<p>Hi, I was wondering if it was a good idea to start learning a new foreign language in college. I made it all the up to the 4th year level of Spanish in high school (just short of AP Spanish). I'm not particularly fond of learning Spanish, so if I must take a language in college, I'd prefer French, Arabic, or maybe mandarin. But I'm uncertain if it is a good idea to start a new language at the most basic level in college, since the language classes are, I'm assuming, much harder in college than in high school. Should I suck it up and take the advanced Spanish classes? Do the advanced level spanish classes turn out to be harder than the basic level French or Arabic courses? would my background in Spanish make it easier for me to take other romance language courses (eg French or porteguese)? Any input would be appreciated!</p>
<p>French and (especially) Portugese tend to be much more difficult than Spanish for most people. Why are you not fond of learning Spanish? And why do you think that you would prefer a different language over Spanish?</p>
<p>You certainly can start a new language—I happen to know a number of people who are taking Ancient Greek at my college.</p>
<p>And yes, college foreign language classes move at a quicker pace than high school foreign language courses. In my first year Spanish class (I only took Spanish I and II in high school), we have now gone up through the curriculum of a high school Spanish IV class.</p>
<p>If you don’t like taking Spanish, then don’t. I took Spanish all through elementary, middle and high school and hated it. If I had had the option of taking something else, I would have.<br>
Now that I’m in college I’m torn between French, German and Italian. Anything but Spanish haha.</p>
<p>Princessmahina, I’m in the exact situation. Spanish was my only option, and I figured that it would be foolish not to take a foreign language class. So I just stuck with it.
So should take the higher level spanish classes and get over it or start a new language from scratch? Which would be the LEAST DIFFICULT and painless? Because I really just want to get over it, and if it wasn’t required, I would never take a foreign language at all.</p>
<p>If a college has a gen ed requirement for a foreign language, it is usually the equivalent of two years of college courses (or, through the immediate level). In general, four years of language in high is equivalent to two years in college. If you’re just short of AP level, you might be able to use Spanish to test out of the language requirement. Most schools can give you a placement test for this purpose. If you don’t score high enough to test out of the language requirement, you still might only need to take one or two terms of Spanish to complete the requirement Since you’re looking for the least difficult way to meet the requirement, this would be it.</p>
<p>If, on the other hand, a student wanted to start a new language in college, he/she could do this, but it would take at least two years to complete the requirement, unless the school offered intensive versions of the elementary and intermediate courses. French wouldn’t be too difficult, but if you chose a non-Western language or a classical language, it could be fairly time-consuming.</p>
<p>As a current French and Italian student, I find learning languages quite easy. I’ve taken languages basically my whole life (Korean and Japanese at home) so picking up new languages is a fairly easy process. I highly recommend that you take languages all throughout college as they can help you beyond. It’s beneficial to be bilingual, even if you’re not too fluent. It looks good on a job resume and if you continue after college, you’ll have plenty of “Thank god I kept with it” moments if you end up in a country that speaks it.</p>
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Advanced language classes are literature and culture classes. Intro classes are about vocab and grammar and pronunciation. Which do you prefer?</p>
<p>I’m bilingual (French and English) and I took the easy way out and did French up to AP in high school. I’m taking my first ever Spanish class, 101, and I find it very easy. I think for you French would be easiest because French and Spanish are so similar.</p>
<p>Yeah foreign languages are not my strength, relatively speaking. I’m already bilingual (English and Hindi) so I’m all set there. I don’t think I’d be able to do well on a placement exam because I’m a little rusty, so I guess retaking the equivalent of high school Spanish 4 to prove 2nd year profiency like zapfino said would be the easiest thing. But if more languages are really THAT beneficial, I guess I’d consider taking more language courses. I assume Chinese or Arabic would be the most useful, but I’ve heard that it’s a real b***h to learn eastern languages.</p>
<p>Take Russian. Easy as pie ;)</p>
<p>Since you’ve already taken one romance language, it would probably easier to learn another.
I’ve also heard German is easy (relatively speaking) for native English speakers. Then again, my German/Austrian friends argue vehemently otherwise:)</p>
<p>I think being interested in other languages is a good reason to switch; I’m taking French right now in high school but I really want to learn Arabic, which isn’t offered, so I’m basically going to start that in college (though I’m hoping to take a class this summer to get started) and maybe continue with French just so I don’t lose it, especially since although I’m mainly interested in the Middle East, I might spend some time in the Maghreb region where French will be useful. So if you don’t like Spanish, then switch to another language, but try to think about whether or not it will be useful for you to keep it up, maybe just on your own (I’m kind of considering this, like instead of doing college classes, keeping my French by joining a club and watching French movies and such).</p>
<p>I started Norwegian in college because I was sick of French. I didn’t find the class overly hard but it meets every single day, which is ridiculously annoying, and there’s more day-to-day homework than there is in my other classes. I do think it moves faster than the high school level, but not a lot faster. I don’t find it overly hard though and in fact it seems more like a high school class than a college class to me.</p>
<p>I hated my Spanish classes in high school (completely due to my teacher), but now I’m taking Russian. </p>
<p>Best choice of my life.</p>
<p>If you’re just looking to fill your gen. ed. requirements for a language, you should probably see if you can get any credit for AP or Honors courses.</p>
<p>Also, if you’re not really interested in learning a particular language, do some shopping. Check out which languages are offered & do some reading (or wiki-ing if so inclined) on the cultures of the countries that speak each language. Even if you’re not wild about the actual language, if you find a country that interests you, at least you’ll have a connection & motivation for learning & enjoying your language class, & hey-- you’ll be equipped to visit :)</p>
<p>I’m lucky enough that my high school had some alternative options for languages-- the idea of taking Spanish & French did not particularly excite me, & at the time I entered high school I was more interested in manga/anime more than anything else. That interest actually led me to start taking Japanese (of course with the middle school mentality that someday I would translate manga or become a voice actor haha). Once my 2 year requirement was up, I realized I actually enjoyed the class & the language despite some of the difficulties, & was legitimately interested in the culture.
Actually, if you’re looking for other options, the Japanese language itself is pretty straightforward with the exception of the writing system, but I think that the speaking portion of the study is more useful in any case. Just another thought.</p>
<p>Another option is to see if there are any foreign writers that you would want to read in the original language & maybe pick one based on that goal-oriented route. Or, just look through some phrase lists for different languages & look at which ones you enjoy speaking.</p>
<p>Also alternatively, perhaps ASL could count as your language requirement, if that’s something you’d want to do.</p>
<p>So do some searching & see what interests you, enjoy your classes!</p>