Most useful foreign language?
Hi everybody. Next year i'll be going to cornell aem and am planning on learning a foreign language. Since I'd like to eventually get into banking, I was wondering which language would be most useful. I'm not interested in any asian languages - just european. I already know some french but I'm not sure how useful that would really be. I've heard german is a good language to know since germany is the largest economy in europe. As of now, I think it's mainly between french and german, but i'd like to hear advice anyone might have. Thanks a lot.
This is how I think about it:
You can speak English and that's the business language of the world. But, look at what the top economies are going to be in the near future. Two countries that come to my mind are China and India. So, if I had a choice, I would learn Mandarin and Hindi. These two countries have a combined population of approximately 3 Billion people. So, knowing English, Mandarin and Hindi will allow you to be extremely versatile and will open up a lot of opportunities for you not only here in NA, but also in Asia. Let me know what you think.
Just learn German. It shares many similarities with English so it will catch on faster. The odds of you being able to learn enough Hindi or Mandarin in 4 years to be fluent or business conversational is doubtful.
4 years and doubtful? Not really, US Army teaches its soldiers Arabic and Urdu in just a few months, and given a few years, you quickly become fluent. It's not about learning a language that is easy to learn, but a language that is useful.
the U.S. military sends their soldiers to the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center in Monterey, CA, where they are immersed in the language for however long they are there for. It's a lot different than at a college where they're a lot more fun things to do other than learning a language that might not be all that useful down the line and you may even forget after a period of inactivity.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defense_Language_Institute
the U.S. military sends their soldiers to the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center in Monterey, CA, where they are immersed in the language for however long they are there for. It's a lot different than at a college where they're a lot more fun things to do other than learning a language that might not be all that useful down the line and you may even forget after a period of inactivity.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defense_Language_Institute[/quote]
Yeah and I can promise that the people who are becoming translators and/or interrogators are there for well over a year. That is over a year of solid training, hours and hours and hours and hours every day, not just the Rosetta Stone box set while you are taking a poop before you jump in the shower. Huge difference. This is one of the reasons I "Christmas-treed" my language test. I didn't want anything to do with a language school.
Regards
Most Useful Foreign Language for Europe (Originally Posted: 10/28/2012)
In terms of working IB abroad in Europe. French or German? Which country has better prospects for a 2 year analyst stint and which country is generally considered more "fun" for young, American professionals?
I'd suggest choosing a language and culture you are extremely interested in and will have the opportunity to immerse yourself in for a year or more (by this I mean live in that country and speak nothing but local language for 12 months straight), otherwise you are likely to end your time as an undergraduate with such a low ability level that your language skill is of little use to you or your colleagues.
Also be aware that the most commonly spoken language is not always the most useful in terms of the needs of investment banks. For example, over the past few years there has been a shortage of Dutch speakers in London offices, to the extent that students who speak Dutch have been able to get interviews with virtually all the BBs despite the fact that in many cases they have pretty weak resumes. BBs have even been putting on special recruitment drives at major universities in the Netherlands and flying students (who haven't even applied for a job yet) to London just to try to get them to apply for positions.
I'm not sure if this shortage persists now; and perhaps in five years it will be a different random language being targeted. But do note that there is rarely any shortage of French or German speakers in large investment banks.
Also chime in if I'm undervaluing a career in a place like Italy, Ireland or wherever else. I am under the assumption that Germany and France being the 2 best economies, have the most upside for a shop like CW Downer or other international investment bank.
The most important financial center in Europe is London - where you don't need a foreign language.
As EM are big, if you spoke Russian, I think I'll give you a great advantage even if you didn't live/work in Russia
Whats your opinion on German? That's where I'm leaning right now before French/Russian
Do you have any specific questions? I'm German so I might be helpful.
German for sure. German speakers are high in demand at the moment.
German definitely.
@Financier4Hire, having a second language is often a prerequisite for positions in London, especially if your group deals with the continent quite a lot.
Are you basing this on my initial rationale that its the best economy in Europe, best culture, best area to live for an English speaking American? Also might come in handy when dealing with my swiss bank accounts down the line :D
Asatar, that why I said if you spoke Russian (at least some), you got a leg up the competition. German is important, but remember there are a whole lot of Germans/Austrians, etc. that speak that probably better than you do. Most educated people in Europe are multi-lingual.
German, for sure.
I agree with everyone who said German.
Definitely Russian. Especially if you can speak speak it without a horrible foreign accent like they do in all the spy movies.
