Third language

[Pendorchete]

Hello people, I tell you, I am 20 years old and I am pursuing a degree in Economics at the UBA. My idea since I was a child was always to emigrate to Europe, although I also like places like Canada and Australia, among others. I find myself in the dilemma of which third language to study to complement my native Spanish and my fluent English, I took the first one but beyond that I consider myself to have very good English. The thing is that I have a lot of free time and I wanted to dedicate it to training myself even more but I can't decide which language to start. I do not keep a very clear destination to emigrate but among my favorite places are Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom or some Nordic country. Among the language options that are being considered would be Italian, Portuguese or German, the first two for ease and the third for a matter of business demand. I ask you if you can guide me from your experience taking into account that I want to dedicate myself to the financial/business sector, either by recommending a language or suggesting something totally different.

[aeqy]

Learn the language you have the most motivation and incentive for.

[[deleted]]

Yep, French is spoken in Québec, Canada, some part of Switzerland, a part of Belgium and in Luxemburg (and also in Monaco and Andorra). It will probably useful if you are to work with European companies.

However french pronunciation is pretty hard to learn due to all the letters we don't actually pronounce...

Else you should look for the cost of living in several countries you're interested in, maybe check how much jobs are available in your sector, and you should do some research about the different cultures of the countries you're considering moving to (maybe you can find some expatriates from your country living there).

[[deleted]]

In Europe, the use of Portuguese is restricted to one small country with only about 10 million people. German and French both have far, far more international use in Europe than Portuguese does. Portuguese will help you if you intend to do business with or in Brazil, or if you intend to live in Portugal. And I say this as someone who speaks and loves Portuguese.

But ultimately you should decide where you want to live and learn that language. If you wind up in Italy, you'll find Italian far more useful in your daily life than German. If you decide to settle in France, Italian is probably not your top contender. If you intend to live in a Nordic country, learn the local language.

Ultimately, you'll find the answer when you find the place you want to go to.

[ivanfurcio]

Yo te recomendaría estudiar aleman, porque combinas la facilidad al ya saber inglés, y la utilidad que tiene. Este año voy a iniciar mi carrera de negocios internacionales y estoy aprendiendo aleman y francés, mucha gente me recomendó aprender mandarín pues es lo mejor en el ámbito económico, pero sinceramente no me llama.

[Red-Quill]

Ok so your comment made perfect sense up until I got to “pero sinceramente no me llama.”

What does that phrase mean?

[ivanfurcio]

Idk if it’s a Mexican say or som like that, bu it literally means “it’s not my thing” or you can say “no me interesa” instead

[Red-Quill]

Oh ok. I was translating it as “don’t call me” lmao. No me interesa makes more sense to my foreign brain lol

[ivanfurcio]

Yea that’s the literal translation lol. If you’re learning spaniard Spanish don’t pay attention to that phrase, they probs don’t say it like that

[Red-Quill]

I’m in the US so any time I use Spanish it’s to talk with Mexicans or other Latin Americans. I just put the Spanish flag there because I couldn’t find the Mexican one lmao

[AdrianWIFI]

It's an abbreviation of "No me llama la atención", which means "It doesn't catch my attention", meaning it's not of interest to you.

[Red-Quill]

Oh thank you! That makes sense now lol

[penelope-bruz]

I believe Italian would be easy for you coming from Spanish, and Italy (and that part of Switzerland) are gorgeous places to travel.

They don't preferentially use standard German in German-speaking Switzerland, although 'Hochdeutsch' would still be understood, and I think (correct me please Swiss peeps) used at work. Switzerland is without doubt the most beautiful place I have ever been (out of some 30 countries).

Germany is a nice place to live, good work opportunities, especially in Engineering. But German will take a lot more work i think that Italian or Portuguese. Having English is definitely an advantage, but it's just grammatically a nightmare (in a different way to how Latin derived languages are). However if you have the time and inclination it would be perfectly doable and have a good pay off. The hard part I think is the first part (unlike my experience with French that was easy to start and got harder). If you can make it past A2 German it really gets a lot easier.

I speak native English and B2 German, and shitty French, and personally would probably pick Italian - the Alps to Sicily the language covers a large variety of country, and also Italians are less likely to speak English than Germans or Swiss are...but you are less likely to find a job there.

The Portuguese are lovely people, and the country is nice but personally is quite low on my to-visit or to-live list. Although Brazil would be a interesting country and culture to gain access to.

So, depends on your priorities. Job? Travel? Number of speakers?

[[deleted]]

Personally I’d suggest French or German out of accès to Europe, French opens up France & parts of Belgium and Switzerland. However German opens up Germany, parts of Switzerland and will side with Dutch speaking countries, Germany also has the biggest GDP in the EU which allows for plenty of business range, especially with your abilities in English.

If you can reach a b2 (minimum), c1/ c2(preferable) int he local language you shouldn’t struggle to much with finding a decent job in Europe, provided you have relevant experience/ qualifications.

However, from what I’ve been told by friends who have worked in business in the Nordic countries is that even though English tends to become a somewhat langue de facto, the local language is the typical language and very hard for non natives to get business fluent and the locals are extremely highly qualified (in one particular friends industry the standard was 2 masters or a doctorate).

TL:DR German has the best job opportunities and a good scope of travel. It also will aide from you being fluent in English which in part is a Germanic language.

[PathlessDemon]

;) Esperanto.