i want to do a year abroad to learn a new language. AWhich are the
best to learn... are their any
recent articles on which are the best to learn? principaly for
business, thankyou

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Request for Question Clarification by justaskscott-ga on 15 Aug 2005 16:21 PDT

Could you define more specifically what you mean by "best"?  You say
principally for business, which is a start.  Any kind of business in
particular?  Also, are you looking for the language that will allow
you to communicate with the most businesspeople, make the most
potential profits (presumably because businesspeople in lucrative
markets speak it), or something else?

How many languages would be a sufficient answer?

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Clarification of Question by goffy1234-ga on 17 Aug 2005 04:12 PDT

I think three would be sufficient. I am aiming to work in Investment
Banking, in America and am stuck between Spanish, Russian and Chinese.
My brother is already studying the latter at university. I suppose it
comes down to time estimated to gain an ability suitable for executive
level business, how many people speak it and what there is demand for
over the next ten years or so.
I would prefer to read a study on this topic if you could find one
Thanyou for your help.
Adam.

Goffy, 

This should probably help you: 
Best Languages to Learn
<http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=313881>

Hi.. if I were u I would consider...
a) going to Spain to learn Spanish
b) going to France to learn French
c) going to Italy to learn Italian
They say Spanish is not hard to learn. Any of these 3 would give you
rich culture's, terrific sightseeing and learning oppurtnities.

Goffy,
Politicalguru's earlier answer is excellent, and the final commenter
makes a very valid point about the importance of English as a second
language around the world, and one that is spreading.

The "right" language for you depends very much on what you want to use it for:
Business.  Where?  In Northern Europe, English is the most common and
very common second language, so learning German or French (much less,
any of the other languages) will not be as important for business as
learning Arabic or Mandarin for doing business in those areas.
The way you have asked the question, suggests that as yet you do not
have an orientation towards a particular part of the world.  If you
are really open minded, I would suggest learning Mandarine.  There is
going to be increasing business with China, and there are not many in
the West who speak the language.

BUT, with that  - or whichever -  new language skill, you will be
"programming" your future to some extent.  If the culture is simply
too foreign for you, that is not a good choice.   Then Spanish,
perhaps, useful in Spain and most of Central and South America.
Russian?  Spoken also in all the ex-Soviet countries.

These can only be suggestions.  The choice really depends upon how
much you want make the language important for your career.
Myoarin

The way the world is shaping up right now I'd suggest a form of
Chinese (preferably Mandarin)

I would suggest Hindi (Major Indian language) or one of the major
Chinese languages.  Those two economies control nearly one half of the
population of the world, and will soon be the largest economies in the
world.

If you want to target the future, target the Asian market.

I have three points.

First, the right thing to do is improve your skills in learning a language.

The skill in learning a new language is more important than the
language itself.  Having this ability will allow you to be more
adaptable in our changing world.  If 10 years from now, Albanian
becomes the language of choice, it would not take you long to learn
that language, and you would be able to take advantage of
opportunities quickly.  So, in a sense, I would spend time learning
how to learn languages better (or more quickly).

If you could learn Spanish, Russian, and Chinese, all in one year, I
don't think you would care which one you learned first.

The question then should be, what is the next best language to learn
for myself?  The answer depends on a variety of factors, and changes
with time.  If tomorrow you get into an intimate relationship with
someone who speaks Russian, obviously spending time learning Russian
would be taking advantage of a great opportunity.

Another motivation for being able to learn a lot of languages is that
international executives who know 7+ languages have quite a bit of
value.

Second, since you mentioned going abroad, I am assuming that going
abroad would fill a lot of other needs besides just learning a
language.  In other words, learning a language in a classroom (where
you presently live) would not get you what you need.  If you are going
to learn a language by going abroad, I would choose the place in which
you would have the most fun and meet the most people.  Obviously
having fun makes learning easier.  And having friends with the right
knowledge (language in this case) makes learning faster.

Also, where you go abroad is pretty important.  Let's say you decided
that Spanish was going to be the language that you were going to learn
next.  Where you learn Spanish (Spain, Mexico, Argentina, etc.) is
going to have huge a impact on your life experiences.  At that point,
the countries with the most economic viabilities would be at the
forefront, since your aim is economic in nature.  And the economic
connections you intend to make would be most important.  At this
point, the question would then be, where is the best place to live for
a year?

Third, since your aim is investment banking, you would need to talk to
people who work in that field to get a feel of the languages that are
important in investment banking today and the ones that will be
important to invesment banking in the next several years.  Hopefully,
some investment bankers will see and answer this question.

In the long term, point one is most important.  In the medium term,
point three is most important.  In the short term, point two (where
you go abroad) is most important.

Hope this helps!