French or Spanish

moca

Someone said that you will benefits if you learn Spanish before you go to study in the USA and Canada  . However you should learn French if you want to study in the UK. Is it right?

youma

原帖由 moca 於 11-7-13 13:43 發表


It is hard to decide which one to start with, some one said that if you know Spanish then you won't have a problem with Italian. I noticed that in H.K. it seemed easier to find a centre that teachs French rather than Spanish or German.

It's the point that I agree.

Learn the one that is accessible or a teacher is easily found.

moca

原帖由 nintendo 於 11-7-13 10:51 發表
I learnt French at early age and learnt Spanish much later.
My view: learn either one and later you will be able to learn the other one very easily. As a new language to learn, it is easiler to learn  ...

It is hard to decide which one to start with, some one said that if you know Spanish then you won't have a problem with Italian. I noticed that in H.K. it seemed easier to find a centre that teachs French rather than Spanish or German.

nintendo

I learnt French at early age and learnt Spanish much later.
My view: learn either one and later you will be able to learn the other one very easily. As a new language to learn, it is easiler to learn Spanish and more difficult to learn French.
So it might be a good idea to learn French (the harder one) first.
I do not know any German so I cannot comment.

Chole

Some UK kids learn French at a younger age so when my friend's kid went there at Grade 9, she's considered disadvantaged so the school suggested her not to take French.  German is more popular when compared with Spanish so eventually she took German.

ANChan59

原帖由 arielle.w 於 11-7-11 21:30 發表
I think French will be more useful in Canada, but for US, it is indeed more useful to learn Spanish. Most American people speak at least a little bit of Spanish because of their geographical location. ...

Agreed.

Just in LA & SF, most signs, menus..... are bilingual.... Spanish + English.

arielle.w

I think French will be more useful in Canada, but for US, it is indeed more useful to learn Spanish. Most American people speak at least a little bit of Spanish because of their geographical location. In the US, people actually add in Spanish words when they talk, like how people in Hong Kong add in English words when they talk. So Spanish is definitely useful in the US.

moca

原帖由 arielle.w 於 11-7-10 11:26 發表
It really depends on your child's age. If s/he is already going into sixth form, there is absolutely no need to learn any other foreign languages since s/he probably won't be allowed to.

Actually, t ...

arielle.w, thank you for your sharing. How about USA or Canada, do you think Spanish will be more useful?

arielle.w

It really depends on your child's age. If s/he is already going into sixth form, there is absolutely no need to learn any other foreign languages since s/he probably won't be allowed to.

Actually, there are a number of foreign languages you can choose for your child, depending on his/her age. If your child is still young, there is still possibility that s/he can learn French in the UK, which is the most popular foreign language to learn in UK schools. If s/he is a little bit older, s/he can probably take Spanish, as the language itself is a bit easier than French, plus UK students usually do not start Spanish at like primary school level, which means that you can have to time to "catch up".

As for German, I actually wouldn't advise unless your child has a very good aptitude in languages, since German grammar is very complicated, much more complicated than English, French or Spanish.

moca

原帖由 Chole 於 11-7-8 23:38 發表
Some overseas schools may ask you to take 2nd/3rd language.  So if you have some background knowledge, it would be easier for the kids to pick up.

My friend's kid got admitted to a school in UK.  She ...

Thank you for sharing Chole. Do you mean learn German will get more benefit than French and Spanish if I want my kid study in UK?

Chole

Some overseas schools may ask you to take 2nd/3rd language.  So if you have some background knowledge, it would be easier for the kids to pick up.

My friend's kid got admitted to a school in UK.  She's not allowed to take French (considered too difficult to start) so she has to "choose" German.  Don't know if  it's applicable to other schools in general.