# What language should I study for free this year? Teh Poll



## stuff_it (May 30, 2012)

I'm doing mechanical engineering, and I speak mediocre French, fairly fluent Franglais and have a little knowledge of German. I did Latin at school and have travelled in Europe so I can make out a gist in a lot of written European languages generally, spoken it's mainly to order drinks or explain that when I say vegetarian I don't mean I eat fish.

I know what you are immediately thinking is German, as they are big on their engineering but I know that technical German can be quite different to spoken German, and I'd be a long way off of getting to that level, whereas my understanding of French is fairly good if a bit rusty....

Or I could go for something completely different.

I get a year's free language tuition with my degree, then I have to pay.


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## moonsi til (May 30, 2012)

Poll says 100% for Spanish..

ETA: my choice based upon me loving the sound of Spanish


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## gentlegreen (May 30, 2012)

Spanish, but sort that French out in the meantime.
Germany has no seaside, Chinese and Arabic are too difficult.


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## stuff_it (May 30, 2012)

gentlegreen said:


> Spanish, but sort that French out in the meantime.
> Germany has no seaside, Chinese and Arabic are too difficult.


Interesting logic there. I'm considering a language that I will hopefully get good enough at for it to benefit me workwise. I already know enough of both Spanish and French to holiday in those countries.


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## wayward bob (May 30, 2012)

italian was my favourite language to learn - is that an option? with latin and french i reckon you could pick it up to a decent standard in a year  no idea how it might help work-wise though


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## stuff_it (May 30, 2012)

wayward bob said:


> italian was my favourite language to learn - is that an option? with latin and french i reckon you could pick it up to a decent standard in a year  no idea how it might help work-wise though


All the options are listed, and their economy is shit.


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## wayward bob (May 30, 2012)

in that case i'd go with the french: speaking one language fluently is better for work than speaking several badly imho


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## goldenecitrone (May 30, 2012)

gentlegreen said:


> Spanish, but sort that French out in the meantime.
> Germany has no seaside, Chinese and Arabic are too difficult.


 
Not true. The Baltic coast has plenty.


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## Greebo (May 30, 2012)

stuff_it said:


> Interesting logic there. I'm considering a language that I will hopefully get good enough at for it to benefit me workwise. I already know enough of both Spanish and French to holiday in those countries.


Okay, go for French or Spanish then. Good enough for holidaying isn't quite good enough for work. Mainly because IMHO work isn't going to be patient and let you fish for the words which are on the tip of your tongue. And those should come a bit more easily to you as there's something to hang the rest on.

German would be a second choice.  You might take longer to reach a decent level, but that just makes it more important to begin soon, rather than leaving it for later.



gentlegreen said:


> Spanish, but sort that French out in the meantime. Germany has no seaside, Chinese and Arabic are too difficult.


A mon avis GG, tu ferais mieux de suivre ton propre conseil. 

FWIW Germany has got seaside, even if it's on the North Sea and Baltic Sea, you can still get a tan there and it still gets hot come high summer. As for Chinese and Arabic being too difficult - that depends on the individual.


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## Yossarian (May 30, 2012)

In big engineering jobs worldwide over the next few decades, I reckon there'll be a lot more Chinese spoken than French or Spanish.


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## Random (May 30, 2012)

With your Latin and French you could probably pick up Spanish and Italian yourself, or in a few months after arriving in either of those countries. I'd say Chinese, as a year's proper tuition will give you a good grounding and open up possibilities for you with an emerging superpower. Even if you don't want to work in China, Chinese companies are more and more active in Europe and Africa.


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## 5t3IIa (May 30, 2012)

Arabic. There's a whole actual world out there to talk to.


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## wayward bob (May 30, 2012)

also the french are notoriously impatient with non-native-speakers mangling their language. to have proper fluent french would be a good start for being taken seriously in a professional context.


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## wayward bob (May 30, 2012)

with chinese and arabic is it realistic to expect a decent level from a standing start in a year if you're only studying part time, on top of other commitments?


