Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2014 May 12

= May 12 =

Chinese help: tone of Chinese name of Fantawild
Fantawild Holdings has the Chinese name 华强文化科技集团 - I know all except for the "Huaqing" ... What is the tone of "Huaqing"? This is for the article Boonie Bears Thanks, WhisperToMe (talk) 10:35, 12 May 2014 (UTC)


 * It's not "Huaqing"; it's Huaqiang, almost certainly Huáqiáng. Marco polo (talk) 16:26, 12 May 2014 (UTC)
 * Thank you! I had seen a place where "Huaqing" was written so that must have been a typo WhisperToMe (talk) 21:58, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

Which human languages should aspiring software developers learn?
There is many material about what programming languages that aspiring software developers should learn. But aspiring software developers also need to learn human languages.

Mandarin is my first language and English is my second language. India is the next computer technology hub so which Indian language would be most useful for aspiring software developers? I think Russian and Japanese are also major languages of technology? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 220.255.2.107 (talk) 17:46, 12 May 2014 (UTC)
 * I could be mistaken, but I am pretty sure English is a lingua franca among the educated in India, especially in this context. There is also Hindi, but many educated Indians speak English.  -- Jayron  32  18:01, 12 May 2014 (UTC)
 * Yes, English is the language of software development in India. India's software hub is Bangalore, which is outside the area where Hindi is the main lingua franca. Instead, English is the main language used there by people who speak different Indian languages.  Even in Delhi, the heartland of Hindi, English is the main language used in software development because so much software development in India is done for foreign clients. I do not think that Russian is a major language of technology, at least not computer technology. Russia relies on computing innovations from other countries, mainly Europe and the United States. Japanese might be useful if you wanted to work for a Japanese tech company.  Korean might be useful for mobile software, due to the strength of Samsung. In Europe, even in countries where English is not the main spoken language, English would be the main professional language of software developers. Marco polo (talk) 19:35, 12 May 2014 (UTC)


 * Not directly related to software developers, but depending on how global your future customers or employers might be: You already speak two of the top three languages by native speaker (according to Nationalencyklopedin), if you learned Spanish, you'd be able to communicate with about a quarter of the people on Earth in their native tongue. (Though the same is almost true if you learned Hindi or Arabic). ---Sluzzelin talk  00:44, 13 May 2014 (UTC)
 * If you speak English, you already have by far the most important language. I am a native English speaker, and have noticed that many people who speak English as a second language have difficulty in speaking it informally, or in settings other than those taught in a classroom. That is, many people who speak English do not speak it fluently. This can best be learnt only by real conversation, not by book-learning. If you are already based in an English-speaking country this should be no problem, but if not I would encourage you to spend some time building up your fluency in English before moving on to a third language, by finding people with whom to practise your conversational skills.
 * As for a third language, I would suggest picking one from a culture you want to learn more about. Having two important languages is already good, so why not pick the next one for fun, or out of interest? Learning a language requires a lot of motivation, and is easier if it fits in with your other interests and desires. So learn Spanish not because so many people speak it, but because you dream of walking the Way of St James or are fascinated by the poetry of Cervantes, or simply love eating tapas. But if your dream is really to walk the West Highland Way, sail to Tiree and Lewis, and taste the delights of Ardbeg you might learn Gaelic. Or perhaps you love Abba and dream of marrying a blond(e): in that case, learn Swedish. My point is this: if you set yourself a task just because it will be "good for your career" it will require a real effort of will; you will learn your next language much more quickly if it gives you pleasure. RomanSpa (talk) 06:52, 13 May 2014 (UTC)
 * The OP's IP address geolocates to Singapore, which makes me wonder if it might behoove him to learn Malay. Pais (talk) 16:08, 13 May 2014 (UTC)


 * My brother and younger sister are walking the Camino de Santiago at this very moment, but I doubt they learned any Spanish beyond a handful of words. I am the black sheep in a rather tin-eared family, so I will be giving the language issue somewhat more attention when I emulate their journey. --   Jack of Oz   [pleasantries]  02:32, 14 May 2014 (UTC)
 * For that purpose I would recommend 201 Spanish Verbs (the new edition of 501 Spanish Verbs has a CD, but it may be overkill) and a very small dictionary of phrases and vocabulary. You'll find 99% of Spanish Grammar is in the verbs, which often serve as complete sentences.  The hardest but most rewarding part will be mastering the use of the subjunctive. μηδείς (talk) 21:54, 15 May 2014 (UTC)