<p>I had a few questions about the foreign language requirement at Penn. First and foremost, I practically hate foreign languages and spanish in high school was practially my least favorite subject. I barely got by in that class and don't remember anything.
So my first question is what is the easiest foreign language to learn? I just want to get the language requirement over with so any language will do, I really have no preference nor do I look to use the language I learn in the future. I was thinking Spanish but then again, I assumed it would be taught at a fast pace since (once again assuming) many students already took Spanish in high school so everyone would already have previous knowledge of it. I was also looking into Italian because it seems like a fun, easy latin-based language much like Spanish is. Any input on this matter would be helpful. Just remember, I want EASY. Not only the language itself, but the class as well.
My other question is how many semesters does it actually take to fulfill the foreign language requirement? I heard it was 4 semesters? Any clarification would be great [=</p>
<p>haha at this thread in general, and you have to take 4 semesters, but</p>
<p>I would take Italian. As someone who has both taken Italian and Spanish at Penn, I can say...</p>
<p>1.) Spanish classes do move faster. They assume prior language background, or if you even start at 110 (the first semester) I'm sure you'll get people who already know a lot.</p>
<p>2.) The Spanish department is much more bureaucratic. They understand how hundreds and hundreds of students take it, and from this, I believe they try to make sure grades are distributed more along a curve. (It's very possible to get a B or B- in Spanish... whereas in Italian...)</p>
<p>3.) We have a really fun Italian department. Great people, good events. I've had 2 or 3 classes where we had pizza or something at the end (lol).</p>
<p>4.) Italian is easier than Spanish, and more beautiful. Both subjective statements, but yeah. Italian and Spanish share a large vocab base, but Italian doesn't have the preterito (well, they do but you don't use it and won't learn it).</p>
<p>5.) Italian cinema > Spanish cinema</p>
<p>If you know who your Italian professor will be, PM me and I can give you more info about him/her!</p>
<p>PS: Your first 4 semesters will fly by so quickly. I did Italian just to fulfill my requirement freshman and sophomore year, and ended up studying abroad there, and this year will be completing my minor!</p>
<p>Oh yeah, but a warning. Students who take Italian fall into 3 categories. This isn't even a joke post.</p>
<p>1.) the JAPs</p>
<p>Daddy takes them to Milan and Rome every summer and they finally want to feel better about themselves by taking Italian. Sometimes they do have partial Italian ancestry, but yeah, sorority girls of the worst kind.</p>
<p>2.) The Italian Americans</p>
<p>They won't even tell you that they're Italian, instead choosing a subnational demonym (Sicilian, Calabrian, Neapolitan, Genoese, etc).</p>
<p>Generally these are the students who care the most, but they occassionally throw in a dialect word they learned from their grandparents only to find out that it isn't Italian. Or they talk about the mafia all the time. Watch out for the occasional guido/guidette.</p>
<p>3.) The Brazilian or other Latin American kids</p>
<p>Oh man these guys. I think every Penn student from Brazil takes Italian. They will be more fluent in Italian on the second day of class than you could ever wish to be, given their knowledge of Portuguese.</p>
<p>i also have questions about fulfilling the the language requirement..
i am exempt from this requirement (native spanish speaker) but im probably going to learn another language, maybe chinese or something since i'll be an IR major.
can i fulfill the language requirement and still take as many classes as i want in another language? while i do want to learn another language, i dont really want to be "required" to do so (especially since i dont have to be). meaning that if i decide after two semesters of chinese that i dont want to take it anymore, it would suck if i had to just to fulfil a requirement i couldve fulfilled in the beginning.</p>
<p>^^^and as a bilingual speaker of english and spanish, i consider spanish to be the hardest of the two, even though it is my native language while english is 2nd. i dont know about italian but i would agree that there are easier languages to learn than spanish. on the other hand its prob one of the most practical ones you could learn because of the amount of people that speak it, but if that's not important to you i'd choose another one to learn.</p>
<p>
[quote]
can i fulfill the language requirement and still take as many classes as i want in another language?
[/quote]
Yeah, I'm pretty sure.
It would probably be best to take the test by the Spanish departement during NSO or something (not the online test, since this one is only for placement not for exemption from the language requirement).</p>
<p>ok, so i got a 5 in ap german, but i was looking to learn something new at penn. i've always had a bit of a fascination with urdu... does anyone know anything about central asian languages at penn?</p>
<p>^you can take urdu at Penn. Because you got a 5, you can take as much as you want, rather than being constrained to 4 semesters of a new language.</p>
<p>andy, I'd take the online test and then if you pass the placement test during NSO. Then you'll have complete freedom in choosing languages. You won't be bound to 4 semesters of a new language. It'll all be for electives. I wish I passed out of Spanish instead of just half of it so I could pick up Hindi, but I don't have enough time with the double major + semester abroad.</p>
<p>thanks guys :)</p>
<p>sorry to piggyback andy_g, but I had a question.</p>
<p>Anyway, according to my SAT II I am not exempt but am eligible for exemption based on an oral test. Does anyone know anything about the difficulty level? I haven't spoken Spanish in a very long time, so I will be brushing up. I'm just wondering what my odds are of being exempt from the language requirement. If I don't do this, I would only be taking one class, so I guess it's not too major.</p>