International Relations major--tips on choosing a language?

Student Lounge College Life
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<p>I'm majoring in IR (or at least planning to), and I have an intensive language focus. Here's a list of the languages my school offers ('*' means "strongly considering"):</p>

<p>Arabic*
Chinese*
French
German
Italian
Japanese
Russian*
Spanish</p>

<p>The languages I'm considering are challenging, and I've only taken a few years of both Spanish and French in high school. I just feel that neither Spanish nor French can make me stand out enough, and I'm not especially interested in those areas.</p>

<p>I'm considering Chinese over the others, but Arabic and Russian are options as well. Can anyone tell me why I should (or shouldn't) pursue Chinese?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

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<p>All great options. I think that Mandarin Chinese and Arabic are best, but both are very tricky languages to learn. The reasoning behind this is that Chinese and Arabic are very different from Latin-based languages. In Chinese, every character represents a different meaning and expression, and instead of learning an alphabet and stringing letters together to form words, you have to memorize tens of thousands of characters with individual meanings. I’ve never studied Arabic, but I’ve heard it’s similar. If you’re fine with that, then by all means go for it. </p>

<p>Russian is another very good option and is a bit easier in my opinion, but keep in mind that the IR community is rapidly evolving with the current zeitgeist. I would assume that China will become a major focus with regard to US foreign relations and national security in the next few years. In fact, if you look at critical needs languages for the CIA and State Department, among others, Mandarin Chinese is often in the top three. </p>

<p>I would highly recommend taking Chinese, but make sure you know what you’re getting into :)</p>

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<p>I’d say “all of them” but I’m a linguistics fan…</p>

<p>Arabic is actually very similar to Latin languages in its alphabet and general structure. The way it is written (consonants only, always cursive) is a bit tricky at first, but once you learn to recognize the characters you can read it phonetically just like you do in English. The things that make Arabic difficult are the large number of sounds it has that don’t exist in English and some quirky features of tense and inflection.</p>

<p>I guess the answer to your question is going to depend a lot on what you intend to do with an IR degree, and especially where you intend to do it.</p>

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<p>Okay, thanks for the help.</p>

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<p>I love Arabic. I think it’s beautiful.</p>

<p>That being said, it’s also substantially more difficult than the other languages I’ve studied. It’ll take a lot of hard work. My professor estimated that you cannot become fluent without five very dedicated years of linguistic study. There’s also a lot of varying dialects in the language as spoken, while Mandarin Chinese may be more standardized. If it’s what you really want, I imagine it could be very rewarding.</p>

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<p>1) no use trying to learn a 'hot’language since you cannot predict what will be ‘hot’ in 4 years.</p>

<p>2) you will only be proficient in language x if you live in x country and use it daily, including knowing the subtleties and cultural connotations of words, so don’t choose a country that you would hate to live in, even if it’s ‘employable’</p>

<p>3) everybody speaks English, so pick a language that you ENJOY, because it’s not a huge employment benefit anyway</p>

<p>4) if you’re passionate about, say, Chinese, should it even matter how hard it is?</p>

<p>Total: pick a language you enjoy the most and damn everything else</p>

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<p>Chinese grammar is not that bad. But I’ve met few Americans who can pronounce it correctly. And writing and reading are another problem. I guess it is easier in this age with digital dictionaries and input, but it’s still an uphill climb.</p>

<p>I don’t even think you can get fluent in a language in four years. I’ve studied five years of Spanish, got a 5 on the AP test, and I still suck. Sure, it was in high school, and not college, but I still think there is a barrier to how much people can learn.</p>

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<p>I think it all depends on what you want to specialize in. Even if you are not planning on doing something evolving Europe, learning French could be helpful as it is spoken on almost every continent in at least one place. And spanish is a hot commodity if you wanna work with people in the us or even business because a lot of companies have factories in central America. Arabic is in demand because relationships with the middle east and north Africa are very important right now. And china an emerging global power so mandarin is good to learn. But you can basically choose any language because they will all be needed somewhere.</p>

