<p>Some grad programs require you to know a second language, mainly to be able to read and write in said language, or to learn it within the first semester of attending Grad School.</p>
<p>Obviously, the best choice is to learn the language before you start grad school.</p>
<p>Can someone point me to the best method for learning how to read and write Spanish? Most of the programs I find are aimed at learning conversational Spanish, but for grad school I think reading and writing would be more useful (in my field, which is history). </p>
<p>My other problem is that I really liked Rosetta Stone when I tried it, but don't have $500 to drop on the program. Are there any quality programs for under $100 dollars out there that aren't simply "recite these phrases" type programs?</p>
<p>Do any of you out there who have had to do this have any tips?</p>
<p>If you are going to graduate school in history, you most likely need to have a working knowledge of two to three foreign languages. What languages did you study in undergraduate that you may have forgotten, but could pick up quickly in a summer course or something?</p>
<p>Get a book called “Spanish for Reading: A Self-Instructional Course” by Fabiola Franco. It’s gotten excellent reviews. Similar for-reading courses exist for other languages with the goal of preparing you for grad school language requirements.</p>
<p>BTW, Rosetta Stone, for all its popularity, is another conversational learning tool. I tried the demo online and that will suffice for learning how to read/write a foreign language. Try going to your local bookstore. They often have books to teach you a language the old-fashioned way.</p>
<p>You don’t need to learn more than Spanish if you’re doing US history. One solid language will be enough to get you in at most places. But somehow you need to get some recognition for it whether in a LOR, an intensive course, or some primary source use in your writing sample.</p>
<p>Personally, I do not see the relevance of learning languages that are not widely spoken around the world.
Spanish, Chinese, Hindi, Japanese (& maybe Portuguese or Russian) … these are languages that can take you places and be advantageous in the workforce.
French is great, and I love speaking the little that I know, but it is not very useful as a tool for advancement in business or real world employment opportunities.
Obviously if your majoring in something that revolves around a countries history than you have to speak the language… but most languages would be purely academic.</p>
<p>I paid $500 / language to get the full Rosetta Stone software. It’s really not very good. After 3 levels, you’ll get just enough information to be able to travel in a foreign country, but certainly not enough to read or discuss the language proficiently. One thing RS does that’s annoying is that it teaches all the colloquial shortcuts in the language. So what you learn is how people speak, not the correct way to speak / read, so it creates problems when you’re reading or speaking formally.</p>
<p>It also doesn’t teach you how to conjugate verbs. It just throws verbs at you an expects you to pick it up. However a nuance like whether something is a past participle or past perfect is lost, and you don’t learn the difference in meaning. That really defeats the purpose for academia.</p>
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<p>If you’re going to a theology school, for example, you’ll need to study the Bible in it’s original languge. That means you’ll need to know Hebrew and Aramaic. If you want to study ancient Roman culture, you’ll want to know Latin and the various forms of Latin (Archaic, Classical, Vulgar, etc). Otherwise, you’re deriving meaning through someone else’s lens.</p>
<p>Hi… I have a question. I know English and Hindi (pretty fluent in both)… Is there a necessity for me to learn a Western language like French or Spanish or will this do?? I’m a freshman enrolling at college this year so I have four long years if I need to get another language under my belt.</p>
<p>phyz- start your own thread next time if you’re going to be taking over someone else’s that doesn’t concern you.</p>
<p>You don’t have to learn a language if you don’t want to. If you want to spend time in Europe, do consider learning an European language. Do you have a place in mind that you’d like to do your junior year abroad in? If so, study that country’s language.</p>
<p>We are talking about graduate studies… so…
I am looking for 3 things in my grad education:
Versatility and upward mobility in the job market, marketing myself as a good manager and the appearance of being able to learn and adapt in whatever environment I am put in.
If you are going into academia, or if you are mid career and not looking to change companies (& you have real job stability) then that is different.
After experiencing the current economic crisis and seeing people with a lot more credentials being expelled from seemingly great jobs, I am all about making myself into a quality candidate for employment and advancement, period.
If a foreign language helps me accomplish the goals I have set for myself, then I am all for it… if not, then it appears to be pointless.</p>
<p>OP is doing a phd in history… Do you really think he cares about the real world? Or about what you want? Not to mention, depending on what field of business you are in, who your suppliers and your customers are, etc., French can be very useful. A friend of mine sells fine wine to Russian restaurants and finds all these ‘not very useful’ romantic languages very useful. Not to mention, what is key when working with foreigners is not the ability to speak ther language, but the ability to ‘speak their language’, if you know what I mean. </p>
<p>If you mindlessly follow the crowd, you will never be successful in business.</p>
<p>THAT SAID,
Does anybody know a good Hebrew grammar book? Also, does anybody have experience with learning a non-European language for grad school? Did you do it before grad school or during? Also, how well would you say you know your working languages?</p>
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<li><p>Find out exactly what the format of your language test will be. It may well be a simple translation into English with use of a dictionary. Knowing the kind of test will direct your study.</p></li>
<li><p>If it is a test along the lines of #1, make a bunch of flash cards. You can limit your study to first and third person singular present and past of verb forms. You will probably not see many other forms in your translation sample and those you’ll get from context. Hunt for a good frequency list that lists the most often used words in your target language. Learn the first few hundred.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>In one summer doing this I was able to learn and pass a new language for the grad test, and learned enough that I can still translate the language (with a dictionary) years later.</p>
<p>Some of my DDs friends have chosen to do abroad experiences in the country of the language they wish to learn, often doing things like au pair or manual labor, but living and working in the country gives both a fluency and an adventure.</p>