If you were to teach your child.....
 

one language (assuming English as 1st language) that would give him the biggest advantage in life, what would it be? Assume child is 7-8 years old and you want to get him private lessons until he becomes perfectly fluent/conversant in the language.

What factors would you take into account?

Immigration? Economic trends?

Let's hear your choice and your reasoning.

Re: If you were to teach your child.....
 

Chinese and its not close. Economics. They already wield significant power (the amount of $ reserves they keep for example). Give it twenty years...

Re: If you were to teach your child.....
 

[censored] it. Can I just teach him English twice?

Re: If you were to teach your child.....
 

Easilly Chinese the way the question is worded. But Chinese should be a lot harder to learn for your kid than European languages, so it's not that clear cut.

Re: If you were to teach your child.....
 

I went for Chinese and I don't think it's close, the way you put the question. I'd also consider Latin though, if he learns excellent Latin at age 8 he will have no trouble learning other languages later on.

Re: If you were to teach your child.....
 

sorry i didnt realise Chinese was a language

Re: If you were to teach your child.....
 

[ QUOTE ]
sorry i didnt realise Chinese was a language

[/ QUOTE ]

Re: If you were to teach your child.....
 

Chinese would be the obv choice, with Spanish close behind

Re: If you were to teach your child.....
 

If i'm bringing him up in the United States, he's probably going to live in the US all his life. In which case Spanish would easily be the most useful of these languages.

Re: If you were to teach your child.....
 

Italian. The ladies dig it!