<p>You misunderstood my comment about Americans having a fear of foreign languages, which referred to the popular perception of foreign languages as harder to learn than they really are, which in turn lowers students’ expectations of their own progress and makes them more likely to become discouraged from learning languages at an advanced level.</p>
<p>And your post exemplifies the attitude you want an example of. It is riddled with faulty notions of the importance and global reach of the English language (e.g., English speakers living abroad who don’t speak the local language tend to interact primarily and sometimes overwhelmingly with other English speakers, not with local people who “want to practice their English” on them, which clearly indicates that knowing English does not in fact ensure you will be able to communicate freely with people anywhere in the world), gross generalizations (e.g., the bit about nationalities and good English), and factually incorrect claims, in addition to demonstrating a kind of intellectual laziness masked as common sense that is ultimately justified by the supremely unconvincing, “Well, we’re just so important that everyone speaks our language”–which is certainly not true in China.</p>
<p>Again, knowing the local language when you live abroad is essential to leading a self-sufficient adult existence, as opposed to limiting your social life to a narrow circle of ex-pats and struggling with the most basic of daily tasks. I have both lived abroad (in an Arab country where I did not know the local language, only my own, English & a little bit of French, and felt incredibly isolated, and in America) and played the part of the disdainful local (at my international school, most of the English-speaking teachers would only interact with each other, fail to experience the local culture fully, and, even after spending years in the country, panic and seek assistance whenever they needed to buy a monthly bus pass or call the plumber, which is the common state of affairs in Anglo-American ex-pat communities all over the world–it amazed me then and it amazes me now) and, after seeing both sides of the issue, I think to deny that knowing the local language of the country you live in is important/useful is the height of ridiculousness.</p>
<p>Who has done this on this thread? You are arguing with positions that were never taken. </p>
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<p>I didn’t say this. That’s your extrapolation based on your preoccupations based on your life history. All I did was disagree with you about Americans’ “illogical fear.” Americans and other native English speakers are in a privileged position globally in that they can choose which second or third language to learn, based upon academic or business goals that vary from person to person. Everyone else who needs to learn a second language pretty much learns English, because if you are not born an English speaker and you want to participate in global business, global science, or global academe, you need to learn English or get a translator. Now who knows if this will continue to hold a hundred years from now, but it’s still the case. I"m not celebrating it imperially, I’m simply pointing it out. Stop looking for reasons to be outraged.</p>
<p>Back to the topic at hand – PRUNEFACE, it’s likely that knowing Chinese would be a valuable asset in many international businesses, give the ascendancy of the Chinese economy. It would also be valuable in the State Department (and CIA, for that matter), which is why there is funding available for study abroad in China. It’s likely to be a far more practical language than French, for example, which my D1 studies (D2 takes Mandarin and Spanish - both much more practical).</p>
<p>the Dept of Defense has classified languages based on how long it takes for a committed, gifted (native-english-speaker) learner to become fluent. Asian languages are the most difficult on that scale. I think Italian was an example of an “easy” language for English speakers, French and Spanish next, then German or Romanian, then Russian, etc. I can try to look it up if you want.
Anyway, it takes longer to reach the benchmarks in Chinese; after 4 years you wouldn’t be anywhere near C1, you’d be around B1. After a major including a semester of study abroad,you’d be B2. However since Chinese requires such commitment to achieve even A2 level, reaching that level puts you ahead of the pack. At the minimum, having basic Chinese AND notions in Chinese culture/history would be an advantage.
With French, Portuguese, Spanish, you should be able to reach B1 in 3-4 semesters. However reaching C1 level is quite difficult and not that common - it typically means you’d start with B1-level classes freshman year and be ready to take C1 level senior year after a junior year abroad. At many colleges, a majority of language majors never get above B2. This of course depends on the college’s level. Emory’s French program is excellent and it’s assumed everyone graduates with a C1 level (B2 at the worst).
(If they’re selling and you’re buying, they’ll speak whatever language you want them to speak; if they’re buying and you’re selling, you better speak their language and know their way of thinking and of doing things.)
French actually isn’t so impractical if you want to do business with Canada, and in particular if you intend to sell anything to Qu</p>
<p>I don’t know what these classifications are, but I took two years of Chinese and then did a year of language study in China. By the end, I could say and understand pretty much anything. My reading was not as good. I think what makes Chinese so hard is not to be able to speak fluently but to be able to read and write fluently–especially write.</p>
<p>My H runs a Chinese language program in China. He gets plenty of business types who want to improve their Chinese. However, they tend to work for regional or China specific companies, not the big multinationals. For better or for worse, they don’t care much about language ability.</p>
<p>Does anyone know anything in particular about the Chinese or German programs at Emory, that might make the decision easier? Does one have greater success than the other?</p>
<p>I don’t have much familiarity with Emory’s Chinese program, but Emory’s German program expects that students will be able to read old German novels and write papers on them by their third semester. It’s also very common for students enrolled in the German program to study abroad at the end of their sophomore year.</p>
<p>Before you sign up for classes, you meet one on one with your adviser (my meeting took about 40 minutes) who might be more knowledgeable regarding the various pros and cons of the languages. I’m not sure if class search is open for freshmen, but if it is, go to your OPUS and click on search for classes. That should give you a list of the various courses that are still open, and might help you both in planning your schedule and seeing which classes you can take.</p>