Bucket Guild | FUBU BH Forums

The only smart investor is a contrarian investor.

No matter how hard you try at Spanish, you will never be as good as a native speaker, and you will have to compete against multitudes with the same qualification. The fact that there are so many more people who speak Spanish has no bearing on one's personal gain from being able to speak it as well. Greater gains are to be had doing that which very few people can do at all, let alone well.

In any setting where Spanish is the dominant language, the means are typically abundant to get by with English. You mention Hispanics are the fastest growing demographic. Yes, and just like every other American immigrant demographic that has seen rapid growth, as they become more numerous they will become more diffuse, and their mother tongue will become less useful as they assimilate into American society. What makes you think Spanish will be any more useful in 20 years than Yiddish or Gaelic or Polish?

Because French is niche, and the people who speak it are not as integrated with American society, there are many more situations where the language has irreplaceable utility. There are many fields where French is still the dominant language, including food and wine, foreign diplomacy, and classical culture. And many former colonies on all continents still speak French.

France is bent on making French the dominant language of the EU (really, imagine that), a rising power whose influence will expand at the expense of the USA and PRC as they fall prey to their own intractable structural problems. Even now, the EU is wealthier than the US, and being able to speak French is an enormous advantage in dealing with them and taking what they have to offer, far more lucrative than the hardscrabble Spanish-speaking world.

More opportunities are available for Spanish speakers. But more lucrative, and less competitive, opportunities are available for French speakers.

In conclusion:

Aestu of Bleeding Hollow...

Nihilism is a copout.

You make a compelling argument. Still, I don't think Hispanics will abandon their language as easily as Eastern Europeans did historically. Society tried to actively assimilate people back then, and tried to destroy their culture in some cases. We are much more progressive and accepting now....hence all the multilingual signs you see at airports in Miami etc. etc.

We never did that on such a scale for other cultures. Also, my Hispanic office building maintenance guy who doesn't speak a word of English would like a word with you.


I think it's still a wager...you're wagering that France will continue to expand its EU influence. But, when you point it out...I think the Spanish speaking nations in Central/South America etc. are in much shittier economic and political situations

So yeah, I can see both sides here...but still think, at least in America, Spanish will be much more useful.





And I wasn't aware the sounds of a language had to due with it's value. I guess the germanic/romantic bastard that is English sounds beautiful to the non-native speaker.

apparently you've never heard a group of puerto ricans jabbering at each other. a disgusting dialect of an already ugly language. any language that requires you to subtantially widen your mouth for its phonetics is ugly to me.

practice it yourself. widen your mouth as far as it will go and start speaking english. it sounds abrasive and the increased treble pierces my brain hole.

btw your image is in portugese

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Quixote



It's the first edition written in Old Spanish (Old Castilian)....definitely not Portugese. Nice try though.

castilian is closer to latin, and it derived from the western iberian peninsula (also known as portugal) and permeated east forming the basis for portugese, catalan, and spanish.

so it's an easy enough mistake to make. why don't you slow your roll with your big swinging dick "nice try" tough guy routine.

commence spanish loving azelma butt-hurt mode.

Ignoring for a second that mainland Spanish is different from colonial Spanish (the only Spanish you've ever heard in your life is colonial Spanish, guaranteed), your single literary work from the very beginning of the 17th century is hardly dispositive. Regionally though, it's true that Spanish at least seems more useful. There are lots of Spanish speakers, and though I disagree that they're resistant to integration (their children go to school, they'll all speak English within a generation), in the moment some of them certainly don't speak good enough English to get by outside of work.

Which leads to the problem Aestu mentioned: Spanish translators are not in short supply. There are so many bilingual English/Spanish people in this country that breaking into the market necessitates fluency in both. French? Well, that's a different story. On the one hand, most French-speakers in this hemisphere also speak English. It's a bit of a generalization, but native French speakers in the States/Canada are usually educated, and they don't need translators. However, as Dotz pointed out, there are a number of African and Asian countries where much of the populace speaks French. Will you encounter them here? Unlikely. Will English be useful if you ever do? Not in the slightest.

All that aside, when you're a resident somewhere, learn the goddamn language.

If destruction exists, we must destroy everything.
Shuruppak Yuratuhl
Slaad Shrpk Breizh

I have taken French, Japanese, and American Sign Language in school. I am not fluent in any of them, but I am hoping to be at some point. I'd also like to learn Italian.

Edit: I also agree that Spanish sounds ugly.

s^ | Kay

I can give private lessons ifyouknowwhatimean

jk, I'm not that guy. But if you ever start back up, I'm here for questions.

If destruction exists, we must destroy everything.
Shuruppak Yuratuhl
Slaad Shrpk Breizh

Haha, hey I was just responding to you calling me out!

I think the bottom line is that it depends on what you do with it. I still think Spanish has incredible use in some professions, especially in America. Health professionals and Legal professionals who are fluent in the language can gain a significant advantage on the employment front I think, just to name an example.

However, if you're planning on working in Europe or Canada, sure...maybe French will be of more use.

Though why are we kidding ourselves...we should all be learning Esperanto.

Despite the imminent demise of modern China, the best language to learn is still Mandarin Chinese.

Unlike Spanish or French or even Japanese, there is a strong advantage to be had as a white person able to speak Chinese, for the reason that both Chinese and Westerners will trust a Westerner able to understand their language far more than an Asian who can speak both or a Westerner who can only speak English. There are employment opportunities to be had in both China and the US as a "token white guy" in a Chinese firm. And even should the roof fall in over modern China, there will still be over a billion Chinese people around, a big market and a lot of opportunities.

While I believe that Chinese is fundamentally inferior to Western language, due to its abundance of homophones, lack of sophisticated grammar, and poor phonetic system, and that these limitations would prevent it from ever being an international language even if China was able to establish itself as a world power, I also believe that the fact that Chinese still has a functionality that became obsolete in Indo-European language thousands of years ago - efficient pictographic expression - could make it situationally useful for Westerners. The need to express ideas efficiently in the Internet age synergizes well with the fundamental strength of Chinese language.

Maybe someday we'll have world of Blade Runner where we speak and write English and use Chinese pictographs to express simple ideas. Kind of like the way the Japanese communicate.

I think the winning build is English, Chinese, Latin and French. In that order.
Easier said than done, of course. I really wish I had people to hang out with.

Aestu of Bleeding Hollow...

Nihilism is a copout.

English is horrendous. Nothing follows rules.

s^ | Kay

When the Mothership gets here and my people take over, I should be a complete dick and make everyone use Latin.

Your Pal,
Jubber

AKA "The Gun"
AKA "ROFeraL"

World Renowned Mexican Forklift Artiste

That's not really being a dick considering Latin is far easier to learn and use than any other language mentioned in this thread, including Esperanto.

Aestu of Bleeding Hollow...

Nihilism is a copout.

...in that case, I'll throw up my Black Power Fist and make it Swahili.

Your Pal,
Jubber

AKA "The Gun"
AKA "ROFeraL"

World Renowned Mexican Forklift Artiste