What are the best languages to learn for a future businessman?

You’re wrong about Chinese.

If you know Spanish, French and Italian won’t be too difficult. I think you’re wrong about Chinese. Japanese would be good, as well.

You’re definitely wrong about Chinese, no doubt about it.

Arabic would also be a good idea, especially if you want some kind of government job.

You do know that there are 2 billion Chinese people. Thats a a pretty big market.

All of them

From everything I have heard and read from places the The Economist , Chinese isn’t worth it to learn fluently as a business man for the most part because
1. Very Time Consuming to learn
2. Very Time Consuming and difficult to retain (I’ve visited and wouldn’t like to live there)
3. Most Chinese who work in large corporations in Finance and Business learn English .

Even though there are 2 Billion who speak it, I wouldn’t be starting up some knew business in China. I simply feel that being how experts say you can learn 2–3 languages in the same amount of time as Chinese that im better off doing as such.

Japanese is something I’ve thought of.

Forget French. the French don’t do business – they just chill and enjoy life.
Arabic or Chinese.
The Chinese might study English but that doesn’t mean there will be a greater understanding between them and English speakers. There is still a huge cultural gap so learning to speak Chinese and understanding Chinese culture is extremely sensible. China is buying everything now a days – from car companies to fashion houses to energy plants. One might as well be on the bus with them…
Anyone who has been to China lately will confirm the hype. They are busy as bees over there and not revamping their political system is probably beneficial for their economical development, regardless how one might feel about it from a humanitarian standpoint.

Arabic is also good. Places like Dubai are really doing a lot of international business and there is tons of money floating around and it is a fascinating part of the world to visit.

How far into the future? Maybe Ferengi or Klingon?

(China is ALREADY the next superpower. They own America – check the US foreign debt with regard to China.) For a businessman you don’t have your finger close to being on the world’s fiscal pulse.

Definitely Doublespeak.

It all depends on your needs.

The basic question is: where do you want to do business?

If you can answer that question, you’ll have your answer to your OP.

I’m a bit of a Francophile and biased, but I would recommend French. Most business elites (particularly from Asia, the Middle East, South America, and Africa) will speak French if they cannot speak English. Plus, the French may be chilling and enjoying life, but they consume a lot, travel a lot, and read a lot, and thus have an exceptionally active and powerful economy. It’s also an exquisite and highly precise language, and you might find that communication therein will lend you a greater deal of focus and control over complex conceptual discussions.

@MuffinMonach, your reasons espoused are petty consistent with global complaints about Americans. Just because it’s “hard” doesn’t mean it’s not “worthwhile.” Most Chinese who work in large American corporations learn English. Most business that happens is not done with American corporations.

The art of the deal is not not in the status quo. The past is not the future. The here and now is not the future.

I meant pretty consistent, not petty consistent.

When I spoke with my I-Business councelor he said French is a biggie to know b/c most everyone in business will be learning French if not English and that if I know English, Spanish, and French I’d pretty much be able to speak to someone anywhere across the world in high level business.
Also, I’m trying to figure out the best languages to learn when considering difficulty to learn and attain and how it will directly affect me. I know all too well that China is uying up U.S. foreign debt .
Some Countries like Germany and Japan, the businessman want to speak in their native tongue but others like other countries , like China, make it a big part of what they do to learn English. This is the reason I say Chinese is not at the top of my list, not because I don’t know what they are and are supposed to become. I am also not one of those Americans (im Cuban) who believe everyone needs to know English but logic would say that if one country knows English and another doesn’t than its more important to learn the language of the one that doesn’t know it, right?
Besides, I plan to go into Finance and Tokyo and Hong Kong are the biggest Asian Financial capitals and that isn’t gonna change over night, and neither speak Chinese as there go-to language (Tokyo=Japanese,HK=English&Cantonese)

French, German, Chinese and Hindi.

Whatever you do though, etiquette and cultural empathy are likely more important than language.

And did someone already tell you? You are wrong about China. ;-)

@MuffinMonarch All countries in the EU learn English as a second language starting from third to fifth grade and they are highly exposed to English. (The French still seem to consider it beneath them though…) Overall getting by on English in Europe is not difficult. Also, the Germans are great at foreign languages – much better than the Chinese. The problem with believing that the Chinese will learn English and that it is sufficient that someone else believes that they speak a language might not be the same as them actually speaking the language. (trying not to be rude here – I haven’t met many Chinese in China where we understand one another – there are HUGE barriers regardless of their English training). So saying China knows English is a major exaggeration and don’t forget the cultural aspects which when, it comes to China, are still the major obstacles for smooth understanding..

I don’t know if you’re committed or not, but a European language and an Asian Language (like Japanese or Korean) would be good. It also depends on what you do – If it’s tech related, german or japanese.

Since you already know Spanish I second what someone above suggested- that you’re in a good position to learn French, Italian, or Portuguese.

With that said, those languages might not provide the business advantage that Chinese does (and will even more).

Whether you believe China will be the next world superpower or not is irrelevant. What you need to realize is that it’s an ENORMOUS market which, this late in the game, is still untapped in many sectors.

A professor friend of mine teaches a class called “Entrepreneurship in China.” According to him (and I grant that he’s obviously a little biased about China) speaking Chinese is the absolute best, most marketable skill one can attain right now because the economic markets over there are shifting and those 1.3 BILLION people are starting to slowly open their eyes to the world of consumerism.

Sure, it’ll take some time but in the end it will be worth it. There are countless people I’ve known (through my professor friend) who’ve gotten much better jobs in China than were available in the US because the markets are under-saturated and the people are opening up to accepting foreign people who know Chinese.

It’s an untapped gold-mine of soon-to-be consumers. Learn the language and the culture and you can learn to nab those consumers.

French, because of your knowledge, but are they really all that of a great market? I’m studying Japanese currently. They’ve got a big market. Chinese would probably be the best for a businessman but also the hardest.

why dont you try HINDI. it’s one of the most wonderful languages in the world.it’s one of the most widely spoken languages in the world.so just try out hindi and indians are good at business too so there are lots of opportunities for business in India.

why not learn TURKISH? Haha, I’m Turkish, so I might be a little biased, but it IS the bridge between Europe and Asia and is becoming a more and more important country every day.
BUT I suggest you learn a language of a country that you might also consider LIVING IN. I, as a matter of fact, can speak Turkish, English and German fluently (and also un peu français :D) and considering learning Italian or Spanish, in case I ever want to live in one of those countries.
And keep in mind that most businessmen nowadays (at least the younger ones) can speak these popular languages, so it might be better to learn a really different and NOT widely-known language to have an ADVANTAGE against them. Maybe Swedish? It’s really easy to learn. Or Russian, if you have a thing for the cyrillic alphabet :) Or… maybe… TURKISH!!! :)
P.S. and learning Japanese is a must, cause Tokyo is SO awesome.