Survival Skills: Learning a second … or third Language

Message:
What do you think are important languages to learn? I’m currently
learning Spanish as I live in America, and would like to learn another
afterwards. However, I don’t know what would be most useful and I
value your input. If you were to learn another language, what would it
be?
…
As you probably realize I give great importance to knowing a second language. Not just babbling it but knowing it and truly being fluent. Thanks to our time in Ireland my children know both English and Spanish as well as any native speaker their age. This is a huge asset that will help them their entire lives.
I shake my head when I read about some of the “survival skills” people believe one should master. Lots of starting fires with a bar of chocolate and can of coke or carving spoons but learning a second language is rarely mentioned.
Clearly enough knowing Spanish in USA is a powerful skill to have and this will be even more obvious in years to come, putting those that don’t know Spanish behind those that can honestly ad it to their curriculums. It is valuable for work, but it is also very useful on the streets given the percentage of Spanish speaking population.
What 3rd language to learn?
Spanish is clearly a good choice. Especially for USA that has more Spanish speakers than Spain. It is also the second most popular language in the world, followed by English. With these two, youre pretty much set for the western world.
So what about the most popular language in the world?
That would be Chinese, by a wide margin, and that’s my recommended third language, especially so for younger generations that will have to learn to work with the East.
FerFAL

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