Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Which European language to study?

Practically? To me, German is the #1 choice, French the #2. (And yes, I know that German was not on your list; it's "my" #1 choice for practicality)

German is the industrial language of Europe. My wife's aunt works for Zeiss, where German clearly offers advantages. This is also true in chemical engineering.

And France is still a major world power. My former partner's son (Princeton/Harvard) practices law in Paris. So, there's clearly opportunity there.

I deal with Spanish clients all the time. In order to deal with them we just hire an interpreter from the temp store, so from a "practical" standpoint, it's economic value is "$7.50 per hour."

My hispanic (libertarian - Ron Paul) Spanish-speaking assistant now refuses to translate because she's sick of doing it (meaning going to the courthouse), so it's up to the temps.

I guess you wanted input on Italian, too.

I would point out that Italy effectively isn't even a real country in Europe. It's a fun language that you take for fun and not for practicality.