Francais Quotidien (FRE1001) Digital Assignment 1

Submitted by Harini Thiyagarajan (16BME0961)

DA topic: 8. French, German & Spanish. – A Comparison and importance

in global market.

SPANISH
Spanish is the most spoken language in the world after English. It’s also the native language
of more than 400 million people across 44 countries, which makes it one of the most useful
languages to know.
For those who want to do business, Spanish skills can be an asset for communicating in Spain
and throughout Latin America. The considerable size of the Spanish-speaking population of
the United States makes it even more attractive on a resume. Americans who plan on working
domestically in law, social services or in business can truly stand out by being proficient in
Spanish.
Spanish is often said to be an easy language to learn. For example, Spanish is phonetic (you
read words as they are written). However, the tenses and verb irregularities are more
complicated than in Spanish than in a language like French. It’s also important to realize that
for a non-native learning Spanish, you have to compete with native Spanish speakers.

Financial Aspect: It’s quite obvious why learning Spanish has huge financial benefits for job
seekers. In both Europe and the US, Spanish is the most commonly spoken language after
English. It is also the officially spoken language of four continents. This makes learning
Spanish very beneficial, especially for those in business simply due to the number of people
who speak it.

Although statistics are not the only factor that determine whether a language is global or not,
and keeping in mind the complexity of quantifying and measuring the constant growth and
variation of the Spanish language in all the different locations where it is present, they allow
us to see the extended presence of the language around the globe. According to the Instituto
Cervantes (2014) Spanish has 470 million native speakers. To this, we should add the many
individuals that learn it very early in their lives because of the multilingual environment that
surrounds them, such as many Catalans or indigenous language speakers from Central and
South America (Mar-Molinero, 2004). Besides, it is necessary to add around 50 million more
foreign language speakers that represent the growing community of those who learn Spanish
as a second, third or foreign language for personal and professional reasons (Instituto
Cervantes, 2014). Therefore, after English and Mandarin, this language is the third one with
the most speakers in the world.
Furthermore, and possibly because of that, there is currently a strong promotion and spread of
Spanish in international media. Globalisation and new technologies make it possible for
many users to have access to newspapers, radio, television, literature and music stations in
Spanish across the world. Additionally, nowadays, this language is one of the most
commonly used languages on the Internet in terms of a tool for access to the web and the
volume of content available in Spanish (Mar-Molinero, 2004).
Additionally, because of it being the primary language of more than 20 countries and having
a significant role in a similar number of other nations, Spanish is an official language in many
international bodies, for example in the United Nations and the European Union. Spain has
held the presidency of the EU Council four times until now and has 54 seats in the European
Parliament (European Union. ‘Spain in the EU’, 2015).

Nonetheless, to be able to understand the significance and the global status that Spanish has
today, it is necessary to look back to 1492. This date was not only the year when Christopher
Columbus reached the American continent but it also represents the ‘defeat’ of the Arabs and
the expulsion of the Jews from what the Spanish territory is today. In this sense, both of the
mentioned events had a political impact that positioned the language as powerful. Besides,
that same year Antonio de Nebrija published the first Spanish grammar, which still influences
Spanish grammar today (Mar-Molinero, 2004).
From that point on, there was a quick spread of the Spanish language enhanced by the fast
process of colonisation in Latin America. In order to consolidate the Spanish Empire in this
territory, not only was Spanish imposed to dominate over the thousands of already existing
indigenous languages, but also it was the main tool to control the people, assure the
maintenance of power and prevent possible rebellions. Just like in the Spanish territory then,
only Spanish was allowed to be taught in schools and it was associated with the national
identity.
As a result, nowadays most Spanish speakers live in Latin America. For now, of all countries
with a majority of Spanish speaking citizens, only Spain and Equatorial Guinea are outside
the American continent. This language is the official language of Argentina, Bolivia (co-
official with 37 other languages), Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, the Dominican
Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico (co-official with 63 other
languages), Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay (co-official with Guaraní), Peru (co-official other
indigenous languages), Uruguay, Puerto Rico (co-official with English) and Venezuela.
Moreover, because of proximity factors, Trinidad and Tobago and Brazil have decided to
include Spanish language teaching in their education systems.

