Arabic or Chinese?

[MooseBreath]

This comes from your vast knowledge of international business dealings does it?

Christ you are muppet most of the time aren't you.

So you're telling me that a Chinese business is going to set up shop in the UK - an English speaking country - and conduct business in Mandarin? Why? I might be a muppet sometimes but what you're proposing here is a bit ridiculous.

But anyway you don't have to take my word for it. Credible articles abound online discussing the matter in far more depth than I can be bothered to. I'll give you one just to start you off: http://www.economist.com/node/10180807?story_id=10180807

[Deucalion]

For no particular reason I would choose Arabic.

Maybe this is because I am more interested in politics than business.

[Webbo]

Hasn't Spanish got some arabic in it anyway from the times the Moors ruled there? If you speak Spanish then possibly Arabic would be easier.

[sphericalfox]

So you're telling me that a Chinese business is going to set up shop in the UK - an English speaking country - and conduct business in Mandarin? Why? I might be a muppet sometimes but what you're proposing here is a bit ridiculous.

But anyway you don't have to take my word for it. Credible articles abound online discussing the matter in far more depth than I can be bothered to. I'll give you one just to start you off: http://www.economist...ory_id=10180807

Did I say that they would? You stated that there would be no use for the language, as you would need to be in the country of origin for that to occur. I would argue that being able to speak a language of your company would be advantageous should they set themselves a British base. It's not rocket science.

[Guest Bilo]

I think Moose is about right to be honest. If there is change in business language it won't happen for a long, long time.

Anyway there's more to choosing to study a language than what will make you money in the future (unless that's your sole motivation in which case you should just study business). Language study will involve exploring the culture, literature and history of the country / countries. For that reason I'd probably choose Arabic.

I will admit from a personal point of view I'd be more interested in culture and would therefore learn Arabic as well, though I get the impression that the OP's motivations were more business orientated.

I'm not suggesting that English will be completely supplanted any time soon as the main international language, just that more and more dealings will be done in Mandarin over the next few decades and it could be important to start learning the language now.

I'd actually argue that Arabic will become less and less important as a business language over the next few years as alternatives to internal combustion and therefore oil are explored to the detriment of Arab oil producing nations.

[MooseBreath]

Did I say that they would? You stated that there would be no use for the language, as you would need to be in the country of origin for that to occur. I would argue that being able to speak a language of your company would be advantageous should they set themselves a British base. It's not rocket science.

If they set themselves a British base the whole thing would be conducted in English. That's not rocket science either. Read the article, then read a few more, then come back to me. I won't ask you to apologise for being so wrong, this time.

[Trav Le Bleu]

Arabic - cos when you're trying to negotiate that future arms deal at gunpoint, you know it's gonna come in useful!

[21st Century Fox]

I'd go with Arabic if it's just for pleasure but Chinese/Mandarin if you're planning to have a practical business use for it.

[sphericalfox]

If they set themselves a British base the whole thing would be conducted in English. That's not rocket science either. Read the article, then read a few more, then come back to me. I won't ask you to apologise for being so wrong, this time.

"Yet anecdotal evidence suggests that there is little call for Britons with Mandarin."

an·ec·do·tal/ËŒanikˈdÅtl/

Adjective:

• (of an account) Not necessarily true or reliable, because based on personal accounts rather than facts or research.
  

Yes your article is based on nothing.

[MooseBreath]

"Yet anecdotal evidence suggests that there is little call for Britons with Mandarin."

an·ec·do·tal/ËŒanikˈdÅtl/

Adjective:

• (of an account) Not necessarily true or reliable, because based on personal accounts rather than facts or research.
  

Yes your article is based on nothing.

As opposed to your opinion which is based on OMG DA CHYNEEZ IS TAKIN OVER DA WORLD QUICK EVRYWUN LEARN MANDARINGE

[Guest]

Neither will be useful for your career unless you are planning to go and live in one of the countries that speak the language, and even then for it to be useful you'll need to know their language better than they know English, which will be very hard considering most Chinese who you are likely to meet during business will have been learning English since they were about three years old. So I'd just go with whichever one will impress the most girls, which I guess would be Mandarin.

ridiculous.

You obviously don't understand international commerce.

[Orkneyfox]

Chinese as there are more Chinese restaurants, more speakers, bigger economy, nicer place to visit.

[Guest]

They're going to come to the UK and do business in Chinese? I doubt it. Even within China international business is carried out in English. Learning Mandarin would be useful for day to day life if you're moving to an area where Mandarin is spoken on the street. But you're not likely to be able to carve out any kind of profitable niche as a Mandarin/English speaker considering the number of people (predominantly Chinese) who are already fluent in both languages, and the fact that Chinese kids are learning English from a young age.

Companies want to negotiate in the home language. You sound like a xenophobe

[sphericalfox]

As opposed to your opinion which is based on OMG DA CHYNEEZ IS TAKIN OVER DA WORLD QUICK EVRYWUN LEARN MANDARINGE

My comment was a joke. As you are.

Where are these other articles that you have at your disposal to justify your statement, as the article you've posted has zero credibility? There are no expert quotes, not one evidential example, nor anything remotely supporting your statement.

[Guest]

I think Moose is about right to be honest. If there is change in business language it won't happen for a long, long time.

Anyway there's more to choosing to study a language than what will make you money in the future (unless that's your sole motivation in which case you should just study business). Language study will involve exploring the culture, literature and history of the country / countries. For that reason I'd probably choose Arabic.

