<p>I really want to enroll in a language course, specifically Arabic or Chinese. I have no prior knowledge with either, so I will be starting from the most basic course. </p>
<p>I was wondering if anyone has taken any of those courses that can tell me about their difficulty/course load. I really want to learn the language but I don't want it hurting my grades. I know the languages are really difficult to learn as it is, but do the professors have a good foundation for teaching the classes?</p>
<p>I’ve had several friends go through Arabic at Cornell and they seemed to enjoy the experience and several of them have since studied and/or worked abroad in the Middle East. That said, languages in general, but especially Arabic or Chinese will require a substantial amount of work. </p>
<p>I tend to describe the work as time consuming but not difficult. What I mean by that is that with language, there is no way around spending a lot of time with the language. You have to spend hours a week doing it on a consistent basis. There is a good chance any language class you have will occupy more time outside class than any other course. That said, I don’t describe it as particularly intellectually challenging, meaning you have to do the work, but you know exactly what you have to do. Unlike say engineering or math homework where if you know what you’re doing, a problem set might take 30 minutes and if you are unsure/confused, that same homework can easily take 3-4 hours plus additional office hours.</p>
<p>I am assuming you are referring to Beginner Mandarin when you said Chinese. If you are referring to Cantonese, then I am not sure.</p>
<p>That being said, I heard from friends who took that Beg Mandarin that it was a lot of work. But, Cornell has a very good Mandarin department so you will definitely learn a lot. When my friend took it, I believe they had classes five times a day. So if you are planning on taking it just make sure it fits your schedule.</p>
<p>@Mikey Thanks for the information, that was very helpful @Renyun Sorry, I forgot to specify that it would be Mandarin, but nonetheless, thanks for the info I really appreciate it!</p>