Yeah, but 51% of Germans can speak English and 58% of Austrians (and I assume a similar number for Switzerland). And among young educated professionals in cities? It feels like 99%. No joke. They've accents and sometimes take time to search for the word- but its definitely good.
For Russia, that figure is only 11.7%. And Russia doesn't have nearly the same amount of english ties that Germany has- which means the premium for professionals probably isn't as great. Which means if you speak Russian- huge advantage. Then of course the whole BRIC thing and Oil thing.
NOW- on the funding side especially- Germans will PREFER to do business with someone who will speak their language- but its not a necessity.
LAST CAVEAT - Like I said though- German's ties to the English world are deeper- so there are a lot more jobs in London interacting with them- and German- though not a necessity- will be a plus. But for the fewer jobs in London that interact with Russia (esp. in oil) - they will be a NECESSITY- and there are some REALLY GOOD jobs with FAIRLY LOW COMPETITION for people with a good education + english/russian fluency.
It all depends on what you want.
If you're looking for a "proper" career in the developed world: Germany is the second largest management consulting markt after the US, obviously an industry power house - and no need to mention that Switzerland is a financial hub. Austria has the lowest unemployment in the Western world. Sure, everybody in DACH speaks Englisch - but whether you work for Roland Berger, Siemens or Deutsche Bank, speaking German will always open up a whole new world, whether you're signing up for internal training sessions, navigating the intranet or having dinner with colleagues/ clients.
Prefer the road less travelled? Russian, Mandarin or Portuguese it is!
Germans are increasingly becoming better in English, especially the younger generation. Also, they've realized the wise thing in using English as a lingua franca (as opposed to some french people). If you have to study a European language and want to use it in banking in Europe, definitely go with German.
Ok I am not sure wtf is wrong with people in this thread but here it goes.
Learning German / French is probably the most useless thing you can do.
There are about a trillion German / French, UK educated Germans / French that speak english at the same level / better than you do AND speak their mothertongue perfectly AND are looking to break into finance. Unless OP is 12 years old and can live in either of those countries for extended periods of time and become business fluent and accent free (admittedly there is no single french that does not have a thick accent) studying either of those is a complete waste of time.
The same holds true for literally any other european language, altough its slightly less of an issue for the eastern european ones, so if anything learn Russian, but again I would really not bother it is likekly a complete waste of time, you will not be at a level to be competitive/useful for a banking stint.
Bump for more input on German/French vs. more "obscure" languages
German people in general are not that good at English. At least not in writing. They tend to use the German structure and apply it to their written English, which makes their e.g. reports look like they were written by 5-year olds.
Speaking/writing perfect English and being fluent in German is better in my opinion, but I'm not sure the employers see it that way. These European countries also have a lot of pride, in particular France. Working at my old firm, whenever I would email the "branch" in Paris in English I would never get a response. I had to write them in French if I wanted a reply. Annoying little bastards.
Portuguese. Its European, and you can use it in Brazil. Sure, its not Hindi or Mandarin, but someone needs to be able to work with the other BRICs.
I am pretty sure that the you are not coming out of military training fluently speaking a language in 3 months. They are also going to the middle east to fight where those skills will be used day in and day out. I will agree that if you went to another country to live you would pick up a language very quickly. Taking classes while interning, networking, maintaining a high GPA, getting solid EC's and taking a relatively hard language with very little similarities with English is going to be daunting. If you can do it then good for you, but there has been a couple threads dealing with this previously.
English is extremely common in India so I would rule out Hindi. Go for Mandarin if you want, but realize you will be competing with Chinese people who speak English.
IMO a second language is a great thing to learn, but going to have limited economic value for you. Do it because you love it, not for business purposes. Whatever you do don't kill your GPA over it.
Bundle up and stay away from any bridges. Cornell is cold.
Thanks for the advice so far. Does anyone have any thoughts on Russian? That seems like a pretty big emerging market that should have no shortage of opportunities...
Mandarin. Period.
[Deleted! No longer relevant.]
After Mandarin, Spanish is the next most widely used language in the world. I'm surprised more people haven't recommended it. After learning Spanish, Portuguese or Italian would be natural extensions. Russian ranks 8th, German 10th, and French 14th.
How do you get to the point where you are comfortable using it? There's so much lingo used in business.
I would learn a language that you feel comfortable learning. Don't chose something simply because it will be useful in the future. Languages are NOT easy to learn.
French, of course.
> If this doesn t help you to close deals, at least you ll have a return on investment with girls
^
French is one of the most rapidly dying languages in the world...
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