So I'm probably joining the military (canada)

[DarkViruz]

Wouldn't it be better then Iraq or Afghanistan?

[Wynn]

Let's see. What's the demand for Canadian special forces who can speak a language that only exists in one tiny area of Europe? Now what's the demand for disposable infantry in one of the current war zones? Now where do you think it's more likely you'll end up (if deployed)?

[Stix]

If you really wanted to be a translator for Canada, then you would need to speak a major language that is commonly used throughout the world and not spoken by a large portion of people in the military. It's not like Canada needs to speak to Poland all that often, afterall. And I'm sure there is a high concentration of French speakers in the Canadian army already, meaning there'd be less available jobs translating French.

Also consider how many countries the language is used in. Mandarin is spoken by the most people throughout the world, but it is concentrated in relatively few countries when compared to other languages.