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## Sirena (May 30, 2012)

I agree with Spanish.  The second most spoken langage in the world, it will become hugely useful as South America moves onto the world stage.  It's a very simple language, musical and lyrical.  The Spanish love it when you try to speak their language (unlike the French). Your French and Latin will make it a romp


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## Yu_Gi_Oh (May 30, 2012)

gentlegreen said:


> Spanish, but sort that French out in the meantime.
> Germany has no seaside, Chinese and Arabic are too difficult.


 
Not that I'm a good advert for it, but Chinese isn't necessarily more difficult, I believe the grammar is actually pretty simple, especially versus English grammar.

Chinese characters aren't just little pictures either, there are phonetic elements and patterns to written Chinese which mean that you can work out both meaning and pronunciation of characters you don't know.

I'd love proper Chinese lessons, done by a proper language teacher, so I'd go for that.  Learning to read Arabic is on my list of things to do one day though too.


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## stuff_it (May 30, 2012)

5t3IIa said:


> Arabic. There's a whole actual world out there to talk to.


This is hopefully for work though, and I'm an unmarried female so I don't know that it wouldn't open up as much potential places to work as if I were male. Arabic does have the massive advantage in that the Arabic speaking part of the world is much nearer than China, OTOH I am considering leaving the UK at some point anyway so that's not super relevant in the long run I don't think...


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## Random (May 30, 2012)

Sirena said:


> The Spanish love it when you try to speak their language (unlike the French). Your French and Latin will make it a romp


Very good arguments for Spanish.


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## wayward bob (May 30, 2012)

tbf i'm starting to lean towards spanish too, even if it isn't as much fun as italian it's way more useful


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## Random (May 30, 2012)

wayward bob said:


> tbf i'm starting to lean towards spanish too, even if it isn't as much fun as italian it's way more useful


They're basically the same language, anyway


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## wayward bob (May 30, 2012)

with a lisp 

what i love about italian is the clarity: it's so easy to pick the individual words out of even very fast speech. i found i started to get the gist of a fair bit of spanish after i'd been there a while, but it wasn't as natural to me as italian.


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## stuff_it (May 30, 2012)

wayward bob said:


> with a lisp
> 
> what i love about italian is the clarity: it's so easy to pick the individual words out of even very fast speech. i found i started to get the gist of a fair bit of spanish after i'd been there a while, but it wasn't as natural to me as italian.


I am not being offered Italian.


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## wayward bob (May 30, 2012)

i know that  just shooting the breeze


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## 5t3IIa (May 30, 2012)

wayward bob said:


> i know that  just shooting the breeze


 
I learned Italian for a while, and lived there for 3 months - it is an utter pleasure to actually get your mouth around once I got over the uptightness of 'doing the accent'


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## Random (May 30, 2012)

"Nearly every Englishman of working-class origin considers it effeminate to pronounce a foreign word correctly." Orwell


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## gentlegreen (May 30, 2012)

Greebo said:


> A mon avis GG, tu ferais mieux de suivre ton propre conseil.


Je améliore un peu chaque jour


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## DotCommunist (May 30, 2012)

Sindarin elvish, along with quernya. And chaldean in your spare time


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## weltweit (May 30, 2012)

German or Chinese for engineering.
I would go for German. Lots of industry in Germany, lots of engineering. Technical German is just a matter of getting your technical vocabulary up to speed, traditional grammar still applies.


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## tar1984 (May 30, 2012)

Interesting thread, I am considering doing a language next term.  Maybe Spanish or Polish.  I doubt it will ever come in useful career wise but it's a good opportunity to learn something for free that would cost quite a lot to do privately.


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## gentlegreen (May 30, 2012)

I was embarrassed the other day when trying to construct a sentence in French, that I was somewhat vague about the preposition "through", but had absolutely no doubt about the German, or the "case" - those lists of prepositions are about all I remember of the language ...


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## wayward bob (May 30, 2012)

gentlegreen said:


> Je améliore un peu chaque jour


 
something tells me this should be reflexive  je me... <whatever>


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## gentlegreen (May 30, 2012)

wayward bob said:


> something tells me this should be reflexive  je me... <whatever>


 
Google actually suggested using the infinitive ...

