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Is French still important? | ||
Tags: Language Importance | French | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| Haldor Triglot Senior Member France Joined 5616 days ago 103 posts - 122 votes  Speaks: Norwegian*, English, Swedish Studies: French, Spanish | Message 33 of 44 09 July 2012 at 1:13pm | IP Logged | |||||
I absolutely concur. This discussion should be about the French language, not the worn out cliché about French people. Today, France is a cosmopolitan country, and I for one do not think they are any more or less arrogant than American, Spanish or any other people. 4 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Rykketid Diglot Groupie Italy Joined 4834 days ago 88 posts - 146 votes Speaks: Italian*, English Studies: French | Message 34 of 44 15 July 2012 at 12:44pm | IP Logged | |||||
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German the language of science? I don't think so... English is much more important in
science. Also, Spanish a useful language for business? Honestly I don't see why... Anyway, in Europe French is one of the most important languages, my private law professor at uni used to say that French is the language of European law, many things in the EU are done in French, not to mention that France is one of the largest economies in Europe. Hence, within the boudaries of Europe, French is definitely more important than, let's say Spanish which seems so popular in other places. 4 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Mad Max Tetraglot Groupie Spain Joined 5052 days ago 79 posts - 146 votes Speaks: Spanish*, French, English, Russian Studies: Arabic (classical) | Message 35 of 44 17 July 2012 at 12:37pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Well, Spanish is very popular in a lot of places. The main reason is that Spanish is spoken by 500 million
of potential customers. In the USA, Spanish is spoken by 50 million people, for example. Spanish is official in NAFTA, North American market, European Union, Central American common maket, African Union, Caricom (Caribbean), Unasur (South America) and Antartic Treaty. I, n APEC, Asia-Pacific area, Spanish and Chinese are promoted. On the other hand, French is hardly spoken by 80 million people as mother tongue. I don't see French as a World business language. Nowadays, is out of the top ten languages. 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Rykketid Diglot Groupie Italy Joined 4834 days ago 88 posts - 146 votes Speaks: Italian*, English Studies: French | Message 36 of 44 17 July 2012 at 1:54pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Sorry but a language becomes important in business when the country/ies in which it is
spoken become(s) economically relevant, not when many people speak that language (because they could have not the necessary purchasing power); that's why Mandarin Chinese is getting more and more important, it's not about them being 1 billion (they were a lot even in the 1960s but no-one accounted it as a business language) it's about them having a strong economic growth and a young, developing market, it's about them being world leader in exports and many other things like that (I know that one of the major drivers for all those things is China's immense workforce but, it is just an indirect factor for the importance of Mandarin, the direct one is the economic power of the country). Personally I don't see the same happening in Spanish speaking countries... maybe it will in the future, but not so far... Indeed In Latin America the country which is gaining economic importance and competitiveness is also the one where Spanish isn't the official language which is Brazil. And trust me, I wish Spanish could get an important language in business since for me it would be much much easier to learn than Mandarin :-P Edited by Rykketid on 17 July 2012 at 2:12pm 3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Mad Max Tetraglot Groupie Spain Joined 5052 days ago 79 posts - 146 votes Speaks: Spanish*, French, English, Russian Studies: Arabic (classical) | Message 37 of 44 17 July 2012 at 5:41pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Yes. Spanish speaking countries all together have a GDP bigger than German speaking
countries or French speaking countries. After English, Spanish is the most important European language in GDP. The USA (50 million), Mexico (110 million) and Spain (47 million) all together have a GDP bigger than Germany. I only consider the Hispanic minority in the USA. Spanish is not the language of a powerful country like China, but it is the first or second language of Miami, Nueva York, Los Angeles, Madrid, Barcelona, Mexico City, Bogota, Buenos Aires, Lima, Santiago, La Havana, Caracas, etc. Spanish will be the most spoken language in the world in 2050. More than Chinese. In the USA will be spoken by some 140 million people, more than Mexico. It is studied as second language in Brazil, the Philippines, Morocco, the European Union. In short, all experts say that English, Spanish and Chinese will be the big 3 this century. 4 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Rykketid Diglot Groupie Italy Joined 4834 days ago 88 posts - 146 votes Speaks: Italian*, English Studies: French | Message 38 of 44 17 July 2012 at 9:20pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Sorry but you're throwing around numbers and statistics without giving the sources.
Plus, you keep mixing up present and future... because if you're talking about the future I too think that Latin American markets will probably emerge, maybe in some decades time. I just said that this is not happening now. But then you mention the current GDP of some Spanish countries, if we use today's GDP as the selection method: according to wikipedia Latin America and Caribbean's GDP is 5,000,000 but a half of that is made up of Brazil's GDP (a non Spanish speaking country), then Spain's GDP is around 1,500,000, and they, put together, make the GDP of Germany and Austria. And after all you asked: is French still an important language? Edited by Rykketid on 17 July 2012 at 9:28pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Mad Max Tetraglot Groupie Spain Joined 5052 days ago 79 posts - 146 votes Speaks: Spanish*, French, English, Russian Studies: Arabic (classical) | Message 39 of 44 17 July 2012 at 9:51pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Well, the stadistics about GDP are International Monetary Fund list 2011.
Spain 1.5 Mexico 1.1 Usa (Hispanics) 1 Argentina 0.4 Colombia 0.35 Venezuela 0.35 All others 0.5 Spanish speakers. some 5.2 3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Mad Max Tetraglot Groupie Spain Joined 5052 days ago 79 posts - 146 votes Speaks: Spanish*, French, English, Russian Studies: Arabic (classical) | Message 40 of 44 17 July 2012 at 10:01pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Now, French language, same sources
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nom inal)#section_1 France 2.7 French Canada 0.4 French Belgium 0.2 French Switzerland 0.1 French Africa 0.2 French speaking people. some 3.6 3 persons have voted this message useful |
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