Languages in high school

[Elfstillhere]

DS is just about to pick his subjects in high school. He is aiming for banking, investments, software developer or something similar in IT.
I know he is only 13 and a lot can change by the time e goes to uni, but I worry he wants to drop languages completely and that will close a lot of doors for him in the future.

His options, except of English which is compulsory, are French and Spanish. His argument is that you can speak English pretty much everywhere so what's the point.

AIBU to encourage him to continue to learn one of the foreign languages? If so, which one would be more beneficial in the future in your opinion, French or Spanish?

I don't really have anyone in the real life to ask and I worry I'm unreasonable here and should let him choose whatever he wants.

For an academically able child I think that the best options for GCSE are traditional subjects, and subject to this they should pick the ones they will do best in. No point doing French or Spanish if he'll get a lower mark than whatever he would choose otherwise.

Also realistically, very few English professionals speak another language to the level that they can use it in their job. I did French A-Level and continued to use it after school and also went on to learn Italian to a similar level (about B2). However, while I can have a functional conversation at a casual level, I am light years away from being able to use either language for a professional job. Unless you become fluent in a language (which means learn it far beyond GCSE level) it isn't going to help you professionally at all. This isn't to say there aren't other reasons to learn languages - there are! But the idea that a GCSE in Spanish alone is going to enhance his career prospects in the IT or banking industry is simply not true.

But this is the very problem with languages for native English speakers isn't it? We just can't be bothered. Because we don't need to be bothered. So the more keen people may dabble a bit but because we don't seem to value other languages and because we can get away with not using them in most jobs, people just don't pursue them. And it starts right here where the OP's DC is at GCSE option level. Don't even do a GCSE in a MFL and that's it, door closed.

I took French at school and went on to do it at A level and then did a degree in Economics and French (spending a year studying law, economics and politics at a Grande Ecole in Paris). I eventually went into banking and by coincidence (it wasn't targeted) ended up working for a French bank where the day-to-day language was actually French. That led to me working in the Paris office and even training (in French) whole teams of people there. Years later, I ended up working in Paris again for a global big name management consultancy where I was the only non-French person. I worked with banking clients there, all in French.

I work for a Swiss bank in London now so don't use my French too often but when I do, the common theme is my continental European colleagues being shocked that someone English can actually communicate in French. We just have such a terrible reputation. Quite sad really as our London office is full of multilingual non-Brits. Other countries absolutely put us to the shame. Approx 80% of my dept in London are fluent in more than one language. If you're English and don't have international experience and/or speak at least one other language, you really stand out, and not for the right reason! It is most definitely career limiting.

What happened op? Did your son take the language