<p>I am currently a high school junior and by the time I graduate I will have taken four years of French. I can grasp pretty general converstions in French and also understand all the basics. I hope to get a minor in this or at least take a lot of classes in French as I understand it takes about eight years to become fluent in a language. I would also like to learn to speak Italian during my time in college (I don't know any right now). I have heard that French and Italian are similiar in a lot of ways but would it be realistic to try to learn two languages while still studying something else (I will be an International relations major)?</p>
<p>Certainly it is realistic, and would tie in well to an IR major. The one thing you should look at carefully is the scheduling of courses, especially in your second language. S studied 2 languages in HS, and started a third freshman year. Unfortunately, it turned out that the rotation of basic courses in that language is limited and unvarying: basicially, Fall intro 1, Winter intro 2, Spring intro 3, Fall intermediate 1, Winter intermediate 2, Spring intermediate 3. Every year. Because he was studying abroad fall term sophomore year, he was unable to start the 2nd year of the language.</p>
<p>Seconding what consolation said, scheduling can be tricky. My D started her second language in high school, but found it hard to fit in classes in 2 languages in college. She also studied abroad in the fall, which complicated things. She did take some language classes from an outside agency, and of course studying abroad in France or Italy could help your fluency if you make an effort to get out and speak the language while there.</p>
<p>By far the easiest way to become fluent in a language is to spend a time immersed in a country where the language is spoken. I took a year and a half of college German and was fluent after a year. (And I wasn’t totally immersed since I spoke English with my husband at home - but we did watch German TV, read German newspapers etc.) It took me about six months to be reasonably fluent in French - I’d had four years of high school French and lived with a French family. I think you’ll find Italian very easy after French - at least I did. </p>
<p>I am a big believer in intensive language study and immersion - it’s far more efficient than course after course in college.</p>
<p>The University of Delaware has a major called “Three Languages.”
[requirements</a> for the Three Languages major](<a href=“http://www.udel.edu/fllt/main/Majors/ThreeLanguageMajor.html]requirements”>http://www.udel.edu/fllt/main/Majors/ThreeLanguageMajor.html)</p>