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<p>Is there any benefit to taking a semester each of a couple different languages, so you can at least pronounce the words and set yourself up for future study? I’m assuming that more and more well-educated people in other countries will know English, so being able to pronounce their words and handle polite greetings becomes a sign of respect.</p>

<p>Also, I’d worry about someone interested in national security studying a single language spoken in only a couple countries (such as Korean). We can hope that some countries in the near future will no longer be a national security threat, which could reduce the need for that language for national security reasons. However, if a country goes through a positive revolution, there then would be more demand for people who speak that language, for business reasons.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the great responses, everyone! The main thing I considered when trying to narrow down the list is the region of the world that I want to work in. I am just having trouble picking one. I have always had a strange fascination with Siberia, but that’s not extremely employable. And even if it may be, I cannot romanticize living in a place with -60 degree temperatures. That being said, China is definitely interesting to me. A language like Chinese is intimidating, though, and that’s why I’m having second thoughts. </p>

<p>charlieschm–That’s something to consider, but I have to take more classes of each with the way my major is set up. Also, with the “hard” languages, I think that would be pretty intense and I wouldn’t learn much of either.</p>

<p>vienneselights–I actually do plan on doing study abroad (and possibly living) in the country that speaks the language of my choosing.</p>

<p>Ha, maybe I should just give up and take French. :)</p>

<p>Does anyone who studied Chinese in college have any advice?</p>

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<p>I never studied Chinese in college but I’m half Chinese and have many friends who had (also graduated with an IR major). A couple things: if you are going to dedicate yourself to learning a language like Chinese, it is important to wholeheartedly make the effort. 2 years of Mandarin is not going to make you fluent (and barely conversational). Being conversational in Mandarin is almost useless for most IR jobs (although it might show your willingness to learn about other cultures, it is not that special). You need to be near fluent/have a high level of proficiency in reading/writing/listening/speaking if you actually want to work in China/be a regional specialist of some sort. You have to be willing to take Mandarin all 4 years (often times this means having language classes everyday, 4-5 days a week). Join Chinese language/culture club and write most of your IR papers on East Asian topics. And I highly recommend studying abroad in China/Taiwan for at least a 2 month period (which can help you attain the level of proficiency you need). Also consider applying for FLAS/Boren/Fulbright scholarships (very competitive) or summer language programs within the US (i.e. Middlebury) to further language study. Same things go for arabic/any difficult language. IR is a pretty competitive career field and it is important to set yourself apart from others by doing some (or all) of the above things (if this is what you are deadset on)</p>

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<p>Unfortunately, deciding you want to study a language and then jumping in and being successful studying that language is not always as easy as people think. And sometimes, what makes you successful, or makes you dislike the language, is not something you can tell before you take it. Not very helpful, sorry.</p>

<p>My daughter started a Chinese class. She did not like the way the language sounded. She has had three years of college Japanese. She is not as crazy about the culture the more she learns. She took one semester of Korean and did like that and said the grammar of Korean and Japanese is similar. She would not study Arabic because of how women are treated in the Middle East. She has a good foundation in German from high school.</p>

<p>Anyway, my advice is to go with your gut reaction, which at this time sounds like Russian. Other posters are correct that language needs come and go, and if you have a talent for languages, your employer will send you for more training if that is what it wants you to do.</p>

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<p>Chinese if you are considering working for a company that does a good amount of works in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. French if you are considering going into diplomacy and government works (UN, NATO, embassies, etc). And Spanish if you are looking for more of a domestic sort of job (since there are many Spanish-speaking people in the US), also would be easier to talk to Latin and South American clients.</p>

<p>It all depends on what you want to do with your IR degree. Once you set on a language, make efforts to really learn the language. 3 years is usually recommended for colleges.</p>

<p>My school only requires us to study a language for 3 semesters…but my major’s advisor suggested to her advisement groups (incl me) to go for 5 semesters.</p>

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<p>German sounds the coolest.</p>

