What does everyone think is/will be the most useful LOTE to master for us?

[jessicayao]

What does everyone think is/will be the most useful LOTE to master for us?
...That is to say for Australians.

Which language would be most useful for Australians to become fluent in?

If you could suddenly be fluent in any language, which language would you want it to be?

pLease state why as well.

~Thanks

[charmanderp]

Apparently Spanish will be more commonly spoken in the Western world than any other language, even English, by 2030.

[aes_999]

The most obvious would be Mandarin, that's a no brainer. China's going to become a superpower in the future, and from an economic sense, learning Mandarin would be the most beneficial.

That said, for Australians, Indonesian would probably come after Mandarin, because Indonesia's really close to Australia, and it'd be good to speak the language of your neighbours.

For me personally, I'm learning Jap right now with the help of a friend because of the usual reasons of manga and anime.

[lexitu]

If you're talking about utility then I think above comments are on the mark; Chinese (Mandarin), Spanish, Indonesian.

[Starlight]

Mandarin easy.

[KevinooBz]

Klingon without a doubt.

[pi]

Mandarin imo.

[SDPHD]

Spanish.

Yeah boyee.

[Mao]

Klingon without a doubt.

This. This all the way.

[Stick]

Unfortunately, I think global society has evolved in such a way that it is no longer necessary for English-speakers to learn other languages, as everyone else seems to be learning English. However, I think the most valuable languages to learn are in the Asia/Pacific region: Mandarin and Indonesian. On a more global scale, Spanish and French may also be considered important.

[nisha]

Personally, I would love to learn French.

[EvangelionZeta]

As others have mentioned, Australians would do well to learn Chinese and Indonesia.  Indonesia has obvious business utility given Indonesia's proximity to us, whilst Chinese has that AND the fact that there are lots of Chinese immigrants in Australia for Chinese speakers to deal with.

Globally speaking though, languages such as Spanish, Portugese and French have a lot of utility if you're wanting to work overseas.