Let’s start with the Spanish language
How popular is Spanish?
Well, if we take the number of people who speak the language Spanish speakers can be found all over the world! There are over 500 million Spanish-speaking people in 44 countries, with 20 countries using Spanish as their official language. After Mandarin and English, Spanish is one of the world’s three most spoken languages.
Mission US!
It is one of the world’s most important and valuable languages if you’re aim is ‘Mission USA’.It is South and Central America’s most spoken language. The USA, after Mexico, has the second-highest concentration of Spanish speakers around the world, according to a 2015 report by the Instituto Cervantes. The USA shelters 53M people with 41M Spanish first language speakers and around 11.6M second-language speakers. The USA has more Spanish speakers than Spain, which currently has 47M and Colombia, 48M speakers. By 2050, the USA is expected to have about 138 million Spanish speakers, which would make it the largest Spanish speaker in the world. Latin America and the US house a colossal size of the Spanish-speaking population.
Career prospects after learning Spanish
Spanish is extensively spoken in the USA and Spain. If you engage in business activities and seek employment in the BPO/KPO sector, Spanish skills will come in handy because a majority of BPOs and KPOs come from the US where Spanish is the second most prevalent language. In particular, Hispanic regions, as in Latin America, are seeking global bilateral cooperation.
Professions relevant to the Spanish language
Spanish is also a sought after language in the area of tourism and hospitality. Apart from these, various Indian companies have opened developing centres or acquired businesses across all of Latin America from the Aditya Birla Group conglomerates to the IT giants such as the TCS. So if you are a part of Indian businesses you stand to gain maximum with a world full of opportunities; in particular in export, healthcare, banking, law, manufacturing, etc.
Ease of learning
Even though Spanish grammar is vast and time-consuming, Spanish is probably the easiest language to learn from the three under discussion today, because it is more phonetic than other languages, tends to use fewer rules of pronunciation, and is easy to learn. Due to the phonetic nature of the language, words can be read with great precision. It can take anywhere from two years on, to complete Spanish proficiency tests such as DELE B2, or the equivalent SIELE test, depending on a learner’s grasping ability and intellect.
Spanish can help you with the following!
Due to different similarities, your Spanish knowledge and fluency can help you learn Portuguese, Catalan and Filipino languages.
Let’s now discuss the lingua franca of today, French!
How popular is French?
French is rightfully called a global language; no wonder it’s the 2nd most spoken language in the world. That also explains why French is an official language across 32 francophone countries. The French language enjoys a mighty powerful status in the economic and political worlds being one of six official languages used in the United Nations, being the second foreign language most taught in the EU and being used by all EU institutions as their working languages apart from English and German!
Mission EU, Switzerland or Canada!
French is the only working language in certain institutions (e.g. at the Court of Justice of the European Union). French is also the 18th most spoken in the world, the 6th most spoken language in total and the second or third most studied language in the world (with about 120 million current learners). French is extensively spoken in Switzerland, France, Canada, Luxembourg, Belgium, and Central and North Africa.
Career prospects after learning French
The French language has a visibly more edge than the German or Spanish language any day. France is a language of art, cuisines and the ‘connoisseur spirit’. Paris is considered the fashion capital of the world, and France is also home to the aviation sector. The French language is beneficial if you deal with West Africa, North Africa, Central Africa for exports and imports. In comparison to German or Spanish, French will also benefit you substantially if you are planning to migrate to Canada. TCF or a TEF test can help you earn additional points when immigrating.
Professions relevant to the French language
French offers you the best chance of success; more than can be offered by German and Spanish. If you want to be a chef or if you want to work for or engage in the food or hotel industry, or are exploring your opportunities in the area of tourism and hospitality. you’d like to learn French more than you can offer. Other industries the French economy is dominant in are pharmaceutical, fashion, aeronautical, telecommunications, energy, travel, tourism and hospitality management.
Ease of learning
French is the hardest for English speakers from all the three languages within this group, due to the number of rules that can make English speakers insane when pronouncing French words that seem to be tricky to speak French because French is not phonetic at all. Some sounds on the contrary are completely alien to the English language! French is also not a natural language to master as an English speaker! A DELF B2 or DALF C1 can be completed in 2-3 years, to gauge your French proficiency.
Next up is the German language, which is still the most widely spoken native language in Europe, while being a distinct third in its class.
How popular is German?
More than 100M people speak German as their mother tongue with over 185 million speakers speaking German worldwide. The German language enjoys the status of being an official language to countries such as Liechtenstein, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Luxembourg and Belgium. Matter of fact it is the only official language in Liechtenstein. It also enjoys the status of being lingua franca to Eastern and Central European countries.
Mission Austria, Switzerland or Germany!
While German is extensively spoken in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, these countries are not entirely monolingual, several people also speak English in these countries.
Career prospects after learning German
You should prioritise and learn German if you are into online marketing or do business on the internet. Because Germany’s internet presence is well-defined and dominant.The highest website in the country tld— the.de features in one of the world’s top ranks. At some points, the German .de ranked second and fifth in comparison to the dotcoms and ever since then has remained an essential measure to gauge the success of the online market. The German economy is a powerhouse that you can use through investment and knowledge of German when looking at sectors from vehicles to machinery, metals and chemical products. Because German-speaking careers are as high as French, these are the two foreign languages most taught and popular in India.
Professions relevant to the German language
If you have a career or interest in any of the following fields such as the publishing industry, automobile industry, engineering, machines and machinery, shipbuilding, power, psychology or the fields of practical science or are keen to import and export these goods, Germany is the language to learn. Experienced foreign language teachers have higher demand for their services. German is more practical if you are interested in literature or music.
Ease of learning
The German language is as tricky as French. It’s very confusing and challenging because of its grammar. In Fact, some people do not easily discern the syntax and cases. An English speaker, however, may not find it very difficult at least at the beginning to learn German, as both languages belong to the same family tree. It’s also worth knowing that a lot of Germans speak good English. While Spanish and French are Romance language classes, English and German related to the Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family. Learning German completely depends on how much you study and can devote yourself. The German expertise test (i.e., Goethe Zertifikat B2, C1 or TestDaF) may take up to 2-3 years.
So what final criterion can we apply to learn French, Spanish or German when posed with a choice?
Know that the criteria really depends on several practical factors. A few I am discussing here.
German-speaking careers are as high as French, these are the two foreign languages most taught and popular in India. However, If you intend to travel, study or even work in companies related to their origin, it is better to learn the respective language to steer your career ahead in the right direction.
What’s of paramount consideration besides all other factors, however, is:
Consider your current skills, university qualifications, industries or jobs – potential immigration or higher education or work visas, etc. Find out your precise learning motivation. It is the key criterion.
Another criteria considered by beginners is the language difficulty level;
Now, remember that something cannot be clearly defined as it depends on countless factors, including techniques of language learning. It is a completely subjective subject, with each person’s difficulty varying considerably.
Keep in mind that every tongue has both difficult and easy components.
Spanish grammar, for example, is easy, but listening is sometimes quite difficult because of many dialects. On the other hand, the rules of German grammar are very complicated, but the basic part is a bit ok. On the other hand, in terms of accents and pronunciation, French is rather challenging. In addition, it is even confusing because of the different dialects.
Simply put, Spanish is easier than French and German. While some could consider French, somewhat more complicated than German, others may find French easier than learning German. On an average scale of difficulty, I would rate the languages as: 6/10 Spanish, 7/10 German, and 7.5/10 French.
