French or Spanish? I am seriously in a major delimma.

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

<p>Help. I've already taken Spanish for 3 years throughout middle school. I've always dreamed of learning French since I was little because it's very beautiful to me and the literature, etc., but I feel obligated to study Spanish mainly because "a lot of people speak it and it's more useful." I don't want to be at a disadvantage when I'm older (or even now) for not knowing Spanish, but at the same time I don't want to miss out on all the French books, etc., I won't be able to read if I don't know French.</p>

<p>I signed up for Spanish at the registration meeting, but now I feel really bad. My heart desires French, but my head thinks I should do Spanish. I have to hurry up and make up my mind so that I can call the school ASAP in case I want to switch to French. I only have room for one language right now. Thanks so much for your insights.</p>

<p>AHHHH.</p>

2

<p>i guess it also depends what you want to be in the future....
why did you take spanish in the first place?? just bc people told you it;s more useful? how do you do in your spanish classes?</p>

3

<p>Spanish was the only language offered at my middle school.</p>

4

<p>Spanish for sure. French is useless here. Also stick with spanish and it will show commitment and for sure help you get into college. It's probably not a good idea to skip around between languages, you should learn spanish well enough before you begin somehting else. A good option would be to take French at your community college over the summer or something.</p>

5

<p>Stick with Spanish. Much, much more practical. If you really want to learn French for pure aesthetics, I think it would be more fun for you to study it abroad later in college.</p>

6

<p>i agree with Caro... i think you should just keep learning spanish...
It would be easier to learn French once you know spanish anyways (i'm a native spanish speaker & I learned 2 years of french)</p>

7

<p>Thanks. And what about picking up the French pronunciation in college? Some people advised me to take French now because the pronunciation will be much harder to get when I'm older, compared to Spanish?</p>

8

<p>This... is why they offer German.</p>

9

<p>you know... since we are learning a language in our 17s (well, at least for me), i heard that we can never get the pefect pronounciation... i learned english of 4 years, and my accent is still very strong...
i think that picking the right pronounciation is just the matter of how often and for how long you speak the language... like, my dad (we are taiwanese) can almost speak spanish without accent only after living in Argentina (south America) for 20 years!!</p>

10

<p>I would go with Spanish too. For practical reasons you might want to finish what you have started. </p>

<p>As for learning pronunciation...some say it is better to learn a language when you are younger, like in primary school...</p>

<p>As for German...too guttural...too much work for my tongue. :D</p>

11

<p>take both, my friend took spanish all throughout HS and started taking french jr. year and she likes it.</p>

12

<p>Don't be practical. Do what you love. French is beautiful. Spanish is so common these days, it's digusting. Our school offers 6 languages, more than any in the county, and yet 80% take Spanish. Why? It's easy as hell. French is a bit of a challenge, but it's worth being one of the minority, in a good way.</p>

13

<p>Going with what you love is nice, but don't bash Spanish! :p</p>

<p>Spanish is not disgusting...c'mon. I like reading about the literature and cultures. In my class, we have discussions about social issues plaguing various countries. French is widely spoken across the globe, just not in the US...</p>

14

<p>What do you think about learning French outside of school? Like with a private teacher/tutor?</p>

15

<p>i guess that would be somewhat like taking a college class (just not as demanding as a college class)... it will help you if you are taking french after HS, and it will also fulfill your desire to learn french~ =D but for the last year in HS, sitk with Spn... is AP spanish what you are taking? </p>

<p>and who said "spanish is easy as hell"?? have you taken the language?? it takes a while to get all the verb conjugations.... is not as simple as you think.....</p>

16

<p>With the way my school works, I will end up taking the AP language class by the time I graduate whether I do French or Spanish.</p>

17

<p>so... you are a sophomore?</p>

18

<p>Do French. I wish I took French. If you want to be involved in international affairs, take French. Spanish is awesome if you live in the southern states, but if you want to go international, take French.</p>

19

<p>You can't go international with Spanish???</p>

20

<p>I absolutely love French. The language and the culture are beautiful and something I definitely want to use for the rest of my life. I've even considered becoming a French teacher or an English teacher in a French-speaking country..I do know that it'll be useful when I join the Peace Corps after college..</p>

<p>Also, you'd be surprised how many countries in the world are French-speaking, especially in Europe and North Africa, as well as parts of Asia and the Caribbean. Oh--and Canada, of course. It's really only in the Americas that Spanish is so prevalent..</p>