Chinese or Russian for MFL degree language?

[MsFogi]

DS is planning to study MFL and wants to do a language ab initio - he has narrowed the choices down to Chinese (Mandarin) or Russian and can’t decide between them. Do any knowledgeable MNers have any advice? My gut instinct is that Chinese may be more interesting for graduate recruiters (as the market for Russian is somewhat limited due to sanctions now and for the foreseeable future). My understanding is that if he does Chinese he wouldn’t come out with the sort of fluency he would if he did a European language or Russian but I am not sure that is a deal-breaker - but can any more knowledgeable people tell me how much Mandarin a student would/could learn by doing it at uni and spending a year in China or Hong Kong? DS is completely undecided and I am trying to help but coming from a place of ignorance unfortunately so turning to the wisdom of MN both for insight into the language itself and into the cut-throat graduate recruitment market!

If anyone on here is a recruiter would these languages make a difference? Would the candidate have to be totally fluent or would a "good standard" just below that still make someone stand out?

I would go for Chinese.

Mandarin .... more job opportunities

Surely it depends entirely on the job.

My DD is currently studying two Romance languages at Uni, one post A Level and one ab initio. What has been striking is the wide spectrum of enthusiasm from students on actually learning the language. Some for instance read most of the texts in translation and learn the grammar but don't put the effort in to become fluent...

As with most degrees you get out what you put in but with languages it is quite striking - the more time spent in country in a setting without other English speakers the better is my take home lesson if you want to be using the actual language after graduation. This also affects how you plan your year out, being an English Language teacher in country will be less immersive that studying in the language or work / living with others from that country.

Watching this thread with interest. DC1 is going into their fourth and final year of German and ab initio Russian. Applied for Russian in 2020, before the war in Ukraine. Doesn’t regret their choice but knows that life would have been very different having their year abroad in Russia, rather than spending varying amounts of time in Uzbekistan, Khazkastan, Georgia and Estonia. Definitely hasn’t achieved anywhere near the fluency in Russian as they have in German, but has enjoyed the challenge of trying to get to A level standard in Russian by the end of first year and immersing themselves in Russian language (which they love) and literature. Russian is very hard and at times dc has thought they would have had a more relaxed university experience by choosing to combine German with economics or history. Ultimately, is hoping to work in Germany after graduation, but others in their Russian cohort are looking at careers in law, civil service and GCHQ.