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<p>The Germans speak better English than we do - sometimes with an Oxford accent.</p>

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<p>@charlieschm- For international affairs majors it is actually better if you are fluent or as close to fluent in one language than just having a small knowledge of many. Many times employers like to hire “experts” on an area or subject rather than a person with good general knowledge. Plus, if an employer wants you to get a start in a new language, they can simply give you Rosetta Stone or send you to a few classes; however, most employers won’t pay for the time and effort that it takes to become fluent in a language. </p>

<p>Also, if you’re looking at careers in government, some agencies will actually pay you more and will be more willing to hire you if you have at least a professional knowledge of a language (at least a score of 3 on a language exam out of 5- 5 being a native speaker, 4 being fluent). Now this can obviously differ if you’re looking more into the private sector, but it’s important to consider.</p>

<p>Finally, go with your gut on which language and region you want to focus on. I love Arabic and have always wanted to take it; however it requires a LOT of work- usually over 2 hours a night 4 days a week, not including extra time studying for exams. I know a lot of people in Arabic first semester who did not continue on the second semester because they had just chosen Arabic because it seemed like a good career move so they didn’t have the drive and motivation to put the time required into the language. </p>

<p>Good luck on your decision and your future studies in IR! (btw I only took French in high school and I did fine)</p>

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<p>@TracyJackson-- Does learning French significantly benefit a native English speaker if he/she is planning to do diplomacy work for NATO, UN, etc?</p>

<p>Part of my issue is that I wouldn’t have to take nearly as many classes in French as I would in Chinese or Russian.</p>

<p>@MD Mom-- I’m not that interested in Russian culture, but in isolated peoples. (I also have a strange fascination with Northern Canada.) The problem is that I’m not legitimately considering spending my life in those regions, while I would consider living and working in China.</p>

<p>Here’s an outline:</p>

<p>French–5 classes
Chinese–7 classes
Russian–7 classes</p>

<p>And the 4 of the 7 classes that I would have to take in either Chinese or Russian are the dreaded “intro” classes (5 days a week). (I’d only have to take two of that sort for French.)</p>

<p>By the way, I am more interested in working for the U.S. government, NATO, or the UN than I am in working for a private company. Since a lot of the world speaks English anyway, I just wonder if my efforts will be unnecessary if I choose to take Chinese. Also, I worry about the massive commitment. (I don’t want to take a semester or a year of Chinese and then wimp out, especially because I would still have a lot of French to take.)</p>

<p>I do plan to study abroad no matter which language I choose. My school, William and Mary, has supposedly excellent study abroad options at both Tsinghua and Peking. But I’m worried about how my intensive language study will affect my performance in explicitly IR-related classes. IR is considered challenging at W&M, to begin with. When I think about taking French, however, I don’t get excited like I do when I think about taking an “exotic” language.</p>

<p>Given my situation, do the pros of taking Chinese outweigh the cons? How much does fluency in Chinese really help an IR graduate? And how helpful is it to be fluent in French, really, given that so many U.S. graduates speak it anyway?</p>

<p>Thanks for the help, everyone. Does anyone else have a suggestion?</p>

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<p>bump 10char</p>

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<p>It definitely depends on a couple of things;</p>

<ul>
<li><p>Concentration. Someone going into economics would learn Chinese, Japanese, or Korean. Business might consider Spanish or Hindi. Diplomacy would use Arabic, French, and Russian. History would look at Latin, Greek, and French. Law might touch with French and Latin.</p></li>
<li><p>Attraction. Do you enjoy French/Latin/Japanese/etc culture? Are you related to any countries? These ties might influence you. After all, the more you enjoy a language, the more you will find ways to use it. If you’re Uzbek, or Filipino, or Norwegian, you might end up finding a use for them.</p></li>
</ul>

<p>For IR, I suggest learning a language to fluency before moving on. Start with Spanish, Chinese, or French. Stick to the UN languages unless you have a specific need to learn a lesser used one.</p>