Italian or Portuguese, which is more studied in the world?

Northern Chinese   Mon Oct 05, 2009 11:37 am GMT
Maybe one of a few advantages of learning German comes mainly from Germany's treasured role of outstanding performance in almost every field, that's to say, not only Germany carries more (at least the same) prestige as other developed countries such as UK, France, Italy, etc., but also it's still a powerful engine in Europe and former G-8 group (though G-8 has been replaced by G-20). Sometimes you can talk to Germans in English when you have to communicate with them, but if you really want to get to know everything about Germany and Germans, especially if you plan to study further there, find a job there, or make friends with Germans, then German would be nearly a must for you to master, I don't think you could get over just by speaking English throughout.
LivingStone   Mon Oct 05, 2009 8:58 pm GMT
German people hate immigrants, so it's better to speak English in Germany when you visit it. Speaking in German will make you give them impression that you want to stay for good, Germans hate this.
Michelangelo   Tue Oct 06, 2009 3:15 am GMT
>>>German people hate immigrants,<<<

In fact Germans have stood a large number Turkish crowding into Germany and settling down there. So I don't think Germans really hate immigrants so much.
Not inmigrant   Tue Oct 06, 2009 8:53 am GMT
Are you crazy? They don't like Turkish people or another foreigners. People from Austria and Germany voted to Hitler, and several years ago, Austria voted again to the Nazis.

Besides, I know that in Germany, foreigners go to pubs for FOREIGNERS (not always, of course), where there are not Germans. In these pubs you can see French, Italian, Spanish, English, Americans, Hispanics, Chinese, Japanese, etc. but NOT Germans.

So, my opinion is the same. Speak to Germans in English, French, Spanish or Chinese, but not German. They can guess, you are an inmigrant. If they think you are a tourist, they will be more polite.
L.A. LAw   Tue Oct 06, 2009 9:22 am GMT
I know there is an American disco in Frankfurt, no Germans go there, only Americans, tourists and immigrants.
rrrrrr   Tue Oct 06, 2009 9:28 am GMT
Plus in Germany it is less socially acceptable to admit that you hate immigrants because of the past. That means that people just keep it to themselves and the rage festers and intensifies.
Francesca   Wed Oct 14, 2009 4:11 pm GMT
Most Studied Foreign Languages
in the U.S.
Spanish is the most commonly studied foreign language in the U.S., determined by the number of students enrolled in foreign language classes in colleges and universities. In 2006, over 822,000 students were taking Spanish courses, 10.3% more than in 2002. Arabic is the tenth most popular foreign language, but enrollment increased 126.5% in just four years!

Language Fall 2006
enrollments % change
from 2002
1. Spanish 822,985 10.3%
2. French 206,426 2.2
3. German 94,264 3.5
4. American Sign Language 78,829 29.7
5. Italian 78,368 22.6
6. Japanese 66,605 27.5
7. Chinese 51,582 51.0
8. Latin 32,191 7.9
9. Russian 24,845 3.9
10. Arabic 23,974 126.5

Where's Portuguese? In Canada, Italian is even more studied than German

Not to mention Europe, Nobody learns Portuguese in Europe. On the other hand in Eastern Europe, Italian is one of the most studied languages. Particularly in Hungary, Croatia, Albania, Greece and Ukraine.
Why? Because Italy and Italian have more prestige than Portugal, Brazil or other African countries. Besides a lot of people think that Italian is nicer than Portuguese. According to most surveys Italian is the most loved language in the world.
Paul   Wed Oct 14, 2009 5:18 pm GMT
It should be noted that statistics on studied languages in the U.S are completely meaningless because maybe .00001% of people who study languages in school actually go on to speak those languages.
MOb   Fri Oct 30, 2009 5:19 am GMT
portuguese r ugly and there girls r horrible in bed
Guest   Fri Oct 30, 2009 5:52 am GMT
No offense but most Americans think that Brazil speak Spanish and have no knowledge about Portuguese culture or even its geographical position. On the other hand, there is around 15 million Americans of Italian descent in the States and a pizza place at every corner. So it's not too hard to understand why Portuguese is not in the top 10 but Italian is.

Personally I won't go with Portuguese why? Because it's spoken by a larger variety of people and in more numbers. This imo makes it a richer and more interested language to learn since it will give you access to the culture of people from all corners of the world.
Odoacre   Fri Oct 30, 2009 3:43 pm GMT
descent in the States and a pizza place at every corner

Are you envious or jealous? Spanish restaurants are not as famous and widespread as the Italian ones around the world. Even in this field ( cuisine and food) Italy is much better than Spain..
Luca   Wed Nov 18, 2009 7:58 pm GMT
Italian has nothing ''classical''? what a funny statement. Can't you realize how huge is the amount of culture that has sprung from the italian soil? Rome, Christianity, the renaissance (the fact that this culture movement brings a french name is very odd) don't tell anything to your ears=?
Pinochet   Wed Nov 18, 2009 9:35 pm GMT
So the Romans and the Christians they prosecuted spoke Italian? Very funny...