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The Washington Post has an article asking the question "Which languages will dominate the future?" The answer depends on your interests: making money in growth markets; speaking with as many people as possible; speaking only one language while traveling; or learning about culture. As you might imagine, the article concludes
There is no one single language of the future. Instead, language learners will increasingly have to ask themselves about their goals and own motivations before making a decision.
[...] In a recent U.K.-focused report, the British Council, a think tank, identified more than 20 growth markets and their main languages. The report features languages spoken in the so-called BRIC countries — Brazil, Russia, India, China — that are usually perceived as the world's biggest emerging economies, as well as more niche growth markets that are included in lists produced by investment bank Goldman Sachs and services firm Ernst & Young.
"Spanish and Arabic score particularly highly on this indicator," the British Council report concluded for the U.K. However, when taking into account demographic trends until 2050 as laid out by the United Nations, the result is very different.
Hindi, Bengali, Urdu and Indonesian will dominate much of the business world by 2050, followed by Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic and Russian. If you want to get the most money out of your language course, studying one of the languages listed above is probably a safe bet.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Friday September 25 2015, @12:54PM
China is as delightful as you describe. We can all truly look forward to a world with China at its center. Conveniently enough, it's already called "zhongguo," or "Kingdom at the Center" ('Middle Kingdom' is the literal translation, but the proper connotation doesn't carry over into English). To help enterprising MBAs with their business careers, here are some key phrases to use in China:
"Bu yao!" -- "I don't want it," typically yelled at street vendors trying to get you to buy jade pendants.
"Tai gui" -- "Too expensive," best said with a derisive laugh.
"Ni fangpi!" -- lit. "You're farting!", in essence "Bullshit!"
"Ni zougou zibenjia he yinggai mashangde kaishi ziping" -- "You are a running dog capitalist and should immediately begin a self-criticism (a Cultural Revolution-era practice)".
And the most important of all:
"Shi, laoban!" -- "Yes, boss!"
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by M. Baranczak on Friday September 25 2015, @03:09PM
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Friday September 25 2015, @07:29PM
Yes, well, tone marks are useless to those who don't know them, and obvious to those that do. In either case, not worth the extra bother. The one longer phrase I cited was for comic effect, and you either know it, or you don't. The others you must instantly know if you speak Mandarin and know the English meaning. Context tells. "Tai gui" cannot reasonably mean "too demon!" in a business context. "Bu yao" cannot mean "don't shake" when speaking to street vendors. I know the difference, and your reply suggests you might, too, so implying that I don't is a not so clever attempt to say that I am not aware that tonal differences make a significant difference in a tonal language. "Mama ma ma ma?" can mean, "Does mother scold the horse?" or something quite different depending on the tones, but it's so idiomatic that phrase that should you pretend you don't know what's indicated without the tonal marks it establishes that you're being coy.
Shi bu shi, tongzhi?
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by M. Baranczak on Saturday September 26 2015, @03:13AM
The tones are only obvious if you already know the words.
I used to study Mandarin years ago, forgot most of it since I never got a chance to use it, but I still know how to read pinyin.