Because of what was described above, one of the main defining characteristics of Spanish
today is diversity (Arteaga, 2009). Examples of this can be heard in pronunciation and also in
some of the lexical choices of the speakers. For example, for the concept of ‘car’ different
terms are used in different regions and countries. ‘Auto’ is used in some South American
countries like Argentina, ‘carro’ in others like Colombia and “coche” in Spain. At the same
time, Spanish has many varieties that can be considered prestigious or ‘standard’ as well as
other many different varieties that could be considered creoles, accents and dialects.
Therefore, it is important to keep in mind that from a sociolinguistic perspective to consider
one variety as superior to another or to all others has no scientific validity but has a political
agenda behind concerning power and power relations (Weber and Horner, 2013).
Additionally, it is impossible to simplify and to argue that the Spanish language is linked with
one specific and defined culture.

Likewise, if we go slightly towards the north of the globe, Spanish is the second-most spoken
language in the United States. This language has a long history in the country due firstly to
Spanish and Mexican administrations over some territories and secondly to mobility and
migration. Despite the frequent marginalisation and discrimination of Hispanic communities
in this country, a very significant number of people (52 million plus the illegal immigrants
that were not part of the census (Instututo Cervantes, 2014)), both immigrant and native-born,
are raised speaking Spanish or they learn it early at school. Also, the names of many states
and cities are in Spanish and there are numerous Spanish words that are now part of the
English vocabulary.
Further to the east, on the one hand in Africa, Spanish is official (along with Portuguese and
French) in Equatorial Guinea and is also spoken in North Africa, Northern Morocco, Angola
and in South Sudan. On the other hand, Spanish is present in Asia and the Pacific in the
Easter Island and in the Philippines (where it was an official language). Besides, Spanish is
also spoken by smaller communities in other countries, such as the United Kingdom, France,
Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Australia. By having Latin roots and coming from the
romance language family, it is easier for other romance language speakers like Romanian,
Italian, Portuguese and French speakers to understand Spanish. Finally, it is globally present
in restaurants and advertisements through words that have recently become universal like
‘tapas’, ‘guacamole’, ‘churros’, ‘tango’ and ‘salsa’, which are also being included in other
language vocabularies.

For all these reasons, it is possible to see how Spanish now is not only the product of the
evolution of one single territory but also of a variety of language contacts, migration and
technologies. In this sense, it cannot be considered as a single idealized dialect but rather
appreciate it for its linguistic diversity and variety and for the different and similar cultures it
is part of (Arteaga, 2009). Furthermore, it is possible to infer that its vitality will be sustained
and its presence will even increase. In the future, more varieties of national and international
Spanish(es) will probably coexist with each other.
FRENCH
With Canada being the number one trade partner of the U.S., learning French can majorly
boost anyone’s professional worth. Spoken by more than 290 million people worldwide,
French has truly become a global language. It is the official language of 29 countries
including France, Canada, Switzerland, Monaco, Luxembourg, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, Haiti,
Belgium, Rwanda, Togo, Mali and more.
France dominates in pharmaceuticals, telecommunications, aeronautics, energy production,
and more. In addition, with global initiatives to promote development in impoverished areas
of Africa, French is key. Many countries throughout West Africa, Central Africa and East
Africa have French as one of the official languages. Being able to communicate in French can
land you consultant, non-profit, administration, and tons of other jobs.
French is also the official language of NATO, the United Nations, the Olympics, the Red
Cross, and other international organizations. For Americans, since most people learn Spanish
in school, speaking French gives you an edge over other jobseekers.

Financial Aspect: Due to the wide usage of French language as the second most learned
language after English, learning French is extremely valuable financially. Knowing how to
speak French opens the doors to working for businesses all over the world from Belgium to
Switzerland to Canada.

An article by Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry in Forbes challenged John McWhorter’s view that

