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 Language Learning Forum : Questions About Your Target Languages |  | |
| multilingual Bilingual Diglot Newbie Canada Joined 5782 days ago 28 posts - 29 votes Speaks: French*, English* Studies: German Studies: Russian, Portuguese | Message 1 of 7 21 April 2009 at 3:58pm | IP Logged |
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Hey guys, I have a decision to make and would like your input.
I have recently changed degrees (from economics to philosophy) and I have to take a language class, I might want to turn it into a minor. I have narrowed down my options. German, Japanese, Latin, Ancient literature (Ancient Greek and Latin translated to English) I'm a native speaker of English and French. Last summer I taught myself a fair bit of German. I've acquired somewhere between one and two semesters of knowledge and may be able to teach myself the whole of the language. Here are my concerns German: Super useful, relevant, but I might be able to teach it to myself Japanese: Also super useful and relevant and I will probably never teach it to myself, but only a total of four semesters of Japanese are offered (I'd have to take religious studies and economics classes on Japan to make a minor). I'm also afraid that I'll never master it and forget it. Latin: Should improve my English and French, there is a considerable volume of literature, but I'm afraid that I won't be able to learn enough of it in four semesters for it to be useful for reading stuff (oh and it's dead) Ancient literature: I get to read all the Ancient Greek and Latin classics, but it's all in English The factors that I have determined as the most pertinent are the following: Literary History Improve my English and French skills (through the study of grammar) Use within my philosophy degree Business use Thanks 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Dark_Sunshine Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5707 days ago 340 posts - 357 votes  Speaks: English*, French | Message 2 of 7 21 April 2009 at 4:09pm | IP Logged |
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I guess this is highly subjective, but based on what you've said, I'd go for German- lots of great philosophers wrote in German, and it's also useful in business (or at least it was, before the current global 'crisis'). But other than that, I think the usual advice applies, which is to choose the one you feel most motivated by- because the more you enjoy it, the better your grades will be, which is kind of important at degree level.
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| delta910 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5817 days ago 267 posts - 313 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Dutch, German | Message 3 of 7 21 April 2009 at 10:02pm | IP Logged |
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Again..I would say German.
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| Marc Frisch Heptaglot Senior Member Germany Joined 6607 days ago 1001 posts - 1169 votes Speaks: German*, French, English, Spanish, Portuguese, Turkish, Italian Studies: Persian, Tamil | Message 4 of 7 21 April 2009 at 10:32pm | IP Logged |
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Literary History
These languages all have a very rich literary history. German and - to a lesser extent - Japanese have the advantage that they also offer a lot of translations that might not be available in English or French. Also, Latin is very well translated in the sense that it'll be easy to find translations for almost any work you might hear of, which is not the case for German or Japanese. Improve my English and French skills (through the study of grammar) Latin beats the others hands down, but I don't think it's really the grammar that will help you much but the insight into vocabulary. On the other hand, the study of ANY language will broaden your linguistic horizons and you'll learn a lot about your own language by studying a very different language such as Japanese. Use within my philosophy degree German is very useful in philosophical fields; I have a friend who studies philosophy and regularly complains about his lacking German skills, because he needs it regularly. Latin can also be quite useful depending on what your speciality is (e.g. studying the philosophy of the middle ages without knowing Latin just doesn't make sense). Ancient Greek is probably the most important of all, but if I understand your post correctly, it's not among your options. Business use Japanese and German. From my own experience, four semesters is not enough to learn a language well enough to be able to do business, but in German you might at least get close (whereas Japanese requires years of intensive study). As a final remark, Latin and Greek literature sure is interesting for a philosophy major, but if you do specialize in a field requiring those languages, you should really learn them. So I'd recommend opting for German, but if you have some time left, studying Latin and/or Greek on your own wouldn't be a bad idea. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| multilingual Bilingual Diglot Newbie Canada Joined 5782 days ago 28 posts - 29 votes Speaks: French*, English* Studies: German Studies: Russian, Portuguese | Message 5 of 7 21 April 2009 at 11:04pm | IP Logged |
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I do have the option of Ancient Greek actually, I might consider it now.
I can only receive four semesters of any of these languages, except German; it is all that is offered. Latin and Greek have literature and poetry classes after though. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| ChristopherB Triglot Senior Member New Zealand Joined 6258 days ago 851 posts - 1074 votes 2 sounds Speaks: English*, German, French | Message 6 of 7 22 April 2009 at 12:05pm | IP Logged |
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As a Philosophy major myself, none of the class that exist at undergraduate level require knowledge of any language other than English, as they're taught in translation. Still, it's a good choice on your part to include a language that is still relevant to the field. What philosophy classes are you taking? If you're studying modern philosophers, German and French are important languages.
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| multilingual Bilingual Diglot Newbie Canada Joined 5782 days ago 28 posts - 29 votes Speaks: French*, English* Studies: German Studies: Russian, Portuguese | Message 7 of 7 22 April 2009 at 5:34pm | IP Logged |
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Well, like I said, I'm transferring into philosophy, so I don't really know what I'm going to do. I believe I'll want to do
my honors thesis on the work of a French philosopher/French philosophers given that I'm fluent in French and have so many great options : Satre, Camus, Beauvoir, Derrida, Baudrillard, Foucault, Barthes and so on. I know the program includes classes on ancient and medieval philosophy among other things. I don't know how much I'll like them. If it helps any, after my bachelors, I intend on doing a Juris Doctor or a MBA, maybe along with a Ph.D in Philosophy or Anthropology or the like. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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