My original idea was Je me débrouille de plus en plus de jour a jour ...but Google rubbished that .


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## wayward bob (May 30, 2012)

tbf my french is way too rusty to know the right answer


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## gentlegreen (May 30, 2012)

Truth is I learned more French in 4 weeks actually staying there than in 5 years of studying it - in spite of being a weird, reclusive teenager - and I'm very definitely at that stage again. Looking stuff up is an order of magnitude too slow...


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## Greebo (May 30, 2012)

gentlegreen said:


> Google actually suggested using the infinitive ...
> 
> My original idea was Je me débrouille de plus en plus de jour a jour ...but Google rubbished that .


Google is great for getting the rough meaning, but abysmal for grammar and real translation. FWIW (with my somewhat shaky French grammar and relying on memory) I'd go with "Chaque jour, j'arrive a parler et comprendre encore mieux" (apols for the lack of accent marks). Glad to hear that you're making some progress though.


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## Crispy (May 30, 2012)

Sirena said:


> I agree with Spanish. The second most spoken langage in the world, it will become hugely useful as South America moves onto the world stage. It's a very simple language, musical and lyrical. The Spanish love it when you try to speak their language (unlike the French). Your French and Latin will make it a romp


I loved learning (some) spanish when I went to S.America. Phonetic spelling, lots of transferable vocab from english, few irregular verbs, lovely sound to it. I reckon you'd get your most bang for your buck in a year's worth of Spanish.


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## Greebo (May 30, 2012)

gentlegreen said:


> <snip>Looking stuff up is an order of magnitude too slow...


Immersion or repeated frequent exposure helps.  Just look up the things you can't guess at all, and let the rest sort of work its way through.


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## sptme (May 30, 2012)

学中文
But then I'm biased.
Plenty of engineering opportunities in available in China  for when the Euro crisis drags the German economy down the plughole.


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## elfman (May 30, 2012)

I'm learning Chinese and although my Chinese is still shit, that's because I'm lazy. If you have a decent teacher to get you through the initial barriers of the tones, then it's not too bad because the grammar is simple.


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## stuff_it (May 30, 2012)

elfman said:


> I'm learning Chinese and although my Chinese is still shit, that's because I'm lazy. If you have a decent teacher to get you through the initial barriers of the tones, then it's not too bad because the grammar is simple.


This interest me, as my grammar with European languages is fairly shit.


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## Sirena (May 30, 2012)

> I loved learning (some) spanish when I went to S.America. Phonetic spelling, lots of transferable vocab from english, few irregular verbs, lovely sound to it. I reckon you'd get your most bang for your buck in a year's worth of Spanish.


And once you've got Spanish, Portuguese (world's 6th or 7th most spoken language) is super-easy and then the whole of Brazil and a large part of Africa become your playpen.


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## stuff_it (May 30, 2012)

Sirena said:


> And once you've got Spanish, Portuguese (world's 6th or 7th most spoken language) is super-easy and then the whole of Brazil and a large part of Africa become your playpen.


Places with good drugs....


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## temper_tantrum (May 30, 2012)

Learn Mandarin. China is where it's at, man.


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## spanglechick (May 30, 2012)

I think it depends on how much time after this year you're prepared to commit. 

If its none, go for Spanish and get another holiday language
If it's a bit then French, because you won't bring franglais to professional standard in a year, but you do have a head start
However, if you are prepared to commit to learning it for a few years (part time, obv) then go for chinese. It's already common for engineers to get parts made in china.  A little mandarin would help you with travel, but a good level really could advance your career.


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## stuff_it (May 30, 2012)

spanglechick said:


> I think it depends on how much time after this year you're prepared to commit.
> 
> If its none, go for Spanish and get another holiday language
> If it's a bit then French, because you won't bring franglais to professional standard in a year, but you do have a head start
> However, if you are prepared to commit to learning it for a few years (part time, obv) then go for chinese. It's already common for engineers to get parts made in china. A little mandarin would help you with travel, but a good level really could advance your career.


