[quote=GH]I assume “Spanish” is what is being pushed for. More useful though in the business world, I would prefer to see Chinese taught, or perhaps French or German.[/quote]
I think the languages are generally based on size of dominant and minority cultures prevalent. That makes sense to me.
In my mind the above link provides some direction on choosing the relative global value of languages.The extra advantage with Spanish is that a sharp person who becomes English/Spanish bi-literate early on will easily aquire Portuguese and perhaps even Italian and French too.
Chinese is a good or best choice for some people.
Spanish is best or second best generally speaking depending on how you view these things.From California I like them both.
I have a hard time taking up a defense for French or German as being better than Spanish, especially in Southern California or other locations where dual language is prevalent in the U.S.A.
French and German have the negative that high percentages of the populations using those languages are bilingual/multilingual,including lots of English proficient people who also have an education on par with what Americans aim for. If I were worried about it from a “success” point of view, I would like something that makes my kids unique in a larger population while being sensitive to the geographical location of that population.