French is no longer an important global language (see McWhorter’s “Let’s Stop Pretending
That French Is an Important Language” in The New Republic). In his usual witty manner,
McWhorter notes that
“the idea that American-born children need to learn French has become more reflex than
action, like classical music played at the wedding of people who live to modern pop. French
in educated America is now a class marker, originating from that distant day when French
was Europe’s international language.”
Gobry counters this position by arguing that French “just might be the language of the
future”. The main argument comes from his observation that, as with English, Spanish, and
Portuguese, the majority of French speakers today live not in France but in the former French
colonies, particularly in Africa. This is not true, however: according to the Ethnologue, the
majority of native speakers of French (60,000,000 out of about 76,000,000) live in France.
The numbers of native French speakers in African countries are much smaller: 80,000 in
Morocco, about 37,000 each in Gabon and Mauritius, 28,000 in Congo, 20,000 in Senegal,
17,500 in Côte d’Ivoire, 16,700 in Benin, 11,000 in Tunisia, 10,000 in Algeria, 9,000 each in
Mali and Central African Republic, 6,000 in Niger, 3,000 each in Chad and Togo, and 2,300
in Rwanda. These numbers, even with projected population growth, do not add up to Gobry’s
projection of 750 million speakers of French by 2050. This figure comes from a study done
by investment bank Natixis, which claims that that by the middle of the century, French will
be spoken by 8% of the world’s population, the largest group of any language, even ahead of
Mandarin.

In order to get closer to this projection, one needs to count also the second-language users of
French, who constitute a much larger group in Africa. The Ethnologue lists 12,700,000
second-language speakers of French in Côte d’Ivoire, 6,080,000 in Democratic Republic of
the Congo, 6,360,000 in Tunisia 4,150,000 in Morocco, 2,950,000 in Cameroon, 2,000,000 in
Togo, 1,940,000 in Chad, 1,150,000 in Senegal, 1,260,000 in Niger, 1,200,000 in Congo,
1,120,000 in Gabon, 1,110,000 in Mali, and less than 4,000,000 together in Central African
Republic, Burkina Faso, Benin, Rwanda, Burundi, Mauritania, and Mauritius. Together with
the native speakers of French these figures add up to about 150 million altogether, still a far
cry from Gobry’s projection.
As Gobry points out, the problematic projection may be due to the study’s methodology,
which “is somewhat questionable, since it counts as French-speakers all the inhabitants of
countries where French is an official language, which probably won’t be the case”. Indeed,
French has a much lower penetration rate than other colonial languages, particularly English.
A much higher proportion of the population in former British colonies in Africa speak
English than the corresponding number of French speakers in former French and Belgian
colonies. Interestingly, former British and French colonies also differ in the status of
indigenous languages. In my book Languages of the World: An Introduction, I describe this
post-colonial situation as follows (pp. 121-122):
“The French typically imposed their colonial language on the locals: it was taught in all
primary schools from first grade up. But the British set up schools where local languages
were the medium of instruction through primary school; only people who continued into
secondary education learned English. As a result, in the former British colonies local tongues
developed into full-fledged languages to be used in various domains: newspapers are
published in local languages and some of them — such as Swahili — even have their own
literature. In the former French colonies, the situation is very different: not only is it hard to
find newspapers or books in the local languages, but many of them do not even have writing
at all.”
Another interesting take on the global reach of French (today, rather than projected) is found
in a recent study published in PNAS Online (Ronen et al. 2015). The following discussion is
based on the visualization of the information flow based on book translations; Wikipedia and
Twitter results are less “bushy” and mostly show the same patterns. See also the team’s
website. This study found that although English plays a central role in the transmission of
information, several other languages—particularly, French, German, and Russian—serve the
same function at a different scale. As one would expect, French ties several other Romance
languages (Corsican, Picard, Occitan, Walloon, and others), Berber languages (such as
Tamashek, Tamazight, Kabyle), and many Niger-Congo languages spoken in francophone
Africa (including Bambara, Wolof, and Lingala) to the global information flow network.
Similarly, Russian ties in numerous Uralic (e.g. Udmurt, Khanty, and Nenets), Turkic (e.g.
Gagauz, Karachay-Balkar, Crimean Tatar, and Chuvash), and Caucasian languages (Chechen,
Dargwa, Avar, Ingush, and others) spoken in the territory of the Russian Federation and more
generally the former Soviet Union. (Other links are rather unexpected, however: for example,
Malagasy and Amharic appear interrelated in the information flow chart and both are
connected to the Russian “hub”.) A number of other languages, including Hebrew, Greek,
Yiddish, and Polish, find themselves deeply interconnected to many other languages.