OMGZ but it's hard!

I'm happy to continue through my studies, but I will probably be starting in 2nd year...


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## Zorra (May 30, 2012)

Arabic for sure! Lots of engineering jobs in the Gulf states on pots of cash, or infrastructure-type engineering jobs in ME/NA. And you can study with me   I studied Arabic as a complete beginner some years ago (just do conversation classes now because I am not confident in speaking) and I can't recommend highly enough that you devote a short amount of time to the alphabet before moving on. I didn't give it the time to commit to memory, and it meant I really wasted a lot of my own time. Plus Arabic speakers think it's so awesome that you are trying to learn that it spurs you on to keep going!


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## stuff_it (May 30, 2012)

Zorra said:


> Arabic for sure! Lots of engineering jobs in the Gulf states on pots of cash, or infrastructure-type engineering jobs in ME/NA. And you can study with me  I studied Arabic as a complete beginner some years ago (just do conversation classes now because I am not confident in speaking) and I can't recommend highly enough that you devote a short amount of time to the alphabet before moving on. I didn't give it the time to commit to memory, and it meant I really wasted a lot of my own time. Plus Arabic speakers think it's so awesome that you are trying to learn that it spurs you on to keep going!


I already pointed out that my options in the gulf are somewhat limited due to being female.


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## Zorra (May 30, 2012)

stuff_it said:


> I already pointed out that my options in the gulf are somewhat limited due to being female.


Not necessarily. Have you been there and didn't like it? Ok, so not Saudi, but there are enough female engineers there to make it comfortable.


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## RaverDrew (May 30, 2012)

Portuguese, then go work in Brazil.


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## equationgirl (May 30, 2012)

Chinese - if only because drawings can be annotated in Chinese not English, and knowing how to read them will be an incredibly useful skill. Also it will be seen as very valuable by future employers and set you apart in a sea of candidates.

I know some technical German and don't use it that much to be honest.


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## elfman (May 31, 2012)

stuff_it said:


> This interest me, as my grammar with European languages is fairly shit.


 
Also, there are lots of people I know, who can speak Mandarin fluently but don't read and write it as you can learn it through pinyin, which is the phonetic spellings of each character using the Western (Roman?) alphabet. That will help you get a lot further in one year, if you just want to learn to speak and not read and write. Although, your course may not do this and you may want to learn to read and write.


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## JimW (May 31, 2012)

One year won't get you very far in Chinese, so only do it if you reckon you will continue on after. Our course had its second year abroad in China, and although we'd had over twenty hours teaching a week during the first year remember being painfully aware how poor my Chinese still was (and I was one of the better studes!) - asked one of our lecturers (from China) if we'd actually be able to use much once we got there, he said we'd be fine but I reckon it took another two years in country to get even reasonably functional beyond the most basic stuff.


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## Riklet (May 31, 2012)

Interesting ideas.   Spanish is a great language, would probably recommend it due to its global scope and relevance, as well as the fact that Germans generally speak English at a higher level than peeps from Spanish speaking countries.  English is your _first _language, this is a huge advantage mostly.

Personally I think language learning is hard, and Spanish is not an "easy" language just like that.  That said, in 6 months (plus did some at school n knew some before) I can speak intermediate level Spanish and get by basically -- pretty much pales in comparison to the effort Mandarin requires! I think knowing French at a fairly high level has helped.  Like all languages it requires a fair bit of time though, effort, practice n embarrassment, but it will pay off.  If you have any kind of understanding of French (grammar) that will help, as well the various english words which are v. similar in Spanish (beware false friends!)

I would definitely recommend the Michel Thomas audio tapes in Spanish, French and German, if his voice doesn't annoy/grate too much that is! I really like his method n have found it v. helpful.

Btw, GG:  It is a reflexive verb, and would be (i think) - "Je m'améliore un peu" - remember when you have two vowels always to contract them etc.


