Spanish or French???

Question

At school, we have encore classes(which also means extra classes or something like that) and one of them are language class. There's French, Spanish and Chinese. I'm bad in Chinese so I just choose between Spanish or French. I know many people agree with me that i should be in Spanish, but also there are many people vote for me to be in French. I just can't choose!!!!! Help me!!!!

SPANISH OR FRENCH?????????

Answer 1

Every last person that I know who took French in school is asking themselves, "What was I thinking?" Where I live there is absolutely no use for French, but abundant need for español.

Now perhaps if I lived closer to Quebec I would feel differently. And that's what it comes down to- which one are you more likely to use later in life?

Spanish has the advantage of having thrice as many people who speak it worldwide as people who speak French. But what about in the world you live in?

• If he decides to choose a language out of practicality, then he should choose Chinese. - sauceman56 Dec 3, 2009

Answer 2

Hi Samantha. Welcome to the forum.

I'd say you should study Spanish because there are 400 million Spanish speakers in the world, many of them in the United States.

Wouldn't it be fun to be able to communicate with them?

Moreover, many jobs are now looking for Spanish-speaking employees. Imagine the advantage you'll have if you are bilingual?

I wish you luck in whichever you choose.

• Hi! and thx for the awesome answer! (BTW im already bilingual!! Malay, English and spanish(a little) is my languages!) - samantha2421 Dec 4, 2009

Answer 3

if you are still undecided - tener en francés y español ahora más tarde, o viceversa, (take french now and spanish later or vice versa.)

Answer 4

depends what you want to use it for, if its for travel, spanish is great in latin america and some othe spots, french is great to know in africa. both usefuul in europe, french slightly more than spanish, i would say spanish more so in US.

Answer 5

already answered

Answer 6

Well if you can only have one or the other, Spanish will benefit you most in America, BUT... why not both!?! I've been learning Spanish for awhile, and I'd like to pick up French now also. So I would encourage you to do both...if you can handle it. Jaja, challenged.

Answer 7

I'm French descendant (Grandfather buried in his home of Rheims, France) and I live just 6 hours from Quebec (Mothers side from there). I speak virtually no French at all except the little I was forced to learn in school and although I wish I had learned more, if I had it to do over again it would have been Spanish for me. Walk into any Home Depot or Lowes and you"ll know what I mean [for those of you out of the US, Home Depot and Lowes are huge home/building supply stores]. Is anything in there written in French? No but every sign in the place is in English and Spanish.

Answer 8

If you plan on majoring in the liberal arts and becoming an actress/waitress, speaking French would fit perfectly into that skill set.

Answer 9

It also depends on where you live. I live in Maine and in the summer we have an enormous amount of Canadian tourists that come for the beaches. A lot of them do not speak English well and get around mostly in French. Then again, if you are not so good at learning languages, I think Spanish is easier to start with. The pronunciation and spelling of words makes a lot more sense in Spanish.

Answer 10

Hi Samantha,

I see from your profile that you live in the Philippines. I have several friends who live there also. I also have friends from the Philippines who live here in the US. From what I know, there has been a huge Spanish influence in your country and on its languages. I don't know if you speak Tagalog, llokano or something else along with English. But what from what I have noticed and read, the Spanish language has probably had one of the greatest impacts on your country, the effects of which are still present today.

Unless you are planning on traveling or living in a French speaking country, I think I would have to go with Spanish.

I myself have made the mistake Goyo is referring to in taking three years of French, never to really use it. Imagine where I would be now, if only I had taken three years of Spanish?!

Answer 11

I know this is a Spanish language site, so the answers will naturally be biased towards Spanish. French is perhaps less useful in the US but coming from Europe, I rather think that both French AND Spanish are useful. France is closer, and the history of Britain and France is more closely tied than is with Spain. I visit both countries often and so I use both - my French is far better than my Spanish, I have to say. I enjoy reading novels and books in French. I like listening to French songs. When I get to a better level, I will start reading books in Spanish. For the time being I listen to Spanish radio broadcast and enjoy the songs. So spending the last 10 years learning French is categorically NOT a waste of time. In fact, all the years I spent learning various languages have been the best use of my time. We all know learning a language is a lot of hard work, but great fun nevertheless. Furthermore, every language, even closely related ones, presents different challenges and a different perspective on the world.

So, my advice is to learn both. You never know when you might need one or the other or perhaps even both. Actually, who not throw in Italian into the mix?

Answer 12

Let me tell you about something. Some European languages including are extremely similar to each other and lots of languages mostly come from Latin. I'm not saying that you should Latin though. However it's always beneficial to learn something new. One girl I distantly know speaks over 10 languages. You can learn both because Spanish and French are related in some ways. Also Italian with that as a matter of fact.

If you need to choose only one to not overload brain with information, choose which you have already learnt about, which one you like best, think about your future and when you are going to use in the future depending where you go. Also, ask your teachers about the opportunities in Spanish and French and that may help.

Wise choice for not doing Chinese. Barely anyone in the world knows Chinese and speaks everyday except the population of China which has the most population of a country. But I don't think you intend of going to China yet.

Answer 13

actually french is so beautiful i've been learning french 8 years and it's beautiful french is like the spanish but there's a little bit difference between them but choos what you like