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3rd language = French, German or Arabic? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| ZeroTX Groupie United States Joined 6134 days ago 91 posts - 100 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 1 of 19 01 January 2010 at 2:06am | IP Logged | ||
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Hi guys,
I am a native English speaker in the United States. I'm working towards "fluency" in Spanish. I am hoping to feel within a year or so comfortable enough to begin learning a third language, but I'm really torn as to which one to choose. I want useful languages. I am not learning Spanish just because I think it sounds pretty (though it often does), but instead because of the utility of the language here in the United States and in places that I wish to travel on this side of the planet. However, I do love Western Europe and I'd like to consider one of the dominant European languages other than English or Spanish, which leads me to German or French. On the other hand, it seems like Arabic is becoming a prominent language with usefulness in many parts of the world, including the United States. Thoughts? Speed of learning is certainly a factor and some have told me that my knowledge of Spanish will help me with French. I don't know if that's true. Thanks, ZeroTX 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Levi Pentaglot Senior Member United States Joined 5566 days ago 2268 posts - 3328 votes Speaks: English*, French, Esperanto, German, Spanish Studies: Russian, Dutch, Portuguese, Mandarin, Japanese, Italian | Message 2 of 19 01 January 2010 at 7:36am | IP Logged | ||
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If you decide to learn French, your knowledge of Spanish will definitely help you out a lot. The two languages don't seem too similar on the surface, but once you start to get a feel for them both you see they have much of the same underlying structure and a lot of the vocabulary is very similar.
If speed is a big factor, then you'll want to go for German or French. Arabic will take you ages to speak well. But all in all, I think it's important to listen to your gut and go for a language you'll really enjoy learning. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Woodpecker Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 5810 days ago 351 posts - 590 votes Speaks: English*, Arabic (Written), Arabic (Egyptian) Studies: Arabic (classical) | Message 3 of 19 01 January 2010 at 7:46am | IP Logged | ||
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Arabic takes most English speakers three to four times as long to learn as French or German. As you will already have another Romance language, French will be even easier for you. Furthermore, the challenges presented by Arabic never stop coming, even after "fluency." The complicated sound system means that acquiring a good accent takes a lot of work and some pretty serious natural talent, advanced grammar confuses even native-speaking Arabs, the dialect-MSA divide means that at least to some extent you actually have to learn two languages (or more, if you're an ambitious traveler), and if you're interested in Qu'ranic/Classical Arabic, there is another whole set of challenges to be tackled after you master MSA and a dialect. Arabic is a hard mistress, but give her your full commitment and prepare yourself for several years of work, and she will be good to you. In the end, Arabic is a truly amazing and beautiful language.
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| Lemus Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 6380 days ago 232 posts - 266 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Japanese, Russian, German | Message 4 of 19 01 January 2010 at 6:49pm | IP Logged | ||
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I would go with French, for a few reasons.
1. Echoing with Levi said, it will be dramatically easier because of your knowledge of Spanish. 2. You mention how you have a passion for Western Europe, but you never mention anything other than practical reasons for learning Arabic. Without a genuine love of the culture and language (which you may very well have, but if so, it's not shown in your post) you will never be able to stick through a language as difficult as Arabic. There's no "wrong" choice in this scenario, but it would be my advice to do French. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| ZeroTX Groupie United States Joined 6134 days ago 91 posts - 100 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 6 of 19 02 January 2010 at 7:53am | IP Logged | ||
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I'm a bit intimidated by Arabic, but I do have direct exposure and access to native Arabic speakers on a daily basis, and no French or German speakers at all, so that might have an impact on my choice.
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Hoopskidoodle Senior Member United States Joined 5499 days ago 55 posts - 68 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French | Message 7 of 19 02 January 2010 at 8:49am | IP Logged | ||
Admittedly, I am biased, but for me this is a no-brainer: French. It's much more widely spoken than German, including right here on our home continent of North America, Québec and Louisiana respectively. Arabic would be useful if you intend to spend time in the Muslim world. I don't necessarily agree that it is becoming a prominent language in the U.S. I live in the part of the country with the highest population of Arabs outside of the Middle-east, and even here, there is no pressing need to speak Arabic... unless you're studying Arabic literature or the Quran. Of course this is only my opinion, but in North America, Cantonese would also be much more useful. Cantonese is the third most widely spoken language in the United States. And, right across the border in Canada, it is much more widely spoken...especially in Vancouver (a.k.a. Hongcouver.) 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| apparition Octoglot Senior Member United States Joined 6649 days ago 600 posts - 667 votes Speaks: English*, Arabic (Written), French, Arabic (Iraqi), Portuguese, German, Italian, Spanish Studies: Pashto | Message 8 of 19 02 January 2010 at 4:58pm | IP Logged | ||
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Arabic rules! It's not as hard as some people make it seem, but I don't think any
languages are 'hard', because even children learn them all the time. It's the language- learning discipline that is sometimes tough to find, because you're trying to replicate first, a child's understanding of the language, then an adult's, in much less time. That takes commitment, something that is very difficult to gauge about yourself until you do it. If given the choice of a mildly curious, but disciplined learner of Arabic versus an enthusiastic, but undisciplined learner of French or Spanish, I'd bet on the disciplined Arabic learner of succeeding more in the same amount of time. And that opinion is borne out of multiple examples in my life of people who start learning languages. So, just make sure you keep the discipline. And by discipline, I don't mean being masochistic. You should definitely enjoy it. I just mean doing at least something useful every day, for as long as you can. Don't short-change yourself. Naturally, I like all of the languages you're thinking about, but Arabic is nearest and dearest to me, so I'm biased that way! :) Edited by apparition on 02 January 2010 at 4:59pm 3 persons have voted this message useful |
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