Which is better for me to learn? French or German?

[Beachguyj]

In fact the world wide web was designed in Europe at CERN. And saying that all noteworthy movies, songs and musical artists of the world is in English is such a magnitude of ignorance it's scary.

The origins of the Internet reach back to research of the 1960s, commissioned by the United States government in collaboration with private commercial interests to build robust, fault-tolerant, and distributed computer networks. The funding of a new U.S. backbone by the National Science Foundation in the 1980s, as well as private funding for other commercial backbones, led to worldwide participation in the development of new networking technologies, and the merger of many networks.

Where do you think I said that all noteworthy music, movies or artists are in English because you are lying or horribly mistaken.

 

[Telstra]

Because the people around me tell me to choose French due to the nature of being the language of love - what a bias

For some background, I'm not planning to go abroad in the near future (haven't thought of the distant future - even after the 1000th reincarnation sequence). I'm just thinking it'll be good for me to be able to speak in another language.

I'd like answers with prospective views, not just because the similar reason above

Otherwise I'll e-slap you

Since you speak Indonesian, I assumed you don't speak/write Chinese.
How about Chinese ?

Also, i think learn Spanish is better because there are a lot of Spanish speaking countries around the world.

I know two words in German:
Goodan tag, goodan arban ..., and oh hai Hitler from the movie ...

 

[oakpope]

No they aren't. If they were then English would not be a readable language. I can read Spanish because I can speak it, the accents don't help me at all and are not needed for me to be able to read it.

??

French accents are a way to write a pronunciation. English language have no accent. So you can read English without accent. Which is a problem because a letter has so many ways of being pronounced in English. English is a very difficult language to pronounce right. German on this other hand is very easy to pronounce, each syllable is pronounced always the same way.

Example : un pré (a meadow) is pronounced differently than près (near). This is reflected by the accent. In English the 'a' in car and haven is pronounced differently but without accent to give indication. Thus it must be learned by heart. For every words. Difficult language.

 

[oakpope]

The origins of the Internet reach back to research of the 1960s, commissioned by the United States government in collaboration with private commercial interests to build robust, fault-tolerant, and distributed computer networks. The funding of a new U.S. backbone by the National Science Foundation in the 1980s, as well as private funding for other commercial backbones, led to worldwide participation in the development of new networking technologies, and the merger of many networks.

Where do you think I said that all noteworthy music, movies or artists are in English because you are lying or horribly mistaken.

I said World Wide Web. Internet was initiated in the US indeed (army gave Arpanet).

You wrote : 'English is everywhere in the world. It's the international language for air traffic. It's in all the Hollywood movies and hit songs and musical artists of the world.'

From your sentence construction I would infer that you posit that all hit songs and musical artists of the world are using English. Which is stupid of course.

 

[oakpope]

Since you speak Indonesian, I assumed you don't speak/write Chinese.
How about Chinese ?

Also, i think learn Spanish is better because there are a lot of Spanish speaking countries around the world.

I know two words in German:
Goodan tag, goodan arban ..., and oh hai Hitler from the movie ...

Spanish would seem more useful for an American, I concur. However I don't think there is more countries where Spanish is spoken than French. There are 21 countries for Spanish and 56 countries member of Francophonie.

 

[Beachguyj]

??

French accents are a way to write a pronunciation. English language have no accent. So you can read English without accent. .

I understand that accents are a way to help a person unfamiliar with a word pronounce it, but I can still read French and Spanish without the accent. In Spanish the word is spelled how it is pronounces. In French from what I remember you don't even pronounce the last few letters of most words.

 

[altlover85]

No they aren't. If they were then English would not be a readable language. I can read Spanish because I can speak it, the accents don't help me at all and are not needed for me to be able to read it.

You definitely need the accents to read and speak French. The accents used in Spanish are useful, especially when you are reading something.

I said World Wide Web. Internet was initiated in the US indeed (army gave Arpanet).

You wrote : 'English is everywhere in the world. It's the international language for air traffic. It's in all the Hollywood movies and hit songs and musical artists of the world.'

From your sentence construction I would infer that you posit that all hit songs and musical artists of the world are using English. Which is stupid of course.

Perhaps all was the wrong word, but I think most of the popular music is in English.

