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Language for Math and Econ major

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Var
Diglot
Newbie
United States
Joined 4209 days ago

14 posts - 17 votes
Speaks: English*, French

 
 Message 1 of 4
20 May 2013 at 12:31am | IP Logged 
I'm not sure how often "Mathematics", "Economics", and "Linguistics" are
mentioned in
the same sentence, but somehow all of these pique my interest. I hear that language and
math are both very left-brained things, so perhaps that's part of the explanation.. but
I digress.

I'm a soon-to-be college freshman and I was wondering if I should start trying to
tackle another language (currently I'm studying French at the B1.5 level). I already
posted another thread about my situation (http://how-to-learn-any-
language.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=35976&PN=1) , but I feel a more specific
question is needed to make sure I make the right decision.

Basically, I am interested in studying a new language, but I want to make sure it will
be applicable to my majors in some way. For example, if I learned American Sign
Language, it might be fun and interesting but it would have little to no relevance to
my majors, so I wouldn't consider studying it.

My question is fairly simple: Which language(s) would be most useful for someone
pursuing a Mathematics and Economics degree? I can't be more specific than this because
I don't know if I'll get into consulting, research, econometrics, business, or any
other similar field. My gut tells me that German would be the best because of Austrian
economics as well as Germany's influence on the global market, but I would really
appreciate the opinion of someone with experience with these things.

If it's impossible to make a recommendation without a more specific career, I guess my
question becomes "Which language opens up the most doors in the math/econ world?"

(I realize math and econ are different entities in of themselves, so if necessary, you
can focus on the econ part and ignore the math).

Thank you very much for your time and help.

Edited by Var on 20 May 2013 at 12:34am

1 person has voted this message useful





newyorkeric
Diglot
Moderator
Singapore
Joined 6381 days ago

1598 posts - 2174 votes 
Speaks: English*, Italian
Studies: Mandarin, Malay
Personal Language Map

 
 Message 2 of 4
20 May 2013 at 2:16am | IP Logged 
There is little to no advantage to knowing a second language for economics (or math). If I were you, I would just pick the language that you find most interesting.
2 persons have voted this message useful



Var
Diglot
Newbie
United States
Joined 4209 days ago

14 posts - 17 votes
Speaks: English*, French

 
 Message 3 of 4
20 May 2013 at 5:05am | IP Logged 
Thanks newyorkeric. I'm perhaps a little disappointed by this, but the truth is the
truth.
1 person has voted this message useful



baskerville
Trilingual Triglot
Newbie
Singapore
scribeorigins.com
Joined 4248 days ago

39 posts - 43 votes
Speaks: English*, Tagalog*
Studies: German*, Japanese
Studies: Hungarian

 
 Message 4 of 4
07 June 2013 at 4:39pm | IP Logged 
I have to agree with newyorkeric. I have an economics degree and English was all I needed
:) But my Japanese language skill did help open up a lot of opportunities for me. It
helped me land a job even before I finished university -- way before other people in my
class. Then I had several Japanese-related jobs after that so having a certain degree of
proficiency in a foreign language will give you a big edge over other applicants.

I read somewhere that German is the language of business in Europe so maybe German will
be most useful to you?


1 person has voted this message useful



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