Which is the most important/influential language after English?

[Ayush]

french.....

 

[Raja.Pakistani]

Spanish is quite common as a second language worldwide, I would say mandarin but that only really spoken in China.

If china would have colonised the world like Spanish, English or French did then it could have easily replaced Spanish or even English as international language. These invaders did their level best to replace the local language with their own

 

[iranigirl2]

French, and Spanish.

 

[Ayush]

i wonder what @Marshmallow thinks about this.

French, and Spanish.

congrats on becoming a senior member

 

[scorpionx]

Spanish and Hindi.

 

[W.11]

Hindi-Urdu isn't international enough...

Same disadvantage as Chinese...

but he wants you to mention it just like you mentioned chinese

 

[Ayush]

Spanish and Hindi.

shouldnt french be before hindi

 

[JohnyD]

It should be..........

1.English -> Although it only has about 500 million native speakers there are almost 2 billion people in the world that communicate in English on a regular basis.

2.French -> Although it has lost considerable ground to English over the course of the last century, French is still the second most influential language in the world. With official language status in 25 countries it is the most popular lingua franca after English and is used by many international groups and organizations.

3.Spanish -> Although no where near English in terms of global influence, Spanish is rapidly gaining on French. It has almost 400 million native speakers, is the lingua franca of close to twenty countries, and is spoken all over the world as a second language. Also, as Latin America comes into its own on the world stage Spanish will inevitably gain influence

 

[scorpionx]

shouldnt french be before hindi

Hindi influences a lot more people than French. Did you miss the Big Boss thread?

 

[Trev]

I know this isn't about influence and importance but interesting none the less.
Top 10 Most Spoken Languages In The*World - Listverse

 

[jhungary]

Spanish is quite common as a second language worldwide, I would say mandarin but that only really spoken in China.

look at it this way, if you don't learn french, you will not be keep in touch with some country in Africa, some country in the PAcific and some out of continental Europe. But if you don't know Spanish, you are literally being cut off from the whole south America, and some part of Europe and some part of Asia.

Why?



How common is it in Europe to have Spanish as second language (its pretty common here in US)

A friend of mine got recruited to run Contractor gig for 6 digit pays and the reason he is chosen over me all because he knows arabic

and there are literally no one speak Spanish in Europe outside spain, putting aside some small island like Teneriffe and Majorca and Gibraltar.

People don't like to learn secondary language in Europe

 

[AUz]

A friend of mine got recruited to run Contractor gig for 6 digit pays and the reason he is chosen over me all because he knows arabic

and there are literally no one speak Spanish in Europe outside spain, putting aside some small island like Teneriffe and Majorca and Gibraltar.

People don't like to learn secondary language in Europe

What?

I have been told by some people that in Europe, children in school learn three languages...

- Their native language (French will learn french, Spanish will learn Spanish, and so on).
- English (as global language)
- One another language (as a second language..and here, most Europeans learn Spanish)

So what is this?

People don't take a foreign language class in European schools? Children don't take spanish classes in school etc?

 

[jhungary]

What?

I have been told by some people that in Europe, children in school learn three languages...

- Their native language (French will learn french, Spanish will learn Spanish, and so on).
- English (as global language)
- One another language (as a second language..and here, most Europeans learn Spanish)

So what is this?

People don't take a foreign language class in European schools? Children don't take spanish classes in school etc?

some do, but not spanish (You are asking spanish right??)

Most school in Europe will do English as secondary language, and some school in Switzerland will learn 4 different language (Swiss, English, Germans and Belgium) and Scandanavia will learn each of their neighbor language (For example, if you are a swede, you will know some degree of Finnish, Danish, Norweign and some Icelandic language)

As far as i know, not a single counrtry teaches spanish as secondary language in school...

 

[khair_ctg]

I understand your love for Bengali language

but do you seriously believe that Bengali is second most influential Language at international level ?

i think even Punjabi has more influence. especially in the subcontinent, Punjabi influence in Hindustani classical music or literature and in sufi/qawwali/folk is quite prominent, and very importantly it has, through older literature or later media and entertainment, transcended the Punjab region of Pakistan and India. and besides, Bengali Bangladeshis really should at first do some homework on where Bengali language stands in the historical context of Muslim Bengal, if Bengali is to stand any chance of a greater influence that it's history definitely warrants

 

[cyphercide]

Shouldn't the significance of a particular language be gauged by the literature and the original thought it gives birth to?

After all, quantity isn't quality.


The works of Marx, Nietzsche, Kafka and Freud(the German language, if you were wondering) certainly overshadows any Arab exploits in literature in my personal opinion. And that's just the four of them!!!