<p>In light of our country's current international relations, which language would be best (most useful) in the future (20+ years) in business and political terms?</p>
<p>Given the difficulty of all of these languages, I would find it difficult to learn even one of them fluently, let alone two, and so am narrowing them down to one choice.</p>
<p>Opinions from the wise would be greatly appreciated!</p>
<p>Which culture pulls you the most? Which language seems more intrinsically interesting? </p>
<p>Read about the countries, the cultures, the written language. Go with what pulls you. You might feel more at home in one culture and language than another. </p>
<p>Which department is the strongest at your school? Go with the best instruction, as that will inspire you, and perhaps give better connections to that country and language.</p>
<p>^^ I agree. As you go into intermediate level of the course, you'll start watching a lot of films. You'll want to watch films that actually interest you so you can listen and reading along the subtitles (in that language of course). Of course, how the films are written and the people behave really reflects the culture so go with the culture that interests you.</p>
<p>If you can't stand Middle East films, then don't take Arabic or Farsi :) Lots of desert and Muslim cultural traditions (farming, women in head scarves, boys and men taking care of everything).</p>
<p>Also, think about how you learn best and what language might be the easiest for you to learn. I was deciding between Latin and Chinese at one point and realized that I'm good at grammar, but totally tone-deaf. So Latin was obviously the better choice for me. </p>
<p>Also, think about where you'll be living while in school--is there a population in the area who speak one of the languages you're considering? It will probably be easier for you to become fluent if you can go to restaurants, cultural events, community groups, etc. where people are speaking the language you're studying.</p>
<p>I agree - don't take Chinese if you don't have an ear for the tones! It was very hard for me to either hear them or reproduce them.</p>
<p>I'd lean towards Arabic, there are fewer native speakers in the US, so your services would be likely to be in greater demand than Chinese. It's going to remain strategically an important place for many years to come and it's spoken in a lot of countries.</p>
<p>Farsi and Korean are just one (or two) country languages aren't they?</p>
<p>My friend works for the government and said that Farsi translators make a CRAZY amount of money. How much? Who knows? But it's not surprising.</p>
<p>Pick whichever interests you the most. Also, if you have good pronunciation and a good accent in one of the languages - NOT EASY! - then that is very beneficial. If you pick a language that you don't like, your chances of fluency aren't as high. Practice, practice, practice, and watch some TV in that language.</p>
<p>Im learning Arabic and i must say it is extremly difficult. They don't write with vowels often times so i find reading almost impossible.</p>
<p>take what you are interested in
The language of commerce is still English ( unless you are in
Miami)</p>
<p>Farsi and Korean are less widely used. Chinese will probably grow more and more important in the coming years (this is especially useful if you're going to work in the tech industry). Arabic could also be useful b/c it is spoken throughout most of the middle east (a lot of places).</p>
<p>Agreed that you should study whatever has a culture that interests you. After five or six years of Spanish, I stopped because I realized that I was simply not very interested in the movies I was watching and the culture I was studying. I switched to Mandarin, and in some ways found it easier than Spanish had been. If you have an ear for tones and good visual memory, don't be afraid of it. I found that the standards were a bit lower than they had been in Spanish, as the vocab lists tended to be much shorter, and we were almost expected not to remember all the characters.</p>
<p>Not really advice. Just what I know.</p>
<p>My husband has spent over a year learning Mandarin. He has accepted the tonal issues but I don't think I ever would be able to. Mandarin is very standarized so you can speak to everyone else who speaks Mandarin. Also Mandarin is nice in that many people in China also speak some English (and they love practicing it). this has a good overview FAQ</a> about learning Mandarin Chinese </p>
<p>Spoken "Arabic" has many more versions than Mandarin. Also, there are many cultural issues tied into the language/words you choose in a certain situation.