I understand that accents are a way to help a person unfamiliar with a word pronounce it, but I can still read French and Spanish without the accent. In Spanish the word is spelled how it is pronounces. In French from what I remember you don't even pronounce the last few letters of most words.

You still need the accents otherwise you are reading something incorrectly.

 

[Beachguyj]

Spanish would seem more useful for an American, I concur. However I don't think there is more countries where Spanish is spoken than French. There are 21 countries for Spanish and 56 countries member of Francophonie.

There are more than 4 times as many people who speak Spanish as do French as their native language.
French is not even in the top 10 of most lists in number of people who speak it.

 

[Beachguyj]

You still need the accents otherwise you are reading something incorrectly.

Can you read "hasta manana" and tell me what it means?
Not only do you not need accents, you don't need special accents over letters.

There are two different ways to pronounce Read and Live and you don't need accents when you have the context in a sentence.

 

[altlover85]

Can you read "hasta manana" and tell me what it means?
Not only do you not need accents, you don't need special accents over letters.

Yes, I know what it means, but if I pronounce it in my head as written, I'm pronouncing it wrong. If I was new to Spanish, that could be a problem.

And as far as I know manana isn't even a real word.

As to your example with read and live that works for someone who is familiar with English, but someone just starting out could make a mistake and then pronounce it incorrectly in conversation.

 

[oakpope]

Perhaps all was the wrong word, but I think most of the popular music is in English.

Obviously we differ in appreciation of the word 'world'. In France, songs in French are more air waved than English ones. I think in Egypt, there are more songs in Arabic than in English. In India, there is more songs in Indu than in English. Etc.

In America, UK, Ireland, sure, English songs are prominent. What a shocker.

 

[altlover85]

Obviously we differ in appreciation of the word 'world'. In France, songs in French are more air waved than English ones. I think in Egypt, there are more songs in Arabic than in English. In India, there is more songs in Indu than in English. Etc.

In America, UK, Ireland, sure, English songs are prominent. What a shocker.

But for international appeal, I think English is most prominent.

 

[Corny]

I'll assume then Goethe, Schiller, Mozart and the likes all must have been American then

wow .. the 4th of July is certainly turning someone's head. Do you realize how ridiculous you are?

 

[Telstra]

Spanish would seem more useful for an American, I concur. However I don't think there is more countries where Spanish is spoken than French. There are 21 countries for Spanish and 56 countries member of Francophonie.

Are you sure?
Most of the South Americans speaks Spanish.
Most french speaking countries are in Africa? And Africa is not useful in terms of Economics ?

 

[jasoncrew03]

No offense to anyone who speaks it, but I think German is a hideous language. I spent two months in Germany and I still couldn't get used to it.

 

[diamondstar]

I would personally choose German. Regardless learn the one that's easier.

 

[altlover85]

I'll assume then Goethe, Schiller, Mozart and the likes all must have been American then

wow .. the 4th of July is certainly turning someone's head. Do you realize how ridiculous you are?

Those musicians don't fit into my mind as current hit makers. Perhaps we have different definitions of what constitutes a hit.

 

[oakpope]

Are you sure?
Most of the South Americans speaks Spanish.
Most french speaking countries are in Africa? And Africa is not useful in terms of Economics ?

I didn't say it was less useful economically
There are more Spanish speakers, but in less countries, because the Spanish speaking countries are more populous. But with Africa birth rate things could change. But anyway English is de facto the lingua franca (haha the irony).

PS : to be more precise, in numerous countries French is spoken but is not the official language and thus not spoken by all citizens necessarily. But in Central and South America (apart from Brazil obviously), almost all citizens speak Spanish.

 

[oakpope]

Those musicians don't fit into my mind as current hit makers. Perhaps we have different definitions of what constitutes a hit.

Concerning exportations, yes American artists sell the most worldwide. But ask the Chinese what singer is the more popular. I bet they don't know many American ones. And I bet you couldn't name a single Chinese singer too. It's called cultural relativism. But to say 'most of the popular music is in English' is very insulting. I hope you can understand our point of view.

 

[jasoncrew03]

But with Africa birth rate things could change

There are too many different languages spoken among African communities and tribes for their birth rates to have much of an effect on global language standards. The high mortality rates also lessen the impact.