I am a second year student attending a public university in Florida. I made this thread to ask what a more viable decision would be regarding what language I should take. I have several options I will list here, along with the pros and cons:
Continue French (took for 4 years at IB level in high school)
Pros: have experience in the language, could potentially minor in it, enjoy Francophone culture and would love to go to or (maybe) even move to Europe someday
Cons: I was really bad at the language when taking it in high school and struggled a lot, lost a lot of the language from one year of not taking it and would have to start at the Intermediate level
Start Spanish
Pros: I live in Florida, and a lot of people here don't speak English at all/ a lot of Spanish speaking people here, good for jobs in the US , relatively easy language/ similar to French
Cons: Have to start from scratch relatively late in my college career, and may never be fluent, 5 credits for the beginning class
Start Arabic
Pros: Grew up in Middle East and have a lot of interest in Middle Eastern culture and possibly working for the government, want to eventually learn Farsi and I think Arabic would help, took it in elementary school so have some familiarity
Cons: EXTREMELY hard language, almost no practical use in American conversation, also 5 credits and meets every day
Not take a language at all
Pros: Already have foreign language credit from high school, saves money for classes, I'm not good at languages so it could potentially save my GPA
Cons: I really want to be fluent in a language (hopefully more)
I am currently a finance major, but am considering political science, economics, PR, telecommunications, accounting, and information systems still. Also, I may stay in Florida but I also may want to move to other big cities like Washington DC or NYC.
So what language should I take? Thank you SO much for reading this and I appreciate you help/advice!
I would think about it from a practical point of view…
You do not have to take a foreign language for college since you have the credits.
You want to keep up your GPA
You seem to enjoy other cultures
So I would say don’t take Arabic unless you think you can use it in your career. It would be such a big time suck. If you want to learn it for fun, you could always learn it outside school.
For French, I would look at the courses that you would take. You could start in intermediate, but then what classes would you take? Would it be like French Literature or something? Would you enjoy that?
How many years would you take?
Spanish is not that different from French…if you started from the beginning it would not be that difficult as it is a Romance language.
If you didn’t take a language, is there some other area you would want to concentrate in?
4. If you already have the credit and aren't good at it, skip it and save your GPA. Do an outside language class/program instead.
I wish I could have done that eons ago. I speak Spanish like a dirty-mouthed not-too-bright pre-schooler (But I can read newspapers, etc.) Dang Spanish classes messed up my GPA briefly!
I know that Florida has a comprehensive business French program that can lead to official certification, look at how many classes you’d need to take before you can complete those classes. They also have a special “sister state” program with France but you’d need to look into it further. (Nowadays, minors may focus on many different subjects and aren’t limited to literature although one class in it is usually standard. You can focus on business, French speaking Africa, the Maghreb, diversity on France, French tech…)
Spanish is another good idea, especially for Florida. You’d probably need to take it every semester to get to a usable level so it all depends how committed to it you are. However you’d have lots of opportunities to practice (friends, TV, radio, etc.)
Thank you so much for your responses! @bopper, I would start at intermediate 1, then 2, then I would have to take 2 advanced grammar classes (grammar&composition and composition&stylistics) and then 2-3 courses involving anything French, either language or culture. I think I could find classes that interest me based on the options. And I’m not sure if there are any other areas on concentration I would pursue, I just know that being bilingual is essential to be competitive for jobs,
@TQfromtheU Yeah I am kind of like that even though I took 4 years of French lol- I guess another option would be to take it pass/fail, would it be worth it then?
@MYOS1634 i think the only minor related to French my schools offer is French & Francophone Studies. And that’s one thing I’m worried about with Spanish, if it would even be worth it. If I can only afford to take Beginning 1 and 2, would that still be worth it?
Well you won’t have a very usable level of Spanish - you’ll know some though, enough for basic transactions and expressions, and you’ll know a little bit about the Spanish speaking world. You’ll also have more opportunity for daily practice, but you’ll sound elementary compared to local heritage speakers. Reaching an intermediate level would be a minimum (4-5 courses should be planned).
If you want to become fluent or at least have a usable linguistic level, then you’ll have better odds with French. With roughly the same number of classes (4-5) you’d have professionally usable linguistic skills.
Check if your university has a “business French” certificate. Most in Florida do and requirements are different from the minor’s. Be aware that if you plan on dealing with France and French people, they’ll take for granted that you know their history and basic cultural facts. (All students take history every year from grade3-12 regardless of what other social sciences they also study. When the government wanted to cut the history requirement for STEM majors, there was such a hullabaloo from angry parents that the requirement was reinstated.) So I’d take a history and culture course along with any business class, and try for a summer or semester abroad.
(But I can read newspapers, etc.) Dang Spanish classes messed up my GPA briefly!