[quote]
Should a non-native learner study Modern Standard Arabic, one of the dialects, or both?</p>
<p>Before venturing on a learning journey, you should choose the learning exercise that would match your objectives best. If your goal is to do research, be able to read Arabic books or media, or use Arabic in formal situations, then MSA is what you need to study. If you are going to use Arabic mainly in the spoken form in order to communicate with people on the streets, then colloquial Arabic may suffice. It is important to note that by studying MSA as the basis of your Arabic language knowledge, you easily acquire the colloquial form, as it is in many ways a simplified version of MSA.
Which dialect should a non-native study? </p>
<p>If you know in advance the region or country where you may use Arabic, then, you should choose its dialect. If, on the other hand, no such plans are definite, then it may be wiser to choose one of the dialects that are most easily comprehensible throughout the Arab region, such as the Egyptian dialect as they are all exposed to it via TV programs, films and documentaries..
[/quote]
</p>
<p>this is good faq</a>, Arabic language, .</p>
<p>You might also consider the strength of the department, whether it's sort of getting off the ground or well established. Also it might be good to think about what kind of study abroad options studying the language will lead to and which countries you'd be most interested in experiencing. I guess the rest depends on whether you're leaning towards politics or business.</p>
<p>yeah I'm a native speaker of Arabic and its a pretty tough language to learn. I agree with MaryTN and suggest learning formal Arabic. Then depending on the country u plan on studying in, u can adjust ur dialect accordingly.
dialects are not that difficult to add on once you have the foundation of formal arabic. </p>
<p>I would suggest spending some time learning some of the basic phrases of each of the 4 languages. After that, pick which one you are best at/like the best.</p>
<p>good luck!</p>
<p>Also consider Portuguese (Brazil) for business.</p>
<p>Students who are in middle or high school should consider the Middlebury</a> Monterey Language Academy They teach Arabic, Chinese, French, Spanish and next year German. They had a waiting list as of March, so the program is in demand .</p>
<p>Full disclosure: I work at Middlebury.</p>
<p>There are quite a few people of Korean origin in the U.S. who speak both Korean and English, so I would not think Korean would be in as high demand as the others.</p>
<p>This kind of question comes up a lot. I believe it is backwards thinking. Learning a foreign language is extremely difficult, and the ones you list are incredibly difficult (especially Chinese and Arabic). If there isn't something "extra" there, some real personal interest, it's extremely unlikely that you'll stick with any of these languages to acquire reasonable proficiency. So you should pick the one you are personally interested in. </p>
<p>Tones in Chinese are quite difficult, I agree with that, but I think that the characters are the real obstacle. It's a lot easier to put the time and energy in to figuring out the tones than it is to learn 2,000+ characters.</p>
<p>Keep in mind the cultural aspects of the countries if you are female. I knew a young woman in the Pacific Northwest who was a Japanese translator. She difficult time as she was viewed as both a translator and an "escort" when hired to interpret by Japanese businessmen.</p>
<p>If you are female you might consider Mandarin or Korean due to the cultural values of the countries that speak Arabic and Farsi.</p>
<p>Dd is learning Farsi through a government funded program (part of the strategic language initiative). It's a difficult language and there are a very limited number of places that you can study it overseas, but she really enjoys learning it. She's heading overseas in a few weeks to finish the study-abroad component of the program. I know nothing about job possibilities linked to learning the language.</p>
<p>I've studied Chinese for about three years and am currently living in China. I think kenf1 has it mostly correct. These languages are so hard that only people with a sort of relentless tenacity ever really become conversational. It's not like French or Spanish where you just hop on the "train", study the books, and become fluent in two years. Every day is a struggle. Every day you don't work on it, you regress. I honstly think most people would be better off learning two Romance/Germanic languages (more than doable in the time it takes for Chinese). </p>
<p>I actually disagree with the character's being the most difficult comment. There are a ton of characters, but the only obstacle to learning them is time. After a few years, you <em>will</em> know enough to read. Understanding the tones, on the other hand, requires a degree of natural talent that some people just don't have. The issue isn't speaking, it's listening. Spoken Mandarin has a very fast pace, all sorts of regional differences, and generally sounds way different in real life than it does on the practice tapes. I'm skeptical that anyone can become conversational without being immersed for 1-2 years.</p>