaking to you in English because they can. Just like I like speaking to German tourists in German whenever possible.

[Conspicuous Cultist]

German gives you +10 to intimidation when you speak it to anyone else that doesn't speak it.

[Zelk]

The French aren't useful for the most part, non.

[apepi]

German gives you +10 to intimidation when you speak it to anyone else that doesn't speak it.

*Says random Rammstein lyrics*

[Vanyali]

Ce contient les erreurs probablement. Je ne sais pas très beaucoup.

stop it, you're a monster D: and how would i know if there were errors, rofl

[unwirklich]

Depends on where you live. If your country has two languages, learn the other. If you sit close to a border, learn the language of your neighbour.

[Deleted]

German or Spanish

[Deleted]

German gives you +10 to intimidation when you speak it to anyone else that doesn't speak it.

Go for Russian.

[Kellhound]

If you live in the US, Spanish will, sadly, be more useful. If you are in engineering, German is better. Culture and best sounding, French. Russian is not really useful for the most part and it uses a different alphabet.

[crzyman007]

Most German and Russian people speak english.

I would go with french or spanish.

[apepi]

Most German and Russian people speak english.

I would go with french or spanish.

Honestly you could go to the most countries with Spanish. It has the second most users out of any language.

[Deleted]

Honestly you could go to the most countries with Spanish. It has the second most users out of any language.

Users!=countries.

[Deleted]

While French might not be the most useful of those, it definitely is the most beautiful. I had to choose between French and Italian in school and seriously, the choice was beyond doubt!

[announced]

id never want to go to Russia so thats out
id probly never want to visit France either or deal with french people so thats out.
its a tie between Spanish and German, id rather learn to speak German though even if Spanish has more uses.
fyi Canada only has 1 province where french is required. (Quebec) all the rest are not required to post anything in a language other than english.
I would argue Spanish could be considered a bigger advantage covering most of the US and even some of Canada. although theres almost no spanish speaking people in BC its mostly Hindus and asians so ya.

[Annoying]

That's entirely dependent on where you live and where you wish to work.

I mean, French is quite useful if you're in Canada, for example. Spanish in the US southwest, in Europe, lots of them have their different uses.