I think the question should be is the language for a personal gain or a business gain. If you plan on using the language while travelling I would shoot for the language of a former colonising power i.e. French or Spanish. Or if you are considering the Far East then Baharsan (as it forms the base of quiet a few languages and is pretty easy to pick up). If you plan on using it for work the the question should where do you work?
English is quite simply the best. As a wise colleague of mine once said “if you don’t speak english, you aren’t worth speaking too!”
its a matter of usage. mandarin by sheer usage. the number of first-language mandarin speakers is the same as the next top 3 languages. if you already know english, learn mandarin. too many people can speak english/spanish/french/german as they are all relatives of the same alphabet. its much more rare and useful to learn a whole new language system. plus, the fact that China is expected by most to outpace the U.S. in total GDP in our lifetime tells you that whether they do or not, they will have much more political influence tomorrow than they do today. the more chinese people who enter the non-ag workforce, the more influential mandarin will be on the worldscale.
I knew a guy who spoke fluent english, spanish, and mandarin (spoken and written). We estimated that he could communicate with approximately 2/3 of the people on planet through first or second languages. After that, add French.
Indian languages? India will be the number one place to be for entrepreneurs.
French is probably the least useful language, unless you’re planning a career in Cote d’Ivoire or somewhere in that area ( sorry French guys, I love Zizou though). I would say Spanish.
Putonghua
Learning a new language broadens your mind and if you actually travel to the country of the acquired tongue, you might even learn an awful lot of useful things. Going for Chinese (Mandarin or Kantonese or something in between) or Punjabi or whatnot only because then you would join a huge crowd is not a reasonable approach in my view. I would only try to learn a language where at least I have a remote chance of visiting and which sound I like. Learning a new language from scratch is a huge challenge and you only succeed in it over the longer term (unless you are reallly talented). Hence my language of choice is: Papiamento. You will like it there.
anybody liking German ?
German is interesting, but not exceptionally useful outside of central Europe. As for India, it is a populous place remember that there are something like 300 official languages. Hindi is probably the most well known and widespread, but even that one is spoken by less than 50% of the population, IIRC. Even the educated classes in India tend to opt for English so as to overcome local language differences without asserting one local language as somehow superior to another. Outside of France, Belgium, and Switzerland, most French speaking countries are in Africa.
I’m bullish on Portuguese for my imminent visit to Brazil. Have you seen some of their women?
Yeah, English is virtually the first language in India. There is ZERO need to learn any other language if wanting to do business in India, unless you are doing microfinance.
You sound like me jamming on my Mandarin pre-China trip. The reward for diligence is quite rewarding, crappy Putonghua (Mandarin) makes a funny conversation starter…and then she gets to work with you on your pronunciation. My pronunciation required extensive tutoring! 
I’ve been to India, and I tell you what… INDIA I’ll Never Do It Again
Wow, I never expected to get so many responses but I think I’ve made a tenative decision. I’ve been studying spanish for about 6 months and people comment I have a decent spanish accent. I just downloaded a some sample Mandarin mp3s and tried them out at work on my colleages. (That did not go so well) I also Downloaded a C++ tutorial and honestly, after looking at Mandarin, C++ looks much easier. Furthermore, I wonder if I should continue to hone my Spanish writing skills and english writing skills as that will be the basis when i move to Spain to live after grad school. My concern was if Spain goes under, economically speaking, I’d rather move to another foreign country, than come back to the US with my tail between my legs. Also, to the person who said C++ what good is C++ to an associate or analyst? I mean I can see Visual Basic, but I think C programming is a bit beyond where I want to go technically. (Unless I am missing something [quite possible]
Why does everyone forget the most important language. Body language 
> > Also, to the person who said C++ what good is C++ > to an associate or analyst? I mean I can see > Visual Basic, but I think C programming is a bit > beyond where I want to go technically. (Unless I > am missing something If you learn C++, you will not have trouble picking up any other programming language; more importantly, you will learn the general programming concepts , such as objects, methods, variables, itiration , recursion, etc. As far as helping you be a better analyst, think of it as broadening your horizons. I find it that programming concepts help me solve problems in general. It also can help you if you work with any custom/specfic software packages, or interact with development teams, to better understand what is happending in the background.
bernie_m Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > > > > +1 on the screenname
I’d like to speak with Jamaican accent.
In the business world, I’d say Mandarin Chinese. I have a personal fond of Spanish. Just love the sound of it. But I find myself only using it when I need to leave a note for my gardenar or the pool guy.