<p>Hi, I'm an incoming freshman for Tulane! I love both cultures, so personal taste would draw me to take both. But being that I'm a premed student majoring in the Liberal Arts [Philosophy], I do not have the extra space to take both languages simultaneously without taking on an impractical workload. Thus, a choice must be made ;_;</p>
<p>Does anyone know which of these two language departments are stronger? I do realize that they are both part of the overall Asian Studies department, but from my research, they're managed de facto by two different professors, Professor Wood and Professor Xie. Having met both of them, they're both unbelievably nice and great to talk with. They both confessed that their department is exceptional. Of course, I have to accept this account with a grain of salt...so I decided to ask members of this board for their opinions. </p>
<p>Which is the [if only just slightly] better department in terms of bringing the student to a higher level of proficiency? Japanese or Mandarin?</p>
<p>I’m not sure which is better at Tulane. One thing you might want to take into consideration is that Japanese takes longer to become fluent in than Mandarin. I don’t remember the specific hour differences, but I believe Japanese was around 2000 hours and Mandarin was around 1800. This came from a State Department study, but I’m unable to find it now. So aside from this, I would think about which language you would be able to use more regularly. Tulane also has some great study abroad options [Newcomb-Tulane</a> College - Office of Study Abroad](<a href=“http://global.tulane.edu/studyabroad/programs.html#asia]Newcomb-Tulane”>http://global.tulane.edu/studyabroad/programs.html#asia) so I would look at those and decide which one is best for you. In addition, the Osaka accent is fairly different from the Tokyo accent (enough to where my friend Saiko who is from Tokyo can’t understand her friends from Osaka when they are talking with their parents on the phone). These are just some things to think about…</p>
<p>I also cannot tell you too much about the Japanese option. My D just had a year of Mandarin from Dr. Xie and I (she) can confirm what you heard. I can’t believe how much she knows in just a year! But then I am the world’s worst in foreign languages. Anyway, it is a dilemma that I think just comes down to a matter of taste for you, from what she heard about the Japanese profs they are also excellent. Japanese has been offered more comprehensively at Tulane for longer, but Tulane got a really nice Dept. of Educ. grant a couple years ago for China Studies which has allowed them to hire more faculty and grow the area, to the point where sometime this fall, if not already, China Studies should be a full stand-alone major (which my D is doing as one of her two majors). I also know that there are some interesting ties to study abroad in China with the Chinese govt., but Tulane has had some excellent ties to Japanese Universities for decades.</p>
<p>Bottom line, I think you cannot go wrong either way. Both languages could prove very useful in your future as well, so either go with your gut or go with the one that fits your schedule better. The latter might make the decision for you.</p>
<p>If anyone was interested, I ended up taking Japanese.</p>
<p>Cool. Have fun with it!</p>