<p>Hi</p>
<p>I'm currently an 8th grader doing course selection for next year and am wondering which language to take on for 4 years. Which one would look more impressive to colleges.</p>
<p>Arabic
Japanese
German
French
Spanish</p>
<p>Completely ignoring college, and just looking at it from a practical standpoint:</p>
<p>Go for Spanish if you want to live in the US. At the rate our country is progressing, you'll need to know it if you want to live here.</p>
<p>OR</p>
<p>Go for Arabic if you want a job with the federal government after college</p>
<p>My god, they breed them here at CC.</p>
<p>Take whatever YOU are interested in, they don't have preference. And don't come back until you are in 10th grade :p</p>
<p>Just kidding, it's good to see someone who is concerned about their education. But seriously, have fun in high school, your life shouldn't be only based on getting into college.</p>
<p>Japanese!!! JAPANESE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It makes you look smart at the very least, PLUS Japan's becoming more important in the global economy as the days go by. Also, I"m taking french and grudgingly realizing it's useless.</p>
<p>Explore each language and see which you might like learning. Are you up for a challenge, or do you want an easier language? If the former, I'd go for Japanese. If the latter, Spanish. Do you want something that's readily applicable (Spanish) or that probably wouldn't be used much in your area (Arabic)? Would you like to see the roots of English (German) or to find a language unlike any other (Japanese)? Do you want to see how English relates to others (Spanish and French)? These sorts of things should be considered. See Wikipedia for more information.</p>
<p>None of them is more "impressive" than the others.</p>
<p>If you can possibly take Chinese then ake it. China is slowly becoming a greater economic power than America. If not then i think Spanish would be the best thing to do.</p>
<p>If it's available, I would personally say Latin. But if it's not, I would go with French-- just because it's a beautiful language. Of course, that's just me.
Honestly, I don't think colleges put much weight on which language you're studying. They're not going to say "oh, this person's learning Spanish, which makes him/her so much less qualified than this person over here who's learning Chinese." What they are going to look at is the dedication that you've put into the language that you've chosen.
DON'T CHOOSE A LANGUAGE FOR THE SAKE OF COLLEGE ADMISSIONS! You will do much better in it if you choose it because you have a real desire to learn it. If you absolutely must think of it in terms of college, consider this: It is far easier to do very well in a language that you actually like, which puts you in a position to win some awards.
Please don't choose something just because you think it's more impressive.</p>
<p>^^ agreed. Language is something to enjoy, so pick one that you'd enjoy the most, not the one that would please adcoms most. =)</p>
<p>Arabic.
This comment is from a parent who was a foreign language major (BA- many years ago in Germanic Languages and Literature, smattering of Hebrew, French, and Spanish)-Take Arabic. You are very fortunate to be offered Arabic at your high school.
However, if you could also manage to take Latin (as well as Arabic) t your high school, then I would suggest doing both. Latin is a pure intellectual exercise, a joy like a game of chess. It helps to organize one's thoughts and both Arabic and Latin will look extremely impressive on your college application.
Caveat, Arabic is an extremely difficult language-be prepared to dedicate a lot of time to it. No doubt, if it is taught well, you will spend your entire four years of high school study doing the very basics of grammar and writing, the writing is intense. Don't look to have much conversational Arabic during this time, that will come later.</p>
<p>I'm definatly considering taking arabic....</p>
<p>I'm taking AP Spanish, but I've always wished I had done Arabic. If I were you, I would take it. Looks useful and fun.</p>
<p>I am happy I already know it :)</p>
<p>And yes, speaking in Arabic fluently will come waaaaay after high school, as in after graduation of college or afterwards.</p>
<p>check with other students about the teachers -- teachers can make or break a language. If you take Arabic and the teacher changes every year and you hardly learn anything -- it was a waste.</p>
<p>Find out what older students think about the language teachers (there are usually a few that really shine) and take that class. you will learn more, be more engaged and enjoy the language more.</p>
<p>i hate when people only pursue education for the sole purpose of impressing colleges...take the one you WANT TO TAKE. if you don't want to don't do it.</p>
<p>i chose french, very recommended because the language is lots of fun :P</p>
<p>My suggestion: Take the language at your high school that will be available all four years.</p>
<p>I took french in middle school, and through 10th grade, but after that, there were not enough people signing up for the course, so they cancelled it. Same for German. So, I was only given the option of 3 years of language (technically 4, but really 3), while everyone who had taken spanish kept going.</p>
<p>Of the languages you listed, Arabic is the one that has been designated a "strategic languages" -- that means that there is increased federal funding available at the college level for that language. See: <a href="http://insidehighered.com/news/2006/01/04/language%5B/url%5D">http://insidehighered.com/news/2006/01/04/language</a></p>
<p>China already has the world's second largest economy and is expected to surpass the U.S. within the next 15-20 years. Since China is therefore on course to become the world's most powerful country, I'd say learn Chinese. </p>
<p>In terms of making an "impression", it is widely known that, for an adult (or, in your case, a teenager), the more unrelated a foreign language is to his/her own native language, the more difficult it will be to learn it. Thus, Chinese, Japanese, or even Arabic will require much greater effort to learn than any of the European languages, which are obviously much closer to English. An additional complication to learn non-European languages is the use of writing systems that differ from our own English alphabet and which, in the specific case of Chinese or Japanese, may be actually far more complex than an alphabetic system. I'd say then that an American who can truly master Chinese (i.e. read, write, and speak it fluently) does look quite impressive IMHO. </p>
<p>If you decide to stick with European languages though, I tend to believe that, contrary to popular misconception, all modern Romance (i.e. Latin-derived) languages are actually equally difficult to learn from a grammar/vocabulary point of view, although a few Romance languages like Portuguese and French may be tougher to pronounce properly than, let's say, Spanish or Italian. Among the Germanic languages, Dutch in particular is quite close to English (mid-way between German and English really) and shouldn't be too difficult to learn. German itself is also strongly related to English (both languages belong to the West Germanic branch of the Indo-European family), but students tend to find German somewhat difficult to master because of its complex morphology and syntax (when compared of course to English). If you'd like a challenge within the European family of languages, I'd suggest taking up Russian or other Slavic language. Alternatively, you could also try a language in the Celtic family, like Irish (Gaelic) for example.</p>
<p>i heard the arabic teacher is great and teaches all four years...so thats what i'm going to pick. I am also interested in the language.</p>
<p>that is a great choice -- not only do you have an interest, but you also have a great teacher and it is available all four years. My oldest son takes Arabic.</p>
<p>consider applying to this program next spring -- <a href="http://www.usa.afs.org/usa_en/view/3730%5B/url%5D">http://www.usa.afs.org/usa_en/view/3730</a></p>
<p>my son went last summer and had a fantastic time!</p>