They use English because they want to get into English speaking markets.

If China becomes the dominant market then Western companies will have to beg in "Chinese" for deals. I don't think English will be replaced as the business language at the moment but it's not so far fetched and many european companies are actively hiring chinese language speakers.

[Guest]

So you're telling me that a Chinese business is going to set up shop in the UK - an English speaking country - and conduct business in Mandarin? Why? I might be a muppet sometimes but what you're proposing here is a bit ridiculous.

But anyway you don't have to take my word for it. Credible articles abound online discussing the matter in far more depth than I can be bothered to. I'll give you one just to start you off: http://www.economist...ory_id=10180807

England is a SMALL country. It's England who needs to do business with the chinese and that's why you need to speak their language.

[Guest]

As opposed to your opinion which is based on OMG DA CHYNEEZ IS TAKIN OVER DA WORLD QUICK EVRYWUN LEARN MANDARINGE

If you're in the business world you've seen the chinese move to speak English and now you're seeing the western companies hiring as many "chinese" speakers as possible.

[sphericalfox]

England is a SMALL country. It's England who needs to do business with the chinese and that's why you need to speak their language.

Precisely. Why would you not want to give yourself (a Britain) an advantage by being able to use Mandarin, when your bosses can easily send young English speaking Chinese, who have little understanding of cultural aspects of a base in this country.

Whilst emersion in the country of your company's origin for a year would be wise to get a better understanding of their culture, it makes tremendous business sense to have British staff who can speak Mandarin in this country despite it's business done across Europe might be done in English.

[I am Rod Hull]

TV, film and music is dominated by the English language, this is why the world wants to speak English. Until the Chinese get their own Lady Gaga nothing will change. (and Chinese folk are uglier than Europeans on the whole so I cant see it happening).

....and for anyone that thinks we`ll have to speak Chinese to "get business"... well, we`re doing business with them now, aint we? and look at India, they`re all speaking English.

[MooseBreath]

ridiculous.

You obviously don't understand international commerce.

Companies want to negotiate in the home language. You sound like a xenophobe

I plus 1'd your first post accidentally. LOLOL. So don't get too excited.

Yeah you're right i'm a xenophobe because I don't think having a tiny amount of ability in Mandarin is going to be a career masterstroke in a world where there are already literally millions and millions of people who can speak both languages fluenty and hundreds of millions more who can speak Mandarin fluently and English to a higher standard than a beginner could expect to reach in Mandarin without a decade of full time study.

I did say it would be useful if you were going to live in a place where Mandarin is spoken on the street. You're quite limited even in that respect because even within China the regional dialects are often indecipherable to a Mandarin-only speaker. As someone who clearly knows more than me I'm sure you'll be well aware of the push in China to get true Mandarin spoken across the country, hence the Mandarin subtitles on every programme on Chinese television. You'll also be well aware that it hasn't worked very well, and high level business within China, between Chinese only, is often conducted in English to avoid confusion within their own language. Of course you knew that already because you know a lot more than me. You're just playing the clueless bumbling idiot to troll, so well done.

[I am Rod Hull]

Its the "If we`d have lost the war we`d all be speaking German by now, mentality"

[Deucalion]

I don't think any other language than English will be the international language for a long time yet. Go back 20 years and it was Spanish which was supposedly going to take over. As someone above said, it is culture rather than business which propagates a language and Hollywood will be promoting American 'culture' for a while yet.

By the time any other language takes over from English, we will have computers to translate for us or fish to stick in our ears or something. These will probably be made in China though!

So best not to worry too much yet.

[MooseBreath]

By the time any other languages takes over from English, we will have computers to translate for us or fish to stick in our ears or something.

This is a good point as well. I think the technology required to instantly translate one spoken language into another is pretty close. This could potentially wipe out a lot of demand for bilingual staff.

[ScouseFox]

I'd do Arabic. I looked into doing Arabic and French at uni, it looked really interesting.

[Captain...]

It depends, do you want people to be afraid of you?

I would go for Chinese, it is the most spoken language in the world.

Then learn Kung-Fu and you'll be super cool.

It is not, apart from it not being a language, English is the most spoken language in the world, if you are talking native speakers, or being able to speak fluently then Mandarin is top, but more people can communicate in English than any other language.

English could well be replaced as the international language of business in a few years' time.

The reason why it's arguably the most important language in the world at the moment is because the Anglophone world dominated the world for 200 years; the United States for most of the 20th century and the British Empire for most of the 19th century.

If, as expected, China becomes the dominant economic force of the 21st century, their tongue will become all important. In years to come, Mandarin will be a very valuable language indeed.

English will not be replaced as the international business language in our life time, unless something major happens.

Hasn't Spanish got some arabic in it anyway from the times the Moors ruled there? If you speak Spanish then possibly Arabic would be easier.

Yes it does, for example the Spanish way of saying "I wish" is Ojala, which has its roots in arabic from "God Willing" or "Law Sha Allah", there are many others, but that is the only one I know off the top of my head, wikipedia knows more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_language_influence_on_the_Spanish_language

England is a SMALL country. It's England who needs to do business with the chinese and that's why you need to speak their language.

But ENGLAND is not the only country that speaks English, there are some other small countries, like the United States, Canada, India, Australia, South Africa, Pakistan, which also have English as a primary language, and pretty much every other country in the world that already does business in English, we are not that important any more but our language is.