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Does Spanish depend on Mexico’s rise? | ||
Tags: Language Importance | Spanish | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| jdmoncada Tetraglot Senior Member United States Joined 5035 days ago 470 posts - 741 votes  Speaks: English*, German, Spanish, Finnish Studies: Russian, Japanese | Message 41 of 55 24 July 2011 at 10:11pm | IP Logged | |||||
I agree with this. It seems the OP doesn't want to know Spanish. Go learn something that will make you happy, but Spanish obviously isn't it. There are several other languages particularly with business potential if that's the driving force behind your language learning. Good luck finding something that works for you. 3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Random review Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5784 days ago 781 posts - 1310 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Portuguese, Mandarin, Yiddish, German | Message 42 of 55 25 July 2011 at 12:19am | IP Logged | |||||
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If you are going to compare them with China and India, then Spain and Columbia seem
small; but 27th and 28th out of 196 is a decent size IMO. I don't personally get the impression that the OP does not want to learn Spanish, just searching for a reason that suits his interests (personally I'm not much interested in business but sobre gustos no hay nada escrito), so my best shot at providing one follows below. I'm not a businessman, but from what I do know about business a simple equation between GDP (let alone population) and importance in the business world seems naïve to me. Firstly it is well known that there are closer economic links between your country (U.S.A) and Latin America than between the U.S. and most other regions. Secondly, regardless of current GDP I would personally consider Latin America a great place to invest/ do business. For one big historical reason (which I cannot mention because politics is not allowed in this forum) Latin America has not been able to develop to it's full potential, this constraint has recently become weaker and many Latin American countries are beginning to show signs of at least starting to show their potential. What I am talking about here is a whole continent probably about to launch itself into the developed world over the next couple of decades or so, and that will involve a LOT of economic growth (I'm thinking here of the kind of 10% plus figures China has been hitting), and surely that has got to be a great place to do business! EDIT: "a whole continent"- actually one and a half continents! Edited by Random review on 25 July 2011 at 12:23am 3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| nway Senior Member United States youtube.com/user/Vic Joined 5416 days ago 574 posts - 1707 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Mandarin, Japanese, Korean | Message 43 of 55 25 July 2011 at 12:28am | IP Logged | |||||
If we're talking about Spanish, it's more like one-half a continent and one-third a continent, for a combined total of five-sixths a continent... As for Latin America being "about to take off", Brazil has been known as the "country of the future" for generations. Not saying it won't happen, but Latin American culture is not East Asian or Germanic culture, and its poor education levels may hinder it from achieving its potential (similar to the situation of Southeast Asia). Edited by nway on 25 July 2011 at 12:32am 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Random review Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5784 days ago 781 posts - 1310 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Portuguese, Mandarin, Yiddish, German | Message 44 of 55 25 July 2011 at 12:30am | IP Logged | |||||
OK, you're right about that first bit. Almost a whole continent, then. Regarding what you say about Brazil, I can't really explain why I think the continent (including Brazil) is ready to take off without getting into politics, but I believe that it is, and that the signs are there. Suffice it to say that I think what has been holding them back is has been an external constraint, not something internal to Latin America. For instance I know that Argentinians at least are usually fairly well-educated e.g. this article on the BBC, which contains the phrase "Argentina is rich in resources, has a well-educated workforce..." and yet have the same problems as the rest of the continent, I imagine some other countries in Latin America also have well-educated populaces (though I don't know which). Edited by Random review on 25 July 2011 at 12:52am 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| aquablue Senior Member United States Joined 6383 days ago 150 posts - 172 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, Mandarin | Message 45 of 55 25 July 2011 at 1:54am | IP Logged | |||||
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How useful is Spanish in the US if you are not working in healthcare, education, social
services, etc? I assume most business between Hispanic and Anglo companies would be done in English, so negating the need for Spanish. Also, as new immigrants integrate and have kids, they will learn English no doubt reducing the need for Spanish even more. Also, how true is it the complaint that Spanish in Latin America is ugly sounding and butchered compared to Iberia? Also, is it true that Italians look down on the Spanish still? Edited by aquablue on 25 July 2011 at 1:56am 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| nway Senior Member United States youtube.com/user/Vic Joined 5416 days ago 574 posts - 1707 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Mandarin, Japanese, Korean | Message 46 of 55 25 July 2011 at 1:59am | IP Logged | |||||
Well, that's obviously a completely subjective matter, so it'd be impossibly to verify the "truth" of that complaint, which I'd imagine only exists in Spain. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| hrhenry Octoglot Senior Member United States languagehopper.blogs Joined 5131 days ago 1871 posts - 3642 votes Speaks: English*, SpanishC2, ItalianC2, Norwegian, Catalan, Galician, Turkish, Portuguese Studies: Polish, Indonesian, Ojibwe | Message 47 of 55 25 July 2011 at 2:00am | IP Logged | |||||
Ever gone through a phone tree system for pretty much any large business in the US? They all have a Spanish option, with Spanish-speaking customer service reps at the other end of the line. And when there is no customer service rep available, Spanish speakers are able to leave messages for the company. I know this because I've been hired many times to transcribe and translate these messages. R. == 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| iguanamon Pentaglot Senior Member Virgin Islands Speaks: Ladino Joined 5263 days ago 2241 posts - 6731 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Creole (French) | Message 48 of 55 25 July 2011 at 4:12am | IP Logged | |||||
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Hispanics are the largest "minority" in the US and that's not even counting the 4,000,000 Spanish speaking US citizens who live in the US Territory (Commonwealth) of Puerto Rico. Miami is the de-facto business capital of Latin America. Try getting a good white collar job in Miami without being bilingual. Spanish in the US is a fact and has been since 100 years before the British set foot in Jamestown. Spanish in the US is "as American as burritos, tacos, enchilladas, fajitas and Corona". It is a fact on the ground and will remain so.
I am glad that I can speak Spanish. Before I left the mainland for this forgotten little (colonial) backwater of the American Empire, I used Spanish everyday in my life and in my business life as well. I still do. I didn't learn Spanish in order to do business, but still, I'm glad I did. It comes in quite handy. Regardless of the language's usefulness in the business world, it has opened my eyes and ears to the Hispanic culture- for which I am eternally grateful. Now, it's serving as my gateway to the Lusophone world and Brazil in particular as I learn Portuguese. Latin America is on the rise. It isn't going to happen overnight, but in a generation, watch out! ¡Gracias, Español! 7 persons have voted this message useful |
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