One surprising finding of this study that is worth noting is the lack of correlation between the
number of speakers and the role of a given language in information networks. For example,
some languages with large numbers of speakers, such as Mandarin (labeled “Chinese”),
Hindi, and Arabic, are relatively isolated in these networks. Conversely, some languages with
smaller populations play more significant “hub” role in the information flow that would be
predicted purely from their numbers. Thus, Dutch is a disproportionately significant hub
compared to Arabic, which has about 20 times as many speakers. These discrepancies
between population size and significance in the global context arise from the fact that some
languages are spoken by richer and more online-connected populations. Earlier research (see
my earlier post and a post by Martin W. Lewis) has already pointed out the disproportionate
representation of certain languages online, particularly in Wikipedia: for example, Swedish,
with its population of approximately 10 million, has 5.6 times as many Wikipedia articles as
“Chinese”, whose population figures exceed 1 billion (data accessed on April 30, 2015).
Curiously, even many languages considered endangered (e.g. according to the UNESCO list
of endangered languages) are overrepresented in Wikipedia: from the merely “vulnerable”
Belarusian and Basque to the “definitely” or “severely endangered” Newar (in Nepal) and
Breton. Esperanto, with its over 214,000 Wiki articles, places 32nd—not a bad result for a
language with only about 1,000 native speakers.

All in all, French may yet prove to be an important global language, but not necessarily due
to the sheer number of speakers.

GERMAN
Germany’s economy has been steadily growing, reaching far beyond the Rhine. Such growth
has propelled the country into one of the world’s strongest economies. It’s in the top 10 for
import and export partners for both the U.S. and the U.K. It’s also an official language of
Austria and Switzerland, both of which boast strong economies, too.most useful languages
German is the most common native language. More than 90 million people in the world
speak it.
However, many learners of German claim it is not the easiest to learn. High schoolers, for
example, tend to have difficulty communicating in German, even after years of study (as
opposed to a language like Spanish). This could be due to a lack of interest and motivation. If
you’re going to learn German, it’s best to do so when you have the time and can buckle-down
with your German lessons several times a week.

Financial Aspect: German is the language to learn if you want to earn the big bucks! In fact,
you can earn 125,000 extra euros just in bonuses! You may be surprised by this as most
people would assume a more common language such as Spanish or Mandarin would allow
them to be more prosperous. However, knowing German as a second language puts you in a
special niche and thus is more economically valuable. Additionally, Germany is a European
powerhouse and so yields higher financial benefits than other languages.

When you learn the German language, you get acquainted with the culture of the country it is
spoken in, and you start loving it. Learning a new language will enable you to get in touch
with its historical roots and enhance your personality and knowledge.
On a professional means, communication and understanding the language opens many job
opportunities. German is one of the primary languages used in intercontinental relations and
business and there are several reputed online institutions where one can easily get fluent in
German language.
Facts about the German Language
• German has the biggest number of resident speakers in the European Union; it is far more
than English, French, or Spanish.
• The German language is amongst the ten most normally spoken languages across the globe.
• Germans are global leaders in Engineering
• 18% of the world’s books are published in German, and few of these hardly appear in
English translation.
• German is the gateway to a higher education.

Scope of learning the German Language

German competence worldwide makes it the most accepted language. It is among the three
working languages of the European Commission, along with English and French.
When you are well-known with the German language skills, it opens up a world of
opportunity for job hunters as well as for students who are looking for the advanced
education in an approach that gives them an edge in the international economy. Germany is
the world’s largest exporter of chemical products, goods, vehicles, metals, etc. Multinational
business opportunities subsist throughout the Eastern European countries and the European
Union where German is the second widely spoken language after Russian. Companies like
Siemens, Lufthansa, BMW, Bosch and many others need international partners.
When you know their native language, you gain more when you visit the country. You can
well converse in their language and know and understand the people rather than just
communicate in English with your tour guide. The Austrians, Germans, and Swiss are
recognizable for their interest and love of foreign travel. It adds the opportunity for people
who are in a job of a tourism industry.

German and English share same linguistic

English is the language which originally derived from West Germanic more than 2000 years
ago. There are strong resemblances among the two languages. The German and English
language uses the same alphabet. Both the languages make use of same 26 letters which form
the Latin alphabet. This is an added advantage and makes easy for the English speakers to
start writing in the German language.

The German language enhances your job prospects

German is renowned as a major business language and is widely used in political discussions
as well. There is always a demand for translators able to speak German and any other
languages. Apart from the jobs perspective, those who are interested in writing can also be
amazed to know that 10 percent of all the books published worldwide are written in German.
Learning the German language gives the learner the skill to step inside the mind and context
of other culture. An individual who is proficient in other languages can bridge the gap
between cultures, promote national security and successfully engage in international trade.