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## stuff_it (Jun 2, 2012)

So am I learning Chinese or Spanish or what?


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## gentlegreen (Jun 2, 2012)

Chinese for your job prospects, Spanish for pleasure and possibly retirement ...


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## Greebo (Jun 2, 2012)

stuff_it said:


> So am I learning Chinese or Spanish or what?


I hate to break it to you, but you're over the age of majority and mostly in your right mind.  So it's your decision.  If you really can't decide, flip a coin or do spuds or something.


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## Random (Jun 2, 2012)

If you're so lazy you want us to make the decision for you, then I'd say Spanish for the easiest ride!


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## lizzieloo (Jun 2, 2012)

Arabic, for sure


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## lizzieloo (Jun 2, 2012)

stuff_it said:


> I'm doing mechanical engineering, and I speak mediocre French, fairly fluent Franglais and have a little knowledge of German. I did Latin at school and have travelled in Europe so I can make out a gist in a lot of written European languages generally, spoken it's mainly to order drinks or explain that when I say vegetarian I don't mean I eat fish.
> 
> I know what you are immediately thinking is German, as they are big on their engineering but I know that technical German can be quite different to spoken German, and I'd be a long way off of getting to that level, whereas my understanding of French is fairly good if a bit rusty....
> 
> ...


 
Serious answer, cos it's free and for a year you should either do Manderin or Arabic. You have enough knowledge of those European languages (just by being european youself) to be able to learn it youself at home with packs from the library or internet.

You're unlikely to ever get a opportunity to learn (be taught) Manderin or Arabic again.


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## stuff_it (Jun 2, 2012)

lizzieloo said:


> Serious answer, cos it's free and for a year you should either do Manderin or Arabic. You have enough knowledge of those European languages (just by being european youself) to be able to learn it youself at home with packs from the library or internet.
> 
> You're unlikely to ever get a opportunity to learn (be taught) Manderin or Arabic again.


If I pick a language that I've never done before I would probably continue and do another year or two and pay, as the cost is subsidised for the other years of your course. 

I have very little experience of Arabic speaking countries, and I know that there are many places to go that aren't actual balls-out sexist in a way that you can't walk down the street but I don't know how much being female would affect my getting jobs/being taken seriously - not that there isn't plenty of sexism in the UK. Someone the other day, not even my boyfriend, said I looked as though I needed 'looking after' and I frequently get people offering to help me get out of vans, etc.  which of course drives me up the wall. Of course there is plenty of sexism in China and all over the world as well anyway...


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## JimW (Jun 2, 2012)

stuff_it said:


> .... Of course there is plenty of sexism in China and all over the world as well anyway...


You're not wrong and it's getting worse with the gender propaganda of the market, but it still scores best of any Asian nation on gender equality (including Japan and Korea etc.) according to the UN Women's org.


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## Cid (Jun 2, 2012)

Zorra said:


> Arabic for sure! Lots of engineering jobs in the Gulf states on pots of cash, or infrastructure-type engineering jobs in ME/NA. And you can study with me  I studied Arabic as a complete beginner some years ago (just do conversation classes now because I am not confident in speaking) and I can't recommend highly enough that you devote a short amount of time to the alphabet before moving on. I didn't give it the time to commit to memory, and it meant I really wasted a lot of my own time. Plus Arabic speakers think it's so awesome that you are trying to learn that it spurs you on to keep going!


 
Lots of _civil_ engineering jobs, stuff_it is mech eng.

Germany has arguably the best mechanical engineering in the world (as in highest quality, not largest sector); vehicles, machinery and tooling manufacture and electrical equipment... I'd say Germany is a good place to start any engineering career anyway as you'll be working to high standards, that'll make you very employable if you decide to go elsewhere, not to mention that there are few better places to build on your education. And there's the Miniatur wunderland.


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## Boycey (Jun 2, 2012)

what Cid said, also they have better techno.


