Which should I choose?
I have to choose between French and Spanish. Which should I use? Explain your reasoning.
9 Answers
There's so may ways I could answer this question.
To begin, let's look at the situations in terms of usefulness. In the Americas, obviously Spanish takes the cake. French would be useful in some parts of Canada, but I don't think you would use it as nearly as much as Spanish elsewhere. In Europe, both are useful, but French is a little bit more useful. It's the official language in a few countries over there. French also has a bigger dominance in Africa. However, at the end of the day, Spanish is spoken by nearly 500 million people. I believe French is somewhere over 200 million, no where as high as Spanish. So, on one hand you have a bigger population (Spanish), but on the other you have more of a geographic distribution (French). Which is better?
Most importantly, what do you want to get out of learning the language? What cultures interest you more? Do Spanish speaking countries seem more appealing to you than French speaking ones? Where would you like to travel? Learning one language will allow you to interact with a group of people you wouldn't have been able to. What group would you rather speak to?Language is a part of culture! It's like going to a country and eating their famous cuisine; it gives you a taste of their life.
It all comes down to you! :p Just think it through. Either way, you could always learn one after another.
I think you should choose Spanish because it would be a lot more useful. My dad took French and he said that he regretted it and he should've taken Spanish.
Spanish may be more useful for somebody from America (I mean, the continent). You may learn French later, although if you don't move to France, Québec, or you don't make business with a French speaking region, probably you won't use it every often.
Wow! That is quite a question. I have to vote that up. In Newton Georgia in the fairly deep south of the United States even with the recent illegal immigration legislation I am confident that there are a lot more native Spanish speakers in your area than native French speakers. The fact is that there is not much of an ethnic majority in the United States. When we lived in Southern California in the 90's the population was about 40% what we would call European descendant or Caucasian, 30% Hispanic, 20% Asian and 10% other. That balance has evened out even more now. So I think that the second most relative language of a native English Speaker in the United States Is Spanish. Plus, I think it is a fun language if at times a little challenging.
What are your goals? What do you anticipate doing with the language? Do you have any French speaking relatives? If you are taking an required course and you have no plans of getting out of the south, I would suggest Spanish. Of course, asking this question on a Spanish website, I have to assume that you know the answer you would receive here. 
Why do I suggest Spanish? In the south, we have a large number of native Spanish speakers, so if you are in education, health care, retail, customer service, construction, etc. the likelihood of you using Spanish skills are greater than using French skills. Spanish is a "Romance" language and has links to Latin. If you choose to later learn French, you have a headstart as French is also a "Romance" language and may have some similarities.
Either way, any time you spend in learning a new language will be a benefit to you. Don't waste the opportunity. Good Luck on your decision.
Spanish . My reasoning is based on simple projected population numbers.The spanish people are expected to become the second most highly populated race (second only to the chinese) by the year 2050.It is a fun language to learn and I don't think I have the capacity to learn chinese.You may find it fun to learn too.
Llamalovers, I agree with the above folk... you should decide which would be more useful. I took 3 years of French in high school and never had a chance to use it, though I really enjoyed learning it. I also took German for a year and enjoyed that, but again there wasn't much use for it for me, except one trip to Germany. Here in the USA, there are lots of Hispanics you could practice on/with. You get the Spanish TV shows (at least we do here in Las Vegas), Mexican food and lovely people around to talk with.
I agree with Modrak above... you could learn one and then the other later (and learning different languages gives you a little bit of an edge when learning the next language since they have similar rules, like masculine and feminine, verb placement, etc.)
Good luck, whatever you decide! ?
Okay, I understand that Spanish will come more in handy. Where I am, Spanish is a language most speak. Thanks guys!
Hasta luego,
Jessica!
You will use Spanish more.
