I want to take a language, but...

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Los Angeles
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<p>So my Orientation is coming up, which means I've found myself focusing a little bit more. As of now, my major is Mathematics/Economics; I'm considering switching to Mathematics/Applied Science (Management), which is essentially swapping my Economics courses for Management courses, but I haven't made the final call yet. (Anyone have experience with either major? What did you think? Good call, bad call?)</p>

<p>I'm not really up to speed on the whole college deal, but in my ignorance, I've looked at a few things.</p>

<p>To graduate, I'll need to take one GE almost every quarter, one Math every quarter, and one Economics (or Management) every quarter. I'd really like to learn Arabic, but I'm not sure how realistic that would be with my major. Would three years of Arabic be possible? How hard are Arabic classes? If you've had experience with Arabic at UCLA, I'd love to hear about it. Is 18 units per quarter very difficult?</p>

<p>...If only the College of Letters and Sciences didn't have an obscene amount of GE requirements. Forgive me, but it seems like a lot of the courses UCLA considers "General Education" are those that people wouldn't enroll in if they weren't forced to. Not that I'm hating on Afrikaans or anything.</p>

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<p>don't take more than 3 classes first quarter! 18 units is a lot of work... I actually suggest you take a language you are familiar with, like spanish if you took it in highschool, or like if you are korean take korean and so on... that is if you don't want to stress about that class too much... but if you really want to learn a language that truly interests you and want to put in the effort then i say go for arabic</p>

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<p>Lol, that's why I'm hesitant.</p>

<p>I had another idea. Maybe I could take all my Arabic courses Pass/Fail, so I wouldn't have to worry so much. Then I could devote my time to actually succeeding in my major.</p>

<p>That said, I heard graduate programs look down on taking a whole mess of courses pass/fail.</p>

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<p>Arabic is one of the most difficult languages to learn; you'll generally have difficulty regardless. I'd say just sample the class the first quarter and see the expectations... both of course 1 and the general sequences. If you're up to the challenge, go ahead and try and drop courses by the 4th week if for some reason, you don't think you can do it. So, enroll in four classes week 1 and test it out until week 4.</p>