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## lizzieloo (Jun 2, 2012)

stuff_it said:


> If I pick a language that I've never done before I would probably continue and do another year or two and pay, as the cost is subsidised for the other years of your course.
> 
> I have very little experience of Arabic speaking countries, and I know that there are many places to go that aren't actual balls-out sexist in a way that you can't walk down the street but I don't know how much being female would affect my getting jobs/being taken seriously - not that there isn't plenty of sexism in the UK. Someone the other day, not even my boyfriend, said I looked as though I needed 'looking after' and I frequently get people offering to help me get out of vans, etc.  which of course drives me up the wall. Of course there is plenty of sexism in China and all over the world as well anyway...


 
You don't look like you need looking after 

The kind of engineering you're doing is it construction type mechanical or vehicle type mechanical?

The Arab world is chock full of jobs if it's the former.


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## lizzieloo (Jun 2, 2012)

Cid said:


> Lots of _civil_ engineering jobs, stuff_it is mech eng.


 
There's loads of work for mechanical engineers in the construction industry.


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## Cid (Jun 2, 2012)

If you want to spend your life speccing ventilation systems, then er... yeah. But um...


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## lizzieloo (Jun 2, 2012)

Cid said:


> If you want to spend your life speccing ventilation systems, then er... yeah. But um...


 
Oil industry? Other energy? massive out there


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## Cid (Jun 2, 2012)

And why not do some arms dealing on the side?

The new solar projects would be interesting mind you... However you're probably just as likely to get that kind of work by being based in Germany.


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## lizzieloo (Jun 2, 2012)

Cid said:


> And why not do some arms dealing on the side?


 
Don't use oil then?


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## Cid (Jun 2, 2012)

That's about as weak as arguments get tbh. Of course I use it, doesn't mean I support the way the industry works.


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## lizzieloo (Jun 2, 2012)

Cid said:


> That's about as weak as arguments get tbh. Of course I use it, doesn't mean I support the way the industry works.


 
Yep, I did it cos of this weak argument.



Cid said:


> And why not do some arms dealing on the side?


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## Boycey (Jun 2, 2012)

lizzieloo said:


> The Arab world is chock full of jobs if it's the former.


 
what's the techno like in the arab world?


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## lizzieloo (Jun 2, 2012)

Boycey said:


> what's the techno like in the arab world?


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## Cid (Jun 2, 2012)

lizzieloo said:


> Yep, I did it cos of this weak argument.


 
Yeah. Right. Either way my point is that there are certain industries known for being quite nasty in a lot of ways, and petroleum stands out.

Quite apart from anything else, and to get back on track, would you really want to work on oil infrastructure in the middle east? Dealing with oil execs, contractors and land owners? Before you even start on the absurd climate (depends on region o course), women's rights, lack of drugs, booze and decent techno.

Germany is at the pinnacle of the most important areas of mechanical engineering; crucially they export a lot of the stuff you need to make other stuff - for example Schott making PV, KUKA industrial robotics, festo pneumatics and electronics etc... and thousands of small specialist companies supporting them. Loads of interesting stuff to chose from, working with interesting people. And plenty of rights, drugs, booze and techno.


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## stuff_it (Jun 4, 2012)

Boycey said:
			
		

> what's the techno like in the arab world?



Afaik they quite like trance. 

And I'm not over keen on techno. Prefer jungle, hip hop and a bit of dancehall.


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## weltweit (Jun 5, 2012)

It has to be German, learn Spanish if you want to lie unemployed on a beach while you go bankrupt, German if you want to be in a decent job.


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## stuff_it (Jun 5, 2012)

weltweit said:


> It has to be German, learn Spanish if you want to lie unemployed on a beach while you go bankrupt, German if you want to be in a decent job.


Might not be good forever though, the German economy stands every chance of being pulled down at least a bit by the Euro crisis, and I don't ever want to live there. 

I'm sort of veering back towards French or Arabic.


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## weltweit (Jun 5, 2012)

stuff_it said:


> Might not be good forever though, the German economy stands every chance of being pulled down at least a bit by the Euro crisis, and I don't ever want to live there.


Well that is a key reason why not to learn German I would say.



stuff_it said:


> I'm sort of veering back towards French or Arabic.


