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 Language Learning Forum : Advice Center |  | |
| catullus_roar Quadrilingual Octoglot Groupie Australia Joined 4388 days ago 89 posts - 184 votes  Speaks: Malay, Hokkien*, English*, Mandarin*, Cantonese*, French, German, Spanish Studies: Italian, Latin, Armenian, Afrikaans, Russian | Message 9 of 11 08 May 2013 at 7:59am | IP Logged |
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I agree that you should pick the exotic and obscure languages now, as languages like French and Spanish can be learned more easily later. Here's my opinion on each of your options. I've ranked them based on how much I think you should learn them:
1) Mandarin - China is a really important country right now and I think being able to speak any amount of Mandarin, especially if you can read and write, will be a big advantage for you. It opens up a whole new continent, as Mandarin is used in South-East Asia as well. I know you have a self-study plan for this but I really think that learning it at college would be a huge help for you. 2) Arabic - Even with MSA, a lot of doors are open in business and tourism if you can converse and read Arabic. The culture is also great and I personally like the pop music very much. I am not exactly very skilled in this but I think the Arabic alphabet is not as difficult as we often make it out to be. And you seem interested in this, so you should really consider it. 3) Hebrew - As many have said, it's underrated, exotic and very culturally important. It's an ancient language like Latin or Greek which still manages to remain relevant today, which is surely a testament to its sheer awesomeness. The rest are almost all ruled out. As for Turkish and Farsi, if you want to attain true proficiency (which you do), I would advise against learning anything for just a year, because you don't tend to have quite enough to converse and read with. Just my two cents. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| VanamoVenlo Diglot Groupie Australia Joined 4162 days ago 42 posts - 58 votes Speaks: English*, Japanese Studies: Finnish | Message 10 of 11 09 May 2013 at 3:51am | IP Logged |
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For any language you are seriously considering studying there for more than a year investigate the courses. Take a look at the course content over the first 2-3 years, find out what the course books and course notes etc are for the first 2 years of study and go to the college bookshop and have a careful look through them. Really consider whether what they are focusing on are things that you want or need to learn. Some language courses, from day 1, may take a focus towards business language and interactions, the economy and it's history, and/or reading from textbooks about social issues. These things may or may not interest you. The focus may be on sterile textbook work without touching any literature or genuine native materials. Other courses will have you reading novels and using native materials as soon as they can.
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| GlamorousGirl Newbie United States Joined 4042 days ago 3 posts - 3 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Italian, French | Message 11 of 11 23 May 2013 at 4:39am | IP Logged |
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Thank you all for your help. I have an academic advisor appointment at my college next week, and I will continue to discuss my options with them. I wish it were possible to take two at a time all four years, but that will not be possible because of the number of required courses in other subjects I need to take to graduate. At this point the one "definite" is Turkish, since it is so obscure, would be hard to learn elsewhere, and I would love to travel and participate in their study abroad program in Turkey. I may continue the European languages on my own and take an aptitude test when I finish those courses to jump ahead to an advanced course later on in college. I'm also still really interested in Arabic, Japanese, and Farsi, and if I take the Middle East concentration in my Global Affairs major I think it would be great to have both Arabic and Hebrew. So I have not decided yet but I will keep all your advice in mind when I see the academic counselor next week. There are so many great options!
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