I speak all 4 languages you mention. Chinese won't help in getting a job at a big company in China, since those all go to ABCs (American Born Chinese) who grew up speaking it at home in the US. In terms of engineering, the language of engineering is English. The reason is that all programming languages use English terms, and all the resources are in English.

They speak more English in Japan compared to China. We sell in Japan and all our customers (who are college-educated professionals) communicate with us in English without an issue.

As for Spanish, the number of _native_ Spanish speakers in the US is expected to go down, while the number of people who can speak Spanish will go up. How is that possible? What's happening is the children of Spanish-speaking immigrants are using English, meanwhile non-Latino native English speakers are learning Spanish for business reasons. Yes, the majority of gains in Spanish speakers in the US will be coming from non-Latino, native English speakers.

French really has little benefit except in the humanities because a lot of classic literature is from French authors.

If I had to pick, I'd go with Spanish just because it's the most practical in the US. Our DD is trilingual (English, DW's language, Spanish) and we intentionally chose a Spanish-speaking nanny so she'd learn Spanish.

Anonymous wrote:I've heard German is pretty good for business.

And for free college!! Germany offers free higher education, but student needs to be fluent.

Anonymous wrote:OP here --- well, let's say the kids are in elem. and they really don't have any knowledge of one or the other. I want them to take a GLOBAL class just to open their eyes to the idea of learning another language and to have some knowledge of it before they get to MS/HS.

Between Chinese and Spanish -- which would you choose?

Spanish, unless you have some strong connection to China or intend to live there in the immediate future.

Anonymous wrote:It's possible that for Child A, that math-science strength may result in a medical career. In that case, Spanish would be very helpful (though additionally Latin is good)

My doctor DD used "should have taken Spanish" as an answer to the med school interview question, "what are your weaknesses?"

My sister's a nurse and feels the same way. She's studying Spanish now.

It's possible that for Child A, that math-science strength may result in a medical career. In that case, Spanish would be very helpful (though additionally Latin is good)

My doctor DD used "should have taken Spanish" as an answer to the med school interview question, "what are your weaknesses?"

OP here --- well, let's say the kids are in elem. and they really don't have any knowledge of one or the other. I want them to take a GLOBAL class just to open their eyes to the idea of learning another language and to have some knowledge of it before they get to MS/HS.

Between Chinese and Spanish -- which would you choose?

Anonymous wrote:Language teacher here--- he should take whichever language interests him most-- even a little. Having a desire for it is the only real way to get any kindof linguistic and cultural proficiency. And, that will encourage him to continue with the language in college as well.

+100 I'm a language teacher as well. Too bad so few parents follow this advice.

Anonymous wrote:Spanish. It is rapidly becoming a necessity in the US.

+1

I studied French for 5 years, German for 6 and Japanese for 1. Now I'm an engineer working with people throughout Europe and Asia and all of them speak English. At one point or another I've wished that I could speak and understand Chinese and Italian for the social aspect when doing business, but the only language that I really regret not learning is Spanish. Life ended up taking me out of the mid-Atlantic region and now I live in South Florida where Spanish is everywhere. I've never needed another language for work, but I've frequently been stuck unable to converse with people around here who only speak Spanish.

Our local elementary has Spanish dual language for K-5 and my oldest is in the program. I'm starting to pick it up some, but I feel like I wasted time with the other languages since my chances to practice them are much more rare and Spanish is all around me.

Id pick French or Spanish Bc they're more likely to become proficient at them then Japanese or Chinese.

Anonymous wrote:language teacher here. i'd steer my children to the language they were interested in. it does no good to force or steer to one you think might be practical (Spanish for local speaking, Chinese for computer science, for example), if they're not feeling it. it's a little bit like music or playing an instrument -- learning the language is going to take time so they'd better like the sound of it.

the good news is that once a person has mastered one language, they're often eager to try another. the key is not having them turned off early on.

+1 to all of this. Thanks for posting.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Probably German or Spanish.

Chinese or Japanese will only useful for business if you're going to operate and live in those countries. They'll never be the global language of business.

This is the dumbest comment ever for US students. The "global language" is currently English. US students have English. We are talking about what speciality niche language will be helpful. Lots of businesses trade with China and Japan or source their factories there. They need Chinese and Japanese language speakers for those parts of their business. Same thing with German and Spanish.

A good friend of mine was a French major. She ended up getting a masters in French at a no-name state school. Dumbest, most useless major ever? Nope. She was hired into a sales position for a company that was doing a lot of business in Quebec and from there she was moved into management. When she had her kids, she left and started a consulting company.

OP, any of those languages are useful. Let your kids pick what they find interesting.

+1 Motivation is the most important thing. DS started language in middle school last year. I kind of just assumed he'd study Spanish but he wanted to learn French. So, he's learning French and enjoying it. I'm looking forward to planning a family trip to Paris

Language teacher here--- he should take whichever language interests him most-- even a little. Having a desire for it is the only real way to get any kindof linguistic and cultural proficiency. And, that will encourage him to continue with the language in college as well.

A) Child will not become fluent, so choose whichever one the child will enjoy studying.
B) whoever said German is useful for business is wrong. The majority of Germans speak English. I'm bilingual German/English, and have never had to use it in business or even seen a position looking for a German speaker. It's nice for the social aspect when doing business in German speaking countries, but that's about it.

I think Spanish will become the most useful language to have in this country. However, it is unlikely the child will ever become fluent in any of these.

Spanish. We tend to travel to Spanish speaking countries over the others on vacation and the little my children have picked up has been useful. The chances of them becoming fluent in any language from school is low.