With his knowledge of Chinese is it possible for him to 'test' out of that requirement? He could then dedicate that extra time to something he has more interest in? Possibly even developing his Chinese skills as part of a self study type program? I'd talk with his counselor.

Whatever he wants to learn. If he isn't excited or interested, he might get a good grade in it, but not be all that interested later on in life.

You stated he has an interest in computers as well as an aptitude in Math and science.

If he goes to college, he could go into computer science, engineering, design, etc. and find Japanese and Chinese very useful...especially because many of his Graduate Assistant instructors will be from China.

I know French,German and a touch of Polish..Japanese would be first,then Spanish and last French. Most of Europe speaks English so French would be a hobby, Spanish has enough differences depending on what part of the world your in but Japanese is so entwined with the economy I would put more importance in that. Spanish might be practical because it's being shoved down our throats but Japanese opens up another world. Fluent in Chinese would be great.

French.

When I first read the thread, I thought Chinese...since he already has that capability, French would be a good language to know.

Chinese is a good strategic language in business; French is another one...between the Caribbean, Africa (where China is expanding), and SE Asia--French is a another strategic language.

When I was his age in the late 60's they said French was the one to take. I ended up with 5 years of it and have never used it except as a novelty.
They were wrong then and still are.
Spanish.

Klingon for the win.

The local rural school district here started a program in elementary school to teach children Chinese, not sure which dialect. Every year there is a big arguement about cutting the funding for the program.
Of course funding cuts are argued every year! A large percentage of children in the districts here in eastern Iowa already speak Spanish as a first language,of course the exact version varies a lot. The U of Iowa is nearby, and they have a large number of Chinese nationals in the student body. Not unusual to go anywhere where UIowa students gather and Chinese as a first language is well represented.

Math

He can't go wrong with Spanish.

My choices in HS were Spanish, French or German. I chose German which helped a few years later when stationed in that country with the Army.

In this day and age, it seems like Spanish is the new English.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
My choices in HS were Spanish, French or German. I chose German which helped a few years later when stationed in that country with the Army.

There are virtually no schools that teach German anymore. It's easier to find Latin.

Spanish. Our neighbors to the south aren't going away and they all speak Spanish. How much business do we do south of the border? How much has Spanish made inroads into the US? You live in WA so you probably don't see it as much. If he ever moves to a border state that'll be something nice to keep in his back pocket.

OK, so I'm going to have a slightly different argument.

Depending on his career, but unless its agriculture, construction or food service, anyone he needs to speak Spanish to, will speak excellent English.

Its a prevalent language, but one with a very low economic impact, once you remove non-English speakers. (I don't think I've ever encountered an educated Latin American or Mexican who cannot speak English rather well. I would think this trend would become even stronger in the young man's life.)

If needed, its rather simple to pick up the basics. The more subtle aspects of grammar are quite complex, but, IME, native speakers will understand you/be comprehendible, even if the grammar is imprecise.

Japanese may be quite complicated - its supposed to be changing quite rapidly, but of a very high economic impact - not sure how hard it is to "pick up."

French is a language with some financial and economic impact, and a large number of folks who may not willingly speak English - or, often, seem to be MUCH happier once you try some bad French. I don't know enough to be able comment on how demanding the grammar is, as I can't seem to learn to spell it.

I learned French starting in high school, continued in college. I actually learned it as a Peace Corps volunteer in former French colonies Mauritania and Senegal, west Africa. Also especially when I had a French GF...
Anyway: mentioned above about French being spoken in Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos: maybe; but I've never met a Vietnamese refugee in the US who spoke French; I asked about it and I think English spoken far more than French.

Here let me bring up something mentioned by OP: our two sons (not our daughter) loved math, science, computers, we let them go with that. We really regret not pushing them to go into medicine. Their career choices would have been far broader and better, and they would have sailed through the stuff that causes med students the most problems. Our older son is now trained in statistics, which is great; but with an MD he could be a principal investigator on research projects, not just a statistical consultant.

And as a physician in the US, Spanish would be by far the most helpful language.

For traveling in Europe, in the old days (60's) was great to know German and French; nowadays you will find English spoken much more widely than back then.

Best of luck to your GF's son, sounds like he has a great future ahead of him...especially if he goes in to medicine...

My son is in 8th grade, I recommended shop class like his old man but he is taking Spanish.

Spanish

Spanish.

He already has the right oriental credentials and french is mostly useless. This from someone who speaks Spanish, French and English quite well. Wish I had the skills to learn japanese and or chinese but when I tried (both) simply couldn't keep up.

As someone already mentioned, he must be interested and have some use for it. My firts language is spanish, pretty much learned english on my own and french out of necessity (university in a french speaking country).

0-0

If Investment Banking is a possible career choice, Chinese and Japanese may prove to be the most useful.
Spanish should be a useful add, later.

Bruce

quote:

Originally posted by sjtill:
but I've never met a Vietnamese refugee in the US who spoke French; I asked about it and I think English spoken far more than French.

Funny you should mention that about Vietnam.

I was delivering old diesel engines to a rebuilder in Texas a few years ago. Apparently, other parts of the world don't have laptops and computer tech to work on newer electronic engines, so they buy up all our older mechanical stuff, rebuild it to new condition, and resell it in places like Africa and Asia.

Anyway, there was this young (late 20's) Asian fellow buying engines. He was there with his father, a man who looked to be in his 50's. I struck up a conversation with the younger buyer, and he told me they were sending engines back to Vietnam. Having studied French and hoping to exercise it a little, I asked him if he spoke French, and he said he doesn't know anybody younger than his Dad who spoke French. He said that everybody his age studies Vietnamese and English, not French. His English was very passable, and not so accented as to be difficult to understand.

I'm thinking French is about dead in the former Asian French colonies.

Spanish seems to make the most since for someone here as a second langue. It's also the langue I've run into the most in travels outside the US.

He should take Latin, in case he does business in Latin America.