French, German or Spanish most useful modern foreign language?

[Naturelover5]

Out of those three which will be the most useful in the future & why?

German without a doubt.I live in Germany and they have a falling birth rate so much so that there is predicted to be a massive 'Fachkräftemangel ' or lack of qualified workers in the coming years . There will be many job opportunities available and life isn't bad here either.

Spanish.

If it is a state school, you may not have much choice and it will depend on which teachers the school has available at the time. At the school I attended French was the first modern language taught and you could only do German if you were in top set French.

Pick the language you most want to learn. Being enthusiastic about one makes it easier to learn another. But beyond that, and professionally speaking, knowing a language spoken by fewer people with English as a first language can allow you to carve out a niche where your skills will be in demand.

I learned French at school and have used it quite a bit both socially and in business (had a client based in Geneva).

I taught myself the basics of Spanish using Duolingo and find it very intuitive once you know French. I'm also learning Welsh on duo but that's a whole different ballgame 😂

German is linguistically closer to English.

Any language when enjoyed is an asset, the key thing is having the confidence to speak it when you get the opportunity and not worrying about getting everything perfect!

My elder child is starting secondary in September and has been allocated French (out of French German and Spanish) - I'd have been happy with any.

It depends, if you want to work in Europe then French or German. If all things were equal arguably French as Professional Germans more often have decent English.

If you want to work in S America, or a Spanish speaking are of the US then Spanish.

Will the dc get a choice? Many schools won’t allow them to choose especially if they only do one as many schools now do. Spanish is more popular and historically achieves superior results nationally at GCSE, probably due to its phonetic nature like a pp said.

Obviously it totally depends. If you’re planning on living in Berlin then of course German will be the most useful. If you’ll be trying for a job translating texts from French to English then French is most useful. Overall Spanish is the most widely spoken of those three so if you just need to pick one with no particular game plan then that’s the one you’re most likely to use.

I think it depends on which country you are likely to visit most, or have some connection with.

Spain might be the most widely spoken of the three, but how likely is your DC to end up in a Spanish speaking country when most of them are so far away and most of them are still developing?

Germany and France are geographically close, have far larger economies than Spain, and therefore more job opportunities. I’d go with French or German.

I'd say spanish just due to the amount that speak it.

@frogium This is interesting, dc1 has a flair for maths & has expressed an interest in accounting & becoming an accountant already.. Early days I know alot can change!

@schnubbins this is also interesting! I'm wondering what language will be most important in say 10 years time & I can imagine my three dc would jump at the chance of working abroad😁

At starting secondary agree with those saying whatever interests them. If they enjoy languages and have a reasonable flair for them then they will pick more up if they want to. I started French at school, loved it so added in more (Latin, Spanish at GCSE) and did French and German for A-level. I specialised more in German at Uni and then joined a big 4 accountancy on the basis that they would have international clients and I might get to use my skills sometimes.

The opportunities I got came more because there were a lot fewer German speakers than French to pick from 😀 but I used both including secondments to Switzerland where I worked in both. Post Big4 German was more useful because of the industry I moved to. Now I’m at another company in another industry and Spanish is the one I could use the most so I dust off my basics which is always appreciated and gets me goodwill. Plus by spending time with lots of Spanish speakers my extremely basic rusty Spanish is improving.

@TerryIsAllGold thank you

I taught myself the basics of Spanish using Duolingo and find it very intuitive once you know French

Good point - if you speak one of French/Spanish/Italian/Portugese, you will understand a lot of the other 3 languages without much effort.

Ds1 would love to learn Russian... Not sure how useful it would be now! The school don't offer it anyway.. The school he will be attending offer all three with the option to choose one.

Reading back on this all very interesting!

Spanish.

My DS1 is learning German and loves it. He’s already mentioned taking it for A Level. He did French and Spanish at primary and did well in them but he’s got a real passion for German which he didn’t have for French or Spanish.

I think trying them all and picking the one they like best is the best approach. If they hate every minute of German, there's no point pursuing it no matter how much they want to work for BMW 😉

Depends on where you like to go on holiday!

I know this is a zombie thread, (ish) but surely Russian would be a solid choice nowadays.

i feel sure the security services would be interested In employing a well qualified Russian speaker

The one that's most useful to you. Where are you most likely to holiday? Work? Work with? Which culture/food/literature do you prefer? Do you have any connections with any? French is a global language and most useful within the EU. It's also beautiful and France is enchanting, and nearby. Spanish is slightly easier to learn. It is best to learn 2 foreign languages if you intend to use them in your career.

What does/will the school offer?

I'd say Spanish, but followed by Mandarin.