What is the most important language to know beside English?

I am from Singapore-- A tiny beautiful beach Island In asia... Where English is our working language... =)

with English as a language that I know, Spanish should be easier to learn ?? Reply to this

After English, I definitely suggest Spanish. I agree that Spanish is easier to learn than Portuguese and French. With English and Spanish, travelling the entire Western Hemisphere will be fairly easy. Even in Brasil, you can get by (However, while Brazilians will understand spanish, you may not understand when they respond back in portuguese, but you will be fine). Also, knowing Spanish will help you in some European countries (Spain) and like brasil, you can get by in Portugal/Italy where in some places they might not speak English as much as in Northern Europe(Scandanavia, Holland, etc where they speak better English than most Americans.) My personal opinion that learning Cantonese, while spoken by the most people in the world, is not as usefuly for your average traveller unless you plan to live, or travel for years in China. Of course, for business, that is an entirely different matter. Definitely would recommend French after Spanish if Western Africa/Madagascar/French Guyana are a significant part of your travel plans.

As a side note, where I live in the USA, more people speak Spanish than English, and in many places/stores, the people do not speak English. Yep, you probably guessed....Miami. Reply to this

Bonjour!!!

I am going to be in the minority here, but as far as tourism goes, I vote for French. Why? I may be biased because I speak it, but:
French people travel. No matter where I travel, I hear French (maybe it's because I speak it and thus have the ear for it!) If you work in tourism, you will find it much more likely to book a big bus of French tourists than Spanish-speaking ones. French will get you much further anywhere in Africa for sure, as well as parts of south-east Asia, and of course in Europe.

For an English speaker, Spanish is easier to learn because it is much more phonetic than French and doesn't have quite as many sounds that are hard for English-natives to pronounce. But grammar isn't necessarily easier, as French and Spanish have just as many verb tenses that are not used in English.

I agree though, if you travel in the Western Hemisphere, Spanish will be more useful than French as far as amount of territory covered per language: most of Central and South America and southern USA versus parts of Canada, Louisiana, Guyane (French Guiana) and some islands in the Caribbean. In the western hemisphere, French speakers are found in more isolated pockets of population, while Spanish is much more widespread.

Keep in mind though: There are just as many differences in both languages as in English. What I mean is: French in Quebec is very different from France, very different from Guyane. Similarly, Mexican Spanish is very different from Peruvian, and vastly different from what is spoken in Spain. Just like English: Americans and Brits and Kiwis sometimes might as well speak different languages!! 😊 Reply to this

1 posts moved to this new topic: English is to be adopted as the official European Union language Reply to this

Spanish or French! 😊 Reply to this