I want to know which languages are the best to learn and would be the
most useful, if living in the San Francisco area of California (but
not San Francisco County, only the metro counties around it). The
percentage of speakers of the different languages in the area can be
found here
http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/QTTable?_bm=y&-context=qt&-qr_name=DEC_2000_SF3_U_QTP16&-ds_name=DEC_2000_SF3_U&-CONTEXT=qt&-tree-id=403&-all_geo_types=N&-redoLog=false&-_caller=geoselect&-geo_id=38000US7362&-search_results=16000US0667000&-format=&-_lang
I obviously already know what percentage of the population in the San
Fran metro speaks certain languages, since the above chart details all
of that out for me. What I am wondering is which ones are best to
learn, and would be most useful. What if say all or nearly all of the
6% who speak Chinese also speak fairly good Enlgish, then if this were
true, chinese wouldnt be as nessasary to learn as say French of which
most dont also speak English. That is an example, and is probably not
true. Of course, this part I am not sure on, and would like help.
So, taking into consideration the idea of bi-linguals, which languages
would be most used and most helpful. Please inlude in the answer, the
top 10 languages in order of most usefulness with an explanation why
they are in such order.
An issue with this list, is which form of chinese to learn. The chart
does not distinguish between Mandarin or Cantonese. I heard those who
know Cantonese are learning Mandarin... and that the number of
Mandarin speakers in the metro now has surpassed the number of
Cantonese...but this could be false. Which would be most useful/best
to learn?
If it helps, my major of study is Business and Computer Science (aka
Management Information Systems) |
