World languages
According to this webpage there are only 8 World languages. Do you think that they are right?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_language
Would you add other languages? Would you remove some of them?
The world languages are: Chinese, English, Spanish, Hindi, Arabic, Russian, German and Portuguese.
Thank you in advance
I would say only Chinese, English, Spanish, and Arabic. I would remove all the other languages
<<Chinese, English, Spanish, Hindi, Arabic, Russian, German and Portuguese>>
Ludicrous.
- Chinese, Hindi, Portuguese and Spanish are only regional languages.
- Russian still has some international relevance but it's rapidly plummetting (alas).
- Arabic is nothing. Even Arabs use English or French among themslves when it comes to technology, economy, and administration.
- German is restricted to a few European countries, but the importance it used to have in science, philosophy and litterature makes it still a relatively international language.
- Italian remains essential in musis, and is therefore much closer to an international language than Spanish will ever be.
- The only real world language is English. French comes far behind. German and Italian can to some extent claim to be international languages. Period.
French is only spoken in France.
<<French is only spoken in France.>>
Please tell me what you think the people of Quebec, Belgium, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Monaco, Haiti, etc. speak.
Belgium, Switzerland , Monaco and Luxembourg are a territorial continuum with respect to France (it happens the same with Germanophone areas in Europe ) and the fact that there are some pockets of French speakers in Canada, concentrated in Quebec, does not make French an international language.
Italian? Come one! Latin is far more international than Italian.
I think I've seen this topic about three zillion times here. That's a lie, but I have seen it here a lot and it usually becomes a fight.
English is the only international language. French used to be an international language in the past.
But wait, what does WORLD languages mean?
Bengali wasn't even listed and it's a huge language.
Here are the languages you should learn if you have loads of time and are going to travel the world.
ENGLISH
French
Spanish
Russian
Mandarin Chinese
(Arabic, possibly)
You don't need German (even though I speak it), because most Germans can manage English. The same goes for Hebrew (even though if you are Jewish, it might be a good idea to learn it.) Arabic is up for debate. English is used in India and Pakistan to some extent. You need Spanish because if you travel below the United States, you are probably going to run into a fair number of people who do not speak English well if you venture out of your tour group, hotel.
If you go to Japan, you probably need Japanese, but that's a big time investment for a one-country language. The characters you learn from Chinese will help you somewhat in Japan. Buy a phrasebook.
French will help you in Europe, parts of Africa, a tiny part of South America, and in Canada. You will also find educated people from various countries (Lebanon, for example) who speak French better than English, possibly. It may help in Vietnam as it appears both older people and some young people know some French.
I don't know what to say about the rest of Southeast asia except Thailand where I recommend that you use English and learn a few words of Tourist Thai. Heck, all those German and French tourists use English there.
I left out Korea. Korea is in the same boat as Japan-that's an awful lot of work for a two-country deal (North and South).
Russian will get you through a lot of countries. It would be nice to add German if you have time, but that's up to you.
Portuguese will help you in Europe, Brazil and in one country in Africa if you want to add this in. Technically, they speak it in Macau, but truthfully, it's mostly Chinese there.
Even Portuguese is more international than French:
It is spoken in a huge country in Americas: Brazil
It's spoken in two big countries in Africa: Angola and Mozambique
It's spoken in Portugal and easily understood in Spain
Portuguese is present in Asia since it's the official language of East Timor. French is virtually non spoken in Asia, so Portuguese is more international than French.
Yes. I agree. Officially, World languages are the languages of UNO: English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Russian and Chinese.
You say: If you go to Japan, you probably need Japanese, but that's a big time investment for a one-country language.
Well, you can say the same with Chinese. It is spoken in China, a little island, Taiwan and little country, Singapore.
At this moment, Russian is almost the same. It is official in Russia and 3 other countries: Belarus, Kaz. and Kirg.
Arabic does not exist. There are a lot of dialects. There is also Modern Standard Arabic, but nobody speak it as mother tongue. So, Arabic is not exactly a World language as English.
In my opinion, English, Spanish and French are strictly World languages. Russian, Arabic and Chinese partially.
I wrote that huge post. Look, I LOVE Portuguese, but I have not found that it travels better than French. Sure, I'd add it in for anyone who has time. What's not to love? It's easy to learn after Spanish. I did find some French speakers in Asia. Vietnam vs. East Timor. Vietnam is the new marketplace. Oh heck, add it in if you wish, I don't mind at all, but honestly how many people are going to bother to learn so many languages.
Just a few. This is based on my own travels and those of my spouse. My spouse was in several countries in Asia last month and we talked about which languages were used, and what is most useful.
You are welcome to comment.
Russian will probably work in Ukraine and anywhere the Russian Bear put his paw. (Yeah, I wrote that huge post) I didn't think about it, but yes, I think those are languages of the United Nations.
I am learning Arabic, but probably just tourist-level is my goal. I've heard too much here about MSA and other varieties to wade into that linguistic swamp.
China is a HUGE country and Mandarin, the best language to learn among those Sinitic (?) languages. Just knowing its characters will help you in several areas. Is it for everyone, ooooh no, it is not, but it is a number one language for any serious polyglot or world traveller in Asia.
<<China is a HUGE country and Mandarin, the best language to learn among those Sinitic (?) languages. Just knowing its characters will help you in several areas. Is it for everyone, ooooh no, it is not, but it is a number one language for any serious polyglot or world traveller in Asia.>>
I think most western travelers would be more comfortable in South Korea or Japan. China is still quite 3rd word/communist*cough*. Anyways, it really doesn't make sense to invest the time in learning an East Asian language like Mandarin for a short trip to Shanghai. Seriously, unless you are relocating there, don't bother.
communist China?you must be from the stone-age