Of those two I would learn French.
Arabic countries are not well known for giving equal status to women.


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## Limejuice (Jun 5, 2012)

You have a foundation in French. You've done the heavy lifting. Use the tuition to become proficient.


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## Hocus Eye. (Jun 5, 2012)

Yes go for French. Given that you already have some French you can get yourself up to a really good level by studying it. If you get proficient at technical French you could give yourself a backup career in communicating and translating French mechanical engineering information both spoken and written. The French have a lot of technological industries and have not closed that side of their economy down like we have in the UK. They could take over from Germany in this respect if the French leaders decide to expand their economy while Germany stubbornly continues down the austerity road.


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## stuff_it (Jun 5, 2012)

I am also bearing in mind the price of a masters in France vs the price of one in the UK......


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## Cid (Jun 5, 2012)

stuff_it said:


> Might not be good forever though, the German economy stands every chance of being pulled down at least a bit by the Euro crisis, and I don't ever want to live there.


 
Any reason why not? Great place to live from what I hear. But yeah, French if not German...



Hocus Eye. said:


> Yes go for French. Given that you already have some French you can get yourself up to a really good level by studying it. If you get proficient at technical French you could give yourself a backup career in communicating and translating French mechanical engineering information both spoken and written. The French have a lot of technological industries and have not closed that side of their economy down like we have in the UK. They could take over from Germany in this respect if the French leaders decide to expand their economy while Germany stubbornly continues down the austerity road.


 
Very different industrial sectors though; Germany produces lots of stuff needed for manufacturing infrastructure, as well as components used in loads of applications - i.e it's a good bet that some aspects of German industry will hold out regardless. Also has growing exports to China. France has some interesting aerospace stuff going on, also telecommunications (mmm... satellites) but aerospace and defence accounts for a fair amount of their manufacture. Good research funding though, we worked with Paris 7 (Diderot) back when I was with Rich!'s company, very good at what they do, if occasionally tyrannical.

And yeah, studying in France is pretty much a no-brainer compared to costs in the UK... There are some courses taught in English in other bits of Europe though, might be worth looking at them. iirc Holland is good for that, as is Copenhagen.


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## weltweit (Jun 5, 2012)

Cid said:


> Any reason why not? Great place to live from what I hear. But yeah, French if not German...


I was wondering about that. I have lived in Germany and I loved it. I would go back anytime.

Plus where industry is concerned you only have to look at cars.
France: 3: Peugeot, Renault, Citroen
Germany: 6: Audi, Volkswagen, Opel, Porsche, Mercedes, BMW


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## stuff_it (Jun 5, 2012)

Cid said:


> Any reason why not? Great place to live from what I hear. But yeah, French if not German...
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I looked at Copenhagen, they don't teach engineering in English. 

No idea about Holland, but I suspect I would find it somewhat easy to get the OH to move there...


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## Cid (Jun 5, 2012)

http://www.studyfinder.nl/?StartDate=2012-06-05&fulltext=engineering

Germany does some as well: http://www.daad.de/deutschland/studienangebote/international-programmes/07535.en.html


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## crustychick (Jun 6, 2012)

I was going to say German right until I read this... 





stuff_it said:


> Might not be good forever though, the German economy stands every chance of being pulled down at least a bit by the Euro crisis, and I don't ever want to live there.
> 
> I'm sort of veering back towards French or Arabic.


 
although Germany is a great place to live - totally underrated by us Brits... but then, I do live in Berlin, and Berlin is not Germany... also, I like the German language because it follows the rules. if you learn the rules it becomes so much easier (once you've learned all those damned genders), unlike english which has more exceptions that rules it seems. 

Otherwise I'd say  French as you already have some grounding in the language (assuming they don't want you to start at the beginning), or Chinese as it would be both interesting and useful, although perhaps a steep learning curve to begin with. I'd steer clear of Arabic unless you have a desire to live out in the Middle East. The money is good but I wouldn't live there for love nor money - ime you have to be very driven and single minded and money orientated.


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