<p>Okay... a question for those older and wiser than myself:</p>
<p>What language have you taken at Duke? How hard and or easy has it been? What teachers have you had and how were they?</p>
<p>I am bad at memorizing stuff and whatnot so I know foreign language will be a problem for me. I have already taken some Spanish in highschool.</p>
<p>Some of the other languages that interest me (all of which would probably be harder than Spanish):
-German
-Russian
-Arabic
-Chinese
-Japanese</p>
<p>My roommate took Japanese, and she absolutely loved it. She's actually now a japanese major (or AALL major, since you can't actually do japanese), taking Jpn 63 in the fall.</p>
<p>From what I've gathered living with her, there's a very small number of professors in the Japanese language program (I think maybe 3), and she got to know them all really well. It's just a really close knit program. I'd definitely consider it, because she was way into it and knew ZERO before starting. Now she's so good it completely blows my mind.</p>
<p>I'm taking German, and I love it. I took German 65 last semester and had 11 other people in my class. This semester I'll have 9 other people in my class (German 66). Ger 65 was actually taught by a grad student (who had just received her PhD), and it was amazing (unfortunately, she's now teaching at UNCW). My high school German classes were a joke (we played German monopoly, ate German food, etc.), so I was really impressed by how much I learned in one semester. The people that had only taken German for a year at Duke were as capable as my four years of German. :eek: By the end of the semester, we were able to write and perform our own German skits based on a German novel we read (and have a lot of fun). The German department/club has a lot of activities outside the classroom (Oktoberfest, Faschingsfest, film showings, coffee hours, etc.), which is sooooooo neat as a freshman. As a plus, once you're comfortable with German, you can study abroad or take some of the interesting upper level courses offered by the German department or Medieval Studies department. I'm not sure why, but German-taking students always have the most fun, no matter where you go. :)</p>
<p>Yeah, my roommate for next year started Japanese last year as well. We've had so many conversations where he'll start saying Japanese phrases, and I have to stop and stare at him before he'll tell me what he was saying. He's enjoying the program a lot, and he's even attending a Japanese/American Student Conference (the JASC) this fall.</p>
<p>Is it a bad idea to take two languages in the same semester? I really really want to start Japanese but I don't want to forget all the French I've learned in high school either... =/</p>
<p>So what about the Italian program? I've always wanted to take Italian in college, after doing Latin in highschool. So I'm kind of sold as is. But anyone know anyone who took it? What did they think of it? Or anyone take it themselves?</p>
<p>(seahorse- the story of my life. she'd just be like "and then i said ghfdsgifdsgfds and then she said iudgahiufdghfdsgfdsg" and i'd just sit there like um, I speak english and terrible spanish)</p>
<p>Chinese</p>
<p>I took Elementary Chinese (1 & 2) and had a fantastic experience. In fact, I had such a great experience that I leave tomorrow for China for 9 weeks. In Beijing, I'll be doing the Duke in China program which covers the equivalent of 1 year of Chinese over that time period.</p>
<p>The class itself is pretty challenging - definitely tougher than the French language for a native English speaker. However, Prof. Carolyn Lee does an excellent job of laying the foundations for study of Chinese. She is extremely organized and will do everything to help you succeed. However, she expects you to do your part too. You will always be expected to complete your homework, review what is necessary, and even preview. I would highly recommend the class.</p>
<p>As far as memorizing, you are expected to memorize the characters, but the whole process is pretty systematic (it will be a bit foreign for the first month). Thus, unless you really, really have trouble remembering things, you should be okay in this class.</p>
<p>RE: Italian...
I know a bunch of people who started at Italian 1 and really enjoyed it-- they all rave about the same prof, but I'm not sure if he's still around</p>
<p>Japanese in general (coming from someone who has a hard time learning a language) is not too hard when you begin. You learn phrases and what not. The hard part is learning the writing and reading really. In spanish and french, same alphabet, but accents litter your words. Japanese (I learned 2 alphabets in my first year) becomes especially challenging when you get into higher levels (3rd or 4th year) when the added Kanji is learned. Personally, I think language comes down to the professor/teacher.</p>
<p>I've been wondering about language, too. I have taken Spanish for all four years of high school, but I want to change to Chinese. I'm Chinese and I understand it fluently, but can't read or write. Is it better to take CHN 001 and 002 or go straight to CHN 35/36? Thanks!</p>
<p>If you are a native Mandarin speaker, you are required to take 35/36. If you try to take 1/2, Prof. Carolyn Lee (aka Chairman Lee) will recognize your speech patterns and pronounciation and pull you out of 1/2 and throw you into 35/36. Believe me, she's good. She did it to two kids in my class this past Fall. If you are a Cantonese speaker though, you can be in 1/2. Chinese at Duke is Mandarin, for obvious reasons.</p>
<p>As for Chinese in general, I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in Asian languages. However, if you are an engineer or think you aren't that good at languages and want to just satisfy the reqs, I would NOT recommend Chinese. It is a constant stream of work, you always have character/grammar memorization, and you have to be on your toes for every single class with Prof. Lee. Still though, its a great, small program where you know most everyone taking it. Since it's so small, you have most of your classes with the same set of people and get to know them and the professors (there are only 3-4 real profs) really well. If you go into office hours, they love you even more. </p>
<p>If you are looking to just satisfy reqs, most people seem to think Italian is easiest. I hear Hebrew is even easier from the one or two people I know that take take it. They were both Jewish though, and knew how to read alot of it.</p>
<p>Spanish and French are notoriously, surpisingly difficult from experiences I have heard of. You may want to think twice about placing yourself into a very high class.</p>
<p>So, if I am an engineer, do you suggest that I do something other than Chinese? I think I'll have plenty of work as it is.</p>
<p>If you're really interested in it, I'd still take it. But if you're concerned about workload, intro Latin isn't bad. It only meets three times a week, and the fact that you only have to learn how to read it makes the learning process easier than it is for most other languages.</p>
<p>Okay one more question... on ACES and such it talks about "Language Placement Test"... do you take that at orientation or what?</p>
<p>It's kind of annoying... I mean I might consider continuing Spanish and I don't know where I would place (probably 2 or 63)... I don't want to sign up for one and then take a placement test that would put me in the other and end up with some ****ty time slot or just no slot at all.</p>
<p>Ahhh!</p>
<p>...if I scored within the range for 63 and had signed up for 2 would they make me move up?</p>
<p>bumpity bump bump</p>
<p>What about taking Spanish (as a minor) and Chinese as an elective at the same time? Would that be too much work along with calculus and chem for the first semester?</p>
<p>I'm really interested in taking either German or Chinese (mainly becuase I think the study abroad programs look awesome). If they are virtually tied in my head, what would you recommend: as far as future benefits as an engineer and fun factor?</p>
<p>German, of course. They recently created a special study abroad program in Berlin for engineers that earns Duke credit.</p>
<p>Yea, although as a Chinese double major I'm a big supporter of Chinese, I'd say do German. It will be hard to find an engineering program to do in China that Duke will take credit from.</p>