<p><<sweden has=“” a=“” great=“” standard=“” of=“” living=“” and=“” bustling=“” economy=“” with=“” opportunity=“” for=“” growth.=“” clients=“” may=“” look=“” favorably=“” on=“” swedish=“” speakers=“” than=“” those=“” who=“” rely=“” translators.=“”>></sweden></p>
<p>The Scandanavian economies, with their highly socialized welfare states have been growing at a very slow clip since the late 1980s, which some might call “stagnant”. Their economy is not nearly as dynamic as many others. And you’re forgetting that Sweden has a very small population, and a very small number of native speakers. In addition, the vast majority of Swedes learn English since early childhood, and most Swedes you come in contact with speak English at or near a fluent level, particularly those in international professions. If you were an American doing business with the Swedes, your Swedish counterparts/clients would most likely speak English anyway. </p>
<p>Italian is a beautiful language, with a rich history in culture, the arts, etc, but it is not all that useful for international business, being that it is only spoken in Italy, and Italy’s financial sector is very small compared to other European competitors like Germany and the U.K. </p>
<p>GLOBAL languages are the most important. Think, which countries had global, multi-continental empires? Which languages are spoken in several countries? Which countries have large financial industries? </p>
<p>English
French
Spanish</p>
<p>Also, when considering learning a foreign language, one should think about how many native speakers it has. With that criteria, something like Mandarin comes to mind, with over 800 million native speakers, along with German at 100+ native speakers, etc. Hindi would not be included as most professionals in India learn English anyway. </p>
<p>Brazil will soon be an influential player on the world stage, with over 200 million people. Perhaps Portuguese is a good choice with an eye to the future.</p>
<p>Look at your country’s largest trading partners. This will help also.</p>