I’d really like to take French 1 at the CC in fall, but it conflicts with another class (numerical analysis at the university) that I’m hoping to take. I can’t register until August for numerical, so it’s perfectly possible I can’t take it (the class is already full).
I really need a language in for fall, and I haven’t had any language previously.
My other options at the CC in order of preference so far are:
online Arabic 1 with a decent professor
online Spanish 1 with someone, hopefully pretty good (there’s lots of these sections)
online French 1 with a not-so-great professor
I don’t really think online language is a good, idea, though…
Options at the university, depending on one other class (that is at the moment unsure) - likewise ordered by preference:
French 1, unknown professor
Latin 1, unknown professor
Spanish 1, unknown professor
(other languages too, but the first two I’m actually interested in, and the third is easier to get)
Note that the professor for numerical (who I really like) won’t be teaching it after fall, so if I can get in, I’ll absolutely take it.
Thoughts on my language situation?
Arabic is far more difficult to learn than French or Spanish (I live in a household where both Arabic and French is spoken.) I’d only take it if I were certain that the professor was excellent and I was passionate about pursuing it further.
I took Latin for four years in high school and I took two semesters of it in college - it is pretty straight forward and logical. I’d recommend Latin if you’re just looking for any language and don’t necessarily care how “applicable” it is to the real world.
What about Spanish? FWIW, I am in high school (dual-enrolling - I’m homeschooled so I don’t really take language at HS).
Latin… well, the only reason I’m interested is because I’m passingly interested in classics.
French would be applicable in my career (as an actuary); obviously Latin wouldn’t be and Spanish and Arabic would be somewhat useful.
Do you think online Spanish would be doable? Regarding online Arabic, I don’t know about the prof except for RMP - which is likely quite skewed 
French will be MUCH easier than Arabic but Arabic is a critical language hence deemed in high priority which may help you at some universities to get admission and/ or honors. Since you’re advanced in math, French often is one of the languages required in grad school (France is big for math ; the addition to it, or the alternative to it, is Russian).
French and Arabic are a golden combination, much sought-after. Any chance you can take both ? ; -)
@MYOS1634 Thanks Presently French is dependent on transportation that probably still won’t work out, so I can’t count on it. Therefore it’s unlikely I can take it (if it were likely I wouldn’t have posted it… I’m not deliberately taking it with a not-so-wonderful prof.) Arabic I could probably take, it being online… But I don’t want to overload myself (the rest of my load will be 3 maths/stats, as I’m - happily! - doing my other core high school subjects in summer).
Note on Arabic: it’s unlikely I could continue it after the first semester - the CC rarely offers the 2nd, and the university scheduling is a nightmare (requiring a 5 day a week schedule, which I’m trying to avoid - 2-3 days is fine, but I won’t have a ride to campus 5 days a week).
Can you combine them first semester, and cut down to one next semester ?
@MYOS1634 No, I can’t, since I’m only allowed to take Arabic if I do NOT get French, and the heavier math/stat load will be in fall
I could probably pick up Arabic in almost any other semester (maybe) - but one semester of a language is pretty useless
Arrgh . DE rules, cc rules, or parent rules ?
Anyway… choose between French (for math) and Arabic (to stand out more) then. Keeping my fingers crossed.
@MYOS1634 Reasoning sense/rules - 2 languages, 1 of which is super difficult and the other of which isn’t exactly cake city, plus a challenging statistics (programming in this case) course, plus a challenging math course, plus either a stat or math course (7 or 8 difficulty on 10)… it’s just difficult. I need a social life too
If I do that, my ‘choice’ will probably be Arabic since it’s unlikely I’ll get French (again, if I could get French easily, I wouldn’t have bothered querying it )
ETA Oops. The university doesn’t offer Arabic in a reasonable sequence… so it’d be one semester hit-and-run. Four of French or four of Spanish would be better in that case, right?
For an English speaker, Arabic would require more courses or credits worth of courses to reach a given level of skill than Spanish or French.
If you want to go to graduate study in math, French, German, and/or Russian are commonly useful. Math PhD programs may require a reading knowledge of one of these languages (i.e. be able to read a math research paper in such a language and understand the math involved).
If you want to work for the CIA take Arabic.
Was thinking insurance, not CIA, @Mandalorian - but thanks 
With Russian and likely German, I’ll have similar problems with continuity as Arabic… and if I could take French in fall, I would. (My personal preference is French - and Russian and German at the university pose the same (or worse!) transportation difficulty as French.)
If I can’t get French, would it be better to start on Spanish? I’d prefer something academically useful, but I need a language nonetheless.
If transportation to the university is difficult, is there a community college you can go to using public transportation? When will you be allowed to drive?
Considering your interests, French would make the most sense.
(Obviously, Spanish would have to do if nothing else works, since, as you say, you need a language.)
The community college is the one that doesn’t OFFER French suitably in the first place. @MYOS1634
Ok so it has to be the university then.
… which I may or may not be able to get to. Yep. I suppose I’ll plan my schedule more in August (which is when I can actually register for university classes - should be able to register earlier for others).
Plan for French at the University and then Plan B, but we really can’t decide if for your online French is “less bad” or “more tolerable” than “face to face Spanish”.
Any chance you could self-study with a tutor and CLEP?
I’m very partial to French. I tried to learn Spanish with my homeschooler and was baffled most of the time (and I live in southern Florida where you can hear Spanish all day if you want to). Agree with the suggestion up-thread for Latin.
@MYOS1634 Without the university, my options that I know I have are:
online Spanish (decent/good prof)
online Arabic (decent/good prof, but only one semester readily available)
online French (bad prof)
Of which I’d have to choose Spanish.
At the university, Spanish, Arabic, Latin, German, and Russian (and Greek) have nothing that I see over French - they all demand the same horrible schedule, and for the most part, they’re at the same time. And my preference is French. (Latin would be “fun” - if I decide to minor in classics, for example)
@SouthFloridaMom9 Can’t afford a tutor, and my university wouldn’t accept the CLEP (or AP) credit because I’ll have surpassed 30 credit hours by the time I’d take the exam (I’m at 29 now).
@preamble1776, my ms daughter took spanish (she is getting pretty fluent at it) and wants to take arabic. is that a good combination? Thanks for your advice!