Advanced Level Foreign Language Class

College Majors Engineering Majors
1

First off, the reason I’m asking this here is because I want to get an engineering major’s perspective on a foreign language class.

I’ve self taught myself German over the past few years, it is a hobby of mine that I’m passionate about. Just for fun, I took the placement test at my university (Rutgers) and tested into Advanced German I, and now I’m thinking of actually taking it. I’ve never taken a university level language class before; how demanding would an advanced level language class be compared to typical engineering classes? I’m pretty good with languages and this would be something I would find enjoyable.

Note: I’m not interested in discussing whether or not the time would be better spent taking another engineering class in it’s place.

Thanks!

2

I don’t believe that being an engineering major is a major factor in deciding to take a German class.

I took German for a year in high school for fun. I had already fulfilled the HS language requirement by taking Latin (don’t ask why I choose Latin) but wanted a language I could actually use. In college, I thought it would be fun to take German to help fulfill my “humanities” requirement. Oh, what a mistake!!!

It was a mistake in that the college class focused on spoken German and I was really good at written German (as was the focus of my HS class). I had no “ear” for it and struggled mightily. I escaped with a “C” and a promise on my part to the instructor to never take another German class at that college.

I suspect that you have learned German more or less as a written language as you have self studied. Talk to the instructor and get their opinion. They could also try speaking to you in German to get a feel for your preparedness for the advanced class. Try sitting in on a couple of German classes before you sign up. You can always start the following semester. Maybe start at German 1 rather than the advanced class.

Many years later, I did visit Germany. Fun and interesting country. I did go with friends that had spent time in Germany and were fluent in the language. We were able to go off the usual tourist paths and it was a good trip.