<p>Hey guys, so I'm thinking about minoring in Arabic when I start as a college freshman next year (planning on majoring in criminal justice) and I was just wondering how difficult it is and if I need to know the basics of it going into it as a minor? Will I be ok not knowing anything about the language or should I start the first level of Rosetta Stone (or something similar)? Had our school offered Arabic, I would've taken it in a heartbeat, but I took Spanish and caught on pretty easy, having all A's and possibly one B. Anyone have any insight? Thanks!!</p>
<p>Your university will likely have intro language courses that you can take, although college language courses are usually faster paced than high school courses. At my school though, minors require a certain amount of upper division (usually literature courses), and the language courses are usually lower division. If you don’t have any background in the language, it might take a little longer to get the minor because you have to go through the lower division courses before you can take the literature courses. Still, I know many people who took languages for the first time in college, and they’ve all done fine (some even studied abroad in the language).</p>
<p>Definitely do it! Arabic is one of the harder languages to learn but I’ve really liked it so far (been taking it for a year now). I doubt you’d need to know anything before starting the level 1 class, but if you can find a way to get acquainted with the alphabet, that would be super helpful to know going into the class (and you can find info on that online, you don’t need to spend the money on rosetta stone) just because that’ll make the beginning few weeks much easier. So I really wouldn’t worry too much about starting Arabic at this point, but knowing some basics (like greetings) going into your first class might make the introduction a little easier and just make you feel more comfortable going into the language. Arabic is super fun so I hope this works out for you! :)</p>
<p>Take it! It’s an awesome language! No, you don’t need to know anything before coming in, you’ll start with the alphabet. You’re probably going to use the Al-Kitaab series, which is decent but isn’t great at grouping vocab into units. I’ve taken four semesters so far and I’ve loved it, although it definitely is a lot of work. Good luck!</p>
<p>You will need to see how many courses a school actually offers and what levels. Many may offer two years of language, then move you over to literature. Just dig.</p>