<p>I'm sure this has already been discussed. Sorry.</p>
<p>I'm looking for advice on what language to take. </p>
<p>Options:</p>
<p>a) nothing, because I tested out of the requirement with my Spanish SAT II</p>
<p>b) continue Spanish, because I'm not totally fluent and I'm losing more and more every day</p>
<p>c) start Chinese. I went to Chinese School for a year, so I have some knowledge of the language/its difficulty.</p>
<p>Ideally I would like to be conversationally fluent in both languages, but I realize that's unlikely. I plan to try to study abroad.</p>
<p>Thoughts? Anything you can tell me about the programs, classes, professors, etc. would be great.</p>
<p>I would try both, but then again I'm an overacheiver.</p>
<p>What are you planning on studying? I wouldn't recommend two languages at once at the beginning of freshman year because it might overwhelm you a little if you aren't a language savy person. Plus, an A is set at a strict 94% for all languages and so taking two languages might make your chances of getting the best gpa possible lower.</p>
<p>Since you have more experience with Spanish, I would suggest that you start out with Spanish and put Chinese off until a later year (if you still remain interested). The Chinese department at Penn is really good, but I hear Beginners Chinese is one of the hardest courses.</p>
<p>Tickytock, I hope you don't mind that I am piggy-backing onto your thread. My question is somewhat related to yours. </p>
<p>I've studied French forever and it would be a shame to forget it all. However, I'm interested in learning Italian. Does anyone know about Penn's Italian program, especially introductory Italian courses? Would it be tough to take Italian and French at the same time? Chinese, I would think, is tougher to learn because of the characters and tones. Would Italian be more manageable?</p>
<p>To answer tickytock's question:
I came into Penn in a similar situation. I took Spanish for a little while at Penn, kind of got tired of it, and have since started Chinese. I love Penn's Chinese program and would recommend it to anyone. That said, it is a fair amount of work and might be something you want to take once you are acclimated to college life. However, that's just my opinion. Chinese also opens many doors if you are interested in international (whether its government or private) type work. Best of luck! I can answer